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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This review is the starting point of a journey to find my music and marks the start of a sporadic series of reviews to try and chart this journey and hopefully provide some pointers on the way. Not the first record I bought (anyone who says a record this good is the first record they bought is obviously a liar - mine... 'Remember your a Womble' aged 7) but the first record I bought that felt truly unique, that I felt was mine, and it instilled a need from thereon to find music that did the same.
I first saw the Cocteau Twins on The Tube perform what is still for me the defining track - 'Musette and Drums' and was awestruck. It sounded like music from another world - Liz's voice was becoming her own and Robin Guthrie was finding the sound that would become a cornerstone of my collection.
The nostalgic in me has given this album 5 stars, looking dispassionately at it now it is probably only a 4 star record, but to forget the passion I had then and still do (Lullabies to Violaine made sure of that - 'Sugar Hiccup' especially) would be to forget what made the Cocteau Twins then and now a special band. They would go on from here to make their masterpieces, for me Treasure and Victorialand plus the EPs in-between, but this is as much a landmark for me as for them and is essential.
From this point on the label 4ad could do little wrong - this was a period when you could buy a new 4ad release without even hearing it and be guaranteed something special (not only the record either, with Vaughan Oliver and 23 envelope producing some of the most beautiful artwork to grace a sleeve). Soon after they would release the much coveted This Mortal Coil album 'It'll End in Tears' which again featured Liz on 'Song to the Siren' - another remarkable performance on a remarkable record.
However I'm going to skip labels from here to another that could be relied upon for the same combination of outstanding music and beautiful artwork - that of Factory records, Peter Saville and most importantly The Durutti Column with 'Return of...' - another pivotal release from the criminally underated Vini Reilly.
I first saw the Cocteau Twins on The Tube perform what is still for me the defining track - 'Musette and Drums' and was awestruck. It sounded like music from another world - Liz's voice was becoming her own and Robin Guthrie was finding the sound that would become a cornerstone of my collection.
The nostalgic in me has given this album 5 stars, looking dispassionately at it now it is probably only a 4 star record, but to forget the passion I had then and still do (Lullabies to Violaine made sure of that - 'Sugar Hiccup' especially) would be to forget what made the Cocteau Twins then and now a special band. They would go on from here to make their masterpieces, for me Treasure and Victorialand plus the EPs in-between, but this is as much a landmark for me as for them and is essential.
From this point on the label 4ad could do little wrong - this was a period when you could buy a new 4ad release without even hearing it and be guaranteed something special (not only the record either, with Vaughan Oliver and 23 envelope producing some of the most beautiful artwork to grace a sleeve). Soon after they would release the much coveted This Mortal Coil album 'It'll End in Tears' which again featured Liz on 'Song to the Siren' - another remarkable performance on a remarkable record.
However I'm going to skip labels from here to another that could be relied upon for the same combination of outstanding music and beautiful artwork - that of Factory records, Peter Saville and most importantly The Durutti Column with 'Return of...' - another pivotal release from the criminally underated Vini Reilly.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It seems funny but before this album the world had no sound like the cocteau twins - this album transformed the independent music landscape and created a new genre based on beautiful, ethereal soundscapes, backed by sinewy 3/4 drum patterns and haunting chiming guitar refrains. But that was only the start - Liz Fraser's gorgeous, haunting and evocative voice was the defining and compelling instrument which set the Cocteau's apart - at once melancholy yet uplifting, caressing yet plaintive, articulate yet mysterious - and above all simply the most beatiful voice you will ever hear. Influences from Bulgarian folk singers, Billie Holliday and even opera can be heard but nothing prepares you for it's sheer delight. This, the Cocteau's first album with their more accessible sound provides ten tracks which, in my opinion, represent the best of a long and very productive career. If you are new to the Twins it's the perfect start - despite being nearly 17 years old - if this is missing from you collection then - remedy that anomaly now. One of the best albums I have ever - and probably will ever hear - pure undiluted bliss. Enjoy
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Surprised there are no reviews of this albumn already since in my opinion it is the very best example of the Cocteau's unique style. Incredibly spacey and atmospheric but also including what I can only describe as "cathedrals" of sound (Musette and Drums being in my all time top ten due to the power, drama and sheer ecstatic feeling of joy I still feel when listening to it; arms flailing around to the drum beats and "singing along" to the word sounds of Liz Fraser's vocals). Later Cocteau albumns became a little on the "twittery" side. This one comes from the heart.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Quite Simple Really.
I remember the first time I heard this album (on vinyl) the day after it was released - a rainy Tuesday...in the local Indie Record Shop...It literally 'Blew Me Away'... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Yanto
Other-worldly magic
The Cocteau Twins' vocalist Elizabeth Frazer is one of the most influential vocalists in rock history, and the band that she fronted was at the forefront of one of the many... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Daniel Margrain
Bowled Over
This was the first Cocteaus album I bought, albeit a couple of years after it was released. Every now and then (not all that often), John Peel would play a piece of music that I... Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by Marchespie
my first cocteaus experience circa 1983
this album is slightly lacking from the normal standards expected from the cocteaus-like moon and the melodies it only gets 4 stars-as it was their 2nd album they were still... Read more
Published on 16 July 2009 by mean mr mustard
The Beginning of a New Age
`Head Over Heels' marks quite a musical departure for Cocteau Twins from their debut album and whilst some of the sparse, almost manic intensity of `Garland's sound remains in... Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2008 by D. Newton
This is what i call music!
This is my favorite Cocteau Twins album, from the eerie opening track, When Mama Was Moth a wall of sound draws you in. Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2006 by philtregonning
Head over heels? Five ten fiftyfold!
The Smiths, the Bunnymen, New Order - these 80s' indie heroes are frequently cited as influences by today's bands, but the Cocteau Twins? No one ever mentions 'em. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2005 by Kevin Clarke
great stuff
I would have to say that I listen to this album about as much as my Chameleons UK and Big Country albums (all the damned time). Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2003 by kurt
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