ARCHIVE

ARCHIVE
TAKE MY HEAD (1999)
320 KBPS

Formed back in 1994, Archive caught the attention of discerning ears with their debut album, Londinium, which took trip-hop's already threadbare fabric and wove a rich design of strings, brass and baroque orchestration into it to illustrate the juxtaposition of future and past possibilities hinted at in their name. Their second album sees a wholesale change of personnel with only main man Darius Keeler remaining as the creative lynchpin. While Take My Head is much less rooted in alternative hip-hop, the grandiose treatments of songs survives. On the strongest melodies, notably the uplifting "The Way You Love Me" and its tragic counterpart "The Pain Gets Worse", the effect is highly impressive and reminiscent of Sinead O'Connor's best moments. However Take My Head is let down at times by the scope of its ambition and a tendency to go for the big one every time, though no crime in that.

1. You Make Me Feel
2. The Way You Look Me
3. Brother
4. Well Known Sinner
5. The Pain Gets Worse
6. Woman
7. Cloud In The Sky
8. Take My Head
9. Love In Summer
10. Rest My Head On You
Bonus Track
11. You Make Me Feel (Arkchive Remix)
12. You Make Me Feel (Spectre Remix)
13. Big Fish