Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The magnificent Cocteaus at their creative best, 17 Mar 2003
In 1984 I purchased 'Treasure', mostly because the cover looked fascinating, the song titles looked intriguing, and track one
sounded ok. It changed my life forever.The Cocteau Twins were not just a band, they were an entire chapter in musical history. Loads of musicians, especially half the ones at 4AD, took something from them and came up with beautiful music. The masters themselves evolved from distorted guitars on debut album 'Garlands' to a concept of blending lots of melodies, rhythms and vocals together. On their predecessor, 'Blue Bell Knoll', the result was just a little too technical, a bit too artificial. Then, a few years later, on 'Heaven Or Las Vegas' they hit perfection. Ten songs, ten masterpieces. And you can hardly even begin to describe their music. It's not very loud, but not really soft either. Some songs are quick, some are quiet. Some are complicated, some relatively simple. The melodies are hard to grasp - or are they? After a few times you hum every song along with your CD, so they're not that hard then, are they? But then, when you've turned off your CD-player you suddenly find you can only remember one or two at best. It's that kind of music, simple, yet complex. You can listen to this album and discover something new for at least twenty times. There's such a diversity on this album - listen to the vocal acrobatics on 'I wear your ring', the pulsating guitars on 'Fotzepolitic', or the romantic moods from 'Road, river and rail'. Then there's the intoxicating chorus on 'Iceblink luck' and the deceptively simple rhythms in 'Fifty-fifty clown'. And that's just half the album for you. If you feel you like progressive rock music - or maybe just *any* kind of rock music - you'll never regret buying this one.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unsurpassable, 11 Jul 2000
Ah... My entire life seemed to revolve around this album back in 1990/91. It was my first taste of the Cocteaus and remains my favourite album. It's only 37 minutes long but by the time track 10 fades out you'll swear you've been listening to it for hours, such is the emotional sweep that pervades it and carries the listener along. For me, the standout tracks were Cherry Coloured Funk, Fifty Fifty Clown, Pitch the baby, Heaven or Las Vegas and Road River & Rail. However, after playing those ones to death I 'rediscovered' the other five songs and played them to death too. Ten years later this album remains one of my top two albums of all time (the other being Hats by the Blue Nile). Heaven or Las Vegas was the Cocteau Twins at their finest, though theit next album, Four Calendar Cafe, was also sublime, though it marked the beginning of the end. Check out the predecessor Blue Bell Knoll too: the Coc's first foray into keyboard/sequencer dominated sounds and away from the murky guitar and echoes of their past. And if you're REALLY lucky you'll track down the CD single of Iceblink Luck, the single from Heaven or Las Vegas, which features two unreleased tracks on the 'b' side, both of which are gorgeous (and it's quite beyond me why they were left off the album.) Heaven or Las Vegas? Well it sure ain't Las Vegas.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Atmospheres..., 16 May 2003
Ten tracks. Not ten songs. Ten vast, heavenly, swirling atmospheres. There isn't really a track here that has a recognisable structure and there is no way to describe this music unless you've already heard it. It is the sort of music that conjures up images of places you've never been and drags you up to somewhere else. And there's the voice. Oh yes, the voice. There is simply no-one else alive who can, or has ever even thought to sing like this. Ice Blink Luck is one of the most beautiful, life-affirming songs ever and I can only make out about five words in it. Elsewhere Fotzepolitic is the sort of music that school girls could skip to, fifty-fifty clown could soundtrack a fairytale and the title track is the best dream you've ever had. Cherry-flavoured funk is possibly the best (definitely the most original) female vocal performance of all time. I will re-emphasize that no other band can create an atmosphere with music in the way that these can. Early suede, durutti column, my bloody valentine and the cure all come close, but it's just the voice. It's so original, the soft guitar and the fuzzy bass. You get the impression that glitter will start flying out of your stereo when you first press play. It doesn't though, so buy this, buy some sort of lighting effect from gadget shop, lay back and prepare to have your breath taken away.
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