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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I felt compelled to write a review to defend this album since many people are negative and dismissive about it. In contrast to these people I have always felt that "Garlands" was one of the Cocteau Twin's strongest releases.
I am immediately struck by the haunting atmosphere, the icy sounding guitars, the dark snake-like bass lines, the cold percussion and Liz Fraser's weird yet beautiful vocals. Though you could probably guess when the recording was made it still holds up as a unique and special piece of work. The guitar work in particular is spectacular - minimal, intense and brooding.
The Cocteau Twins slowly changed with each album and later releases are considerably more accessible to newcomers. There are no doubt people who will associate them with the brighter, more ethereal pop that they became known for but I've always preferred the darker, earlier albums (not that I dislike the later releases).
Those of you who like The Cure's "Pornography" and Siouxsie and The Banshees' "Ju Ju" will love "Garlands".
I am immediately struck by the haunting atmosphere, the icy sounding guitars, the dark snake-like bass lines, the cold percussion and Liz Fraser's weird yet beautiful vocals. Though you could probably guess when the recording was made it still holds up as a unique and special piece of work. The guitar work in particular is spectacular - minimal, intense and brooding.
The Cocteau Twins slowly changed with each album and later releases are considerably more accessible to newcomers. There are no doubt people who will associate them with the brighter, more ethereal pop that they became known for but I've always preferred the darker, earlier albums (not that I dislike the later releases).
Those of you who like The Cure's "Pornography" and Siouxsie and The Banshees' "Ju Ju" will love "Garlands".
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Garlands is often regarded now as not being as good as the rest of the Cocteau Twins' albums. Everyone had to start somewhere, though, and I really still like Garlands. Check out some great bass playing by Will Heggie - he left after this album. It is worth ensuring that you get the additional tracks, too - "Dear Heart" is among their best.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Garlands was the first album from Cocteau Twins and it is very much the sound of a band finding their feet. It is the only album with original bassist Will Heggie and his chugging basslines give the album a distinctive sound. Robin Guthrie, by his own admission, had no idea how a studio worked at the time, but was confident enough in his burgeoning ability to produce. The result is an album, and a guitar sound, with a strangled, constricted range and a dark ambience.In the post-punk world of the early 1980s the influence of Siouxsie and the Banshees and other proto-goths is clear, but the beginning of the trademark ethereal Twins sound is also here, especially in Elizabeth Fraser's curiously addictive vocals.
The songs are simple, repetitive and haunting, with guitar, vocals, bass and the gloriously lo-fi drum machine; usually entering separately and building to a climax, like 'Grail Overfloweth'. Other songs built around a simple repetive guitar refrain, almost Fripp-like in its minimalism, like album highlights 'Wax and Wane' or 'Blind Dumb Deaf.'
Unfortunately, this reissue omits the John Peel session which was probably many listeners first experience of the Cocteaus (it was certainly mine) and this is a shame as it is possibly the best of the early work with Heggie still in tow.
Overall, an interesting album, but not the place to start if you're new to the Cocteau Twins. Its probably of most interest to those who remember the original release, or want to see how the band started out.
The songs are simple, repetitive and haunting, with guitar, vocals, bass and the gloriously lo-fi drum machine; usually entering separately and building to a climax, like 'Grail Overfloweth'. Other songs built around a simple repetive guitar refrain, almost Fripp-like in its minimalism, like album highlights 'Wax and Wane' or 'Blind Dumb Deaf.'
Unfortunately, this reissue omits the John Peel session which was probably many listeners first experience of the Cocteaus (it was certainly mine) and this is a shame as it is possibly the best of the early work with Heggie still in tow.
Overall, an interesting album, but not the place to start if you're new to the Cocteau Twins. Its probably of most interest to those who remember the original release, or want to see how the band started out.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A strong debut by a sensational group
This may not be the Cocteaus best Album, but it did create a template that the group built on for the rest of its career. Read more
Published on 4 May 2010 by R. E. Bollen
dont buy this one
please dont buy this one-i have owned it and stopped playing it and wont ever own it or play this/it again-its far worse than anything else they have done and crude,and poorly... Read more
Published on 16 July 2009 by mean mr mustard
An absolutely wonderful album
I can't believe the negative comments I've been reading about this album. I owned it on vinyl as an angst-ridden student in the early 1980s, and just loved its dark, haunting and... Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2006 by Philip Lewis
Astonishing debut
I think it's easy to miss the impact of this album if you only compare it to the later greater works. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2004 by "pablo38supremo"
Disappointing
I'm an Aikea-Guinea era fan and this album does not make a great deal of sense to me at all.
It's really rather forgettable. For completists only, methinks.
Published on 31 Dec 2003 by "raywhoisking"
First steps
Listening to this, their 1982 debut album, it’s hard to believe that in the next couple of years the Cocteau Twins would create some of the most astonishing music that many... Read more
Published on 18 May 2003 by G. Hughes
The first album (remastered)
Garlands was the first album released by the Cocteau Twins, in 1982. It's probably the most goth-like record they've made and it contains one of the most hypnotic bass-lines in... Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2003 by Jediscajedisrien
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