Cocteaus S/D

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Pleez help me: Heaven or Las Vegas was one of my key early music purchases. But it took me a couple of years to seek out more CT material. I bought a tape of Blue Bell Knoll in the early '90s, and after 2 listens decided it didn't have whatever it was I loved about HoLV or the new 4 Calendar Cafe.

Did I not give BBK a fair chance, or didn't I buy the right album?

Where do I go from here is my question. Just list what you feel is the best stuff.

― Aaron A., Friday, 14 February 2003 01:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Pick up THE PINK OPAQUE.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 14 February 2003 01:27 (twenty-three years ago)

see also...

Cocteau Twins : Classic or Dud

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 14 February 2003 01:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Search: _Treasure_. None of their other albums really hit me like this one. Dunno why. Also search out Liz Fraser's tracks on the first This Mortal Coil, _It'll End In Tears_. The rest of the album is pretty stellar, too.

― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Friday, 14 February 2003 02:08 (twenty-three years ago)

IT'LL END IN TEARS is absolutely celestial.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 14 February 2003 02:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Celestial is an understatement.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 February 2003 02:19 (twenty-three years ago)

I second Treasure. It does more for me than any of their other work.

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Friday, 14 February 2003 02:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Hmm. I find myself more and more in concordance with Alex in NYC. I never thought i'd agree with anyone from NYC...

And am i the only one who finds the other This Mortal Coil releases to be more than a tad superfluous?

― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Friday, 14 February 2003 04:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Filigree and Shadow has Dominic Appleton giving some great performances plus a wonderful version of "Alone," so that counts.

Oh, and Treasure? Words can't express its perfection, drum sound and everything.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 February 2003 04:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Obviously Treasure, but also Aikea Guinea EP for the exhilirating title track that sounds like no other Cocteau track.

― Leee (Leee), Friday, 14 February 2003 08:16 (twenty-three years ago)

I have to go with Head Over Heels simply because it's not quite like the rest of what they did - far more obtusely jazzy. Garlands, if you want to hear something totally different that they've done.

Oh and what am I thinking?! Get Victorialand. This is Urgent and Key. Stunning.

― Trayce (trayce), Saturday, 15 February 2003 04:31 (twenty-three years ago)

How necessary are the new Cocteau reissues? I know they've been remastered by Robin, but is the difference positive enough to warrent buying the whole set a second time?

― derrick (derrick), Saturday, 15 February 2003 08:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I think you really have to ask yourself: How necessary are *ANY* reissues? Unless they've been appended with new tracks/b-sides/demos/live tracks or some such ephemera that you just can't live without....is it really worth it? Will your ears be able to pick out pithy nuances that a subtle re-mastering might have tweaked up in the mix? With the possible exception of RAW POWER by Iggy & the Stooges, I can't think of too many re-mastered albums that struck me as sounding THAT different on the average conventional stereo. If you're a big audiophile, then sure -- knock your woofers & tweeters out, but otherwise, I'd say stick with your original editions.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 15 February 2003 08:16 (twenty-three years ago)

The recent reissues of the early Simple Minds and Human League albums sound great compared to the initial CD versions.

― Andy K (Andy K), Saturday, 15 February 2003 22:43 (twenty-three years ago)

alex and andy are both right. andy's right about some initial CD versions, done during the mid-eighties just as CDs caught on -- some artists/producers didn't have a clue how to maximize the new technology, or used flawed masters, or made pointless remixes. (Frank Zappa was a prime offender there). So maybe remixes of the earliest Cocteau Twins might be worth it (though I don't know, since I haven't compared). Alex is right about later CDs, where the earlier foregoing kinks had been worked out -- prob. not much difference between the original Heaven or Las Vegas and a remix of same.

as fer the Cocteaus, I prefer the Heaven or Las Vegas era meself -- it seems more focused and defined, less airy and mushy. then again, i caught on late to them (i.e., HOLV was the first Cocteaus I really listened to), so that might skew my opinions somewhat.

― Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 16 February 2003 00:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Tad: interesting point, many people I've met who came to the Coc's in the 1990s prefer that later era, and find the old stuff not as appealing. Any older fans who either knew them from the start or came in earlier (I discovered them when Treasure came out) seem to prefer that earlier stuff.

No one ever seems to say Garlands is their "best" album, though ;) I think, even though I love it, its almost like another band. Kind of like MBV when they had that awful singer that made them sound like thr Cramps...

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 16 February 2003 01:30 (twenty-three years ago)

I second Alex's nudge to get The Pink Opaque. It was originally released way back when as an introductory primer for US audiences, and pulls together the best of their early album tracks and singles into what may their most cohesive album of all.

Is it in print, though?

― paul cox (paul cox), Sunday, 16 February 2003 01:59 (twenty-three years ago)

five months pass...

I read that the reissues sound worse? True? Is there any way to tell the difference in the original/reissue just from packaging?

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 02:21 (twenty-two years ago)

er...

I read that the reissues sound worse.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 02:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i think the reissues are stickered to indicate as much..

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 02:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Stickered to indicate that they sound worse?

"Now! Made shittier for you, the consumer."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 02:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Everyone so far = otm. That said, want to buy my remastered Head Over Heels? Anyone? Anyone? Mueller?

― Leee (Leee), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 04:32 (twenty-two years ago)

You can tell from the packaging and the catalog number. The re-release catalog numbers will start with GAD and are different colors from the originals... of course if you haven't seen the originals that won't be much help.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 07:29 (twenty-two years ago)

If you have a turntable, try to get Cocteau Twins albums that way. I'm not trying to be a snob, either... the warm sound of a good needle really benefits these records.

― Captain Typo (kenan), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 07:34 (twenty-two years ago)

the blue bell knoll remaster sounds like radically different from what I remember, crispier, louder guitars quieter vocals. I recently heard the heaven or las vegas remaster at a friends' house and it sounded quite good actually.

My favorite album of the early stuff is Victorialand with Moon and the Melodies running a close second. The Love's Easy Tears single. Heaven or Las Vegas.

Pink Opaque needs to come back in print soon, though that looks unlikely now that Stars and Topsoil is out (http://www.cocteautwins.com/html/discography/discog_12.html), which shares too many tracks. Looks like a decent compilation though.

― jl (Jon L), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 17:58 (twenty-two years ago)

While we're at it, how about drastically remixing Milk and Kisses? I mean, hats off to Robin and all, but the album is just too damn GUTHRIE-IZED. And "Rilkean Heart" and "Half-Gifts" are just ruined (listen to the infinitely better versions on Twinlights for comparison).

― Ernest P. (ernestp), Wednesday, 6 August 2003 00:01 (twenty-two years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.