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Cocteau Twins Albums Ranked
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- Опубліковано 15 сер 2024
- Ranking the discography of Cocteau Twins, one of the pioneering bands of dream pop and shoegaze, and one of my favourite bands of all time
Twitter: / davidrowemusic
Instagram: / davidrowe372
All my homies love Cocteau twins
Four Calendar Cafe is underrated
Came here for this comment
Literally.
@@kmartgoth8313 Agreed
I would put Four Calendar Cafe higher up on the list.
At this point tho I think it's "Milk and Kisses" that is truly underrated :) I think they are equally good albums and I barely see love for MK while everyone seems to say FCC is underrated.
53 year old grampa here, lol. My favorite band.
So much fun to hear young people go ove rthe whole thing in such fine detail.
I think your ranking order is very very good.
I think i would have put Four Calendar higher up, but it's for very personal reasons. I know it's seen as a bit of a sappy album?...is that a word? lol, but at the time it came out i was going through severe depression in my youth, and the convergence of me going through my process of healing and self discovery with the Twins suddenly sounding more grounded and confessional was precious to me...But i can see now, so many years later, what your saying.
I think it's AMAZING that you added Moon and The Melodies to the list, and hade it in such a good spot. Yes yes yes.
BTW
You look like Jack Black's little brother, lol...
I agree very much, I’m currently a high schooler, but I’m into tons of music so I do recommend Cocteau twins to any of my friends who want something new (or old in this case)
Blue Bell Knoll is their masterpiece
Cico buff 😳
@@MHammonds18 it's probably the best thing I've ever heard.
*Heaven or Las Vegas
Definitely their best album, not even close. They peaked in 1988. HoLV is preferred by all the Millennials and Gen-Z'ers who discovered them after they'd broken up.
I listened to that cassette. Saw them in concert at the hollywood palladium.
I would put EPs as well! Love's Easy Tears, Aikea Guinea and Spangle Maker got really good material in my opinion.
Yeah, I'd put The Pink Opaque compilation on the list instead of Moon and Melodies which was a collaboration with Harold Budd.
Love's Easy Tears is my fave of the eps.
Tiny Dynamine/Echoes In A Shallow Bay too
A board recording:
ua-cam.com/video/EOVNBzJxtPg/v-deo.html&ab_channel=DougRoss
The song Aikea Guinea is one of their best, all what Cocteau Twins stood for is present in this track.
I love their album covers
Most are made by 23Envelope who worked closely with the label 4AD. I agree their work was beautiful. They even got their own documentary!
True. They have such great and fitting album covers!
Vaughan Oliver was a graphic god, he influenced so many.
I’ve listened to Head Over Heels at least 15-20 times this past weekend. Perfect album start to finish
Their best imo
Treasure is special but that's their masterpiece
It might be my favorite of their albums from start to finish, that's a tough thing to rank though, love them all.
WHEEZING AND SNEEZING AND
I worked at a college radio station and interviewed Liz and I swear I had to pretend to understand what she was saying. Not only did she have such a heavy accent, she spoke with this kind of what I call mush mouth. A result of being incredibly shy. She had nothing to be shy about. Around 1983 when I interviewed her she was stunning.
You’re so lucky. I adore her.
You're #1 in my book for putting Moon and the Melodies in your top 5!! I liked your description of the album. Nice one.
Mostly agree with your list here. I think I would swap 1 and 2, but that is really a tough call. Also my favorite song, at the moment, is Frou Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fire.
finally someone who adores Moon And The Melodies too! So underrated even by pure CT fans
The Moon And The Melodies is about to be re-relased after being remastered by Robin it;s due out on August 23rd
I LOVE that you didn't boringly put "Milk and Kisses" last!!! sure, it's a "lesser" album of theirs but when I heard it first after hearing so much negativity I was shocked how good it actually is with no duds. It's not very adventurous for CT ("Ups" tho!) but they also use all their experience to create BEAUTIFUL, timeless dream-pop. And Rilkean Heart is a GEM. And "An Elan" is a STELLAR b-side!!!
A kissed red out red floatboat
Heaven Or Las Vegas is undeniably one great album. Everything about HOLV is musically mesmerising. I love the contrast of the synth, percussion, guitar and bass, topped off by the rich multi-layered vocals of Elizabeth Fraser. That woman's got range. For me, HOLV has NO skippable tracks and I don't care if the lyrics are indistinct. Who cares when the music is that good.
Firstly ....
Your review was excellent!!
As a life long obsessive Cocteau Twins fanboy since 1985! I cant adequately explain why this band mean so much to me. But I think if we ever met for a beer in a bar , we'd have a very long conversation about how incredible this band's legacy is.
Ok so heres my list , but what i want to ssy is that there is literally a hair's breath of difference, between these albums in terms of how magnificent they all are to me! They are all magikal....
9. Moon and the melodies
8. Victorialand
7.Milk & Kisses
6. Four Calendar Cafe
5. Garlands
4. Blue Bell Knoll
3. Treasure
2. Heaven Or Las Vegas
1. Head Over Heels *
* Head Over Heels is my all time favourite album, by any artist ever. It is utter perfection.
But as I said I litterlly adore everything Cocteau Twins ever released. To me they have a flawless back catalogue of work.
Love listning to you talking Cocteau's , I've owned most of the Lps since they came out and their my fav to , just so happy young folk like you have got in to them and this mortal coil. It's just so cool
1- Blue Bell Knoll / Aikea-Guinea EP. This era was so dark and dream pop. I saw them in 1988 a the Hollywood Palace and they opened with Blue Bell Knoll.
2 - Heaven or LV. I saw them in 1990 at the Berkeley Theatre. Amazing show!
3 - Victorialand / Snow EP. Both are Holiday Season staples.
4 - Treasure. Robin has a new drum box, the production is tight.
5 - Head over Heals. New drums box, fantastic goth pop!
I live in Grangemouth, the town in Scotland where they're from. My uncle worked with them.
They were my second-favourite band before I even knew this hahaha. Scary shit.
Favourite band is actually a duo and it's Boards of Canada, who are also Scottish lol.
@@frazbag1065 my coworker was just talking about boards of canada today
@@4r1777 Speaking highly of them I hope lol.
@@frazbag1065 yes very highly, ill have to check them out
@@4r1777 Sick. If you do, I'd recommend starting with their EP Hi Scores for a taster, and if you like that, work your way up their studio album catalogue in chronological order.
I love this band so much and I appreciate you making a ranking! I'm on the opposite side of the ranking spectrum lol! My ranking would be Garlands as #1 then Head Over heels as #2 and so on. Their early stuff/ throughout the 80s is my favorite period for them! Lol I'm a post punk/goth rock junkie so obviously their heavier stuff is gonna get me! Anyway, in my opinion ranking their music is super difficult because despite all the development over the years, it's all so beautiful and flat out good. More artists of today need to take notes from them that's all imma say!
The very same here, Head Over Heels #1 and Garlands #2 are my two favourite with Treasure being #3, the early 80s was also my favourite era for them, their darker more intense atmostphere in their ealier music, as a fellow post punk/goth rock/new wave junkie myself. I like their EPs such as Lullibies, Peppermint Pig, Sunburst and Snowblind and The Spangle Maker.
Nice vid. Such an underrated band. I wouldn’t have Four Calendar so low. But I hear all your points.
In a way it’s my favorite. At least one of them. Hard to rank their albums imo but I adore FCC
I was fortunate enough to hear the Material as it was released in real time. It was amazing to hear them grow. When Victorialand was released, it was a rainy cold winter in san Francisco, and I will always remember the winter vibe of the LP. Later, I saw the Cocteau's perform live at the Hollywood Palace 12/08/89. They opened with Blue Bell Knoll. The Palace has one of the best club sounds in LA. It was originally a play theater with a floor and balcony section. Then 12/03/1990, I saw them at Berkeley Theater 12/03/1990, they opened with Cherry Colored Funk and I think they had two extra guitarists. There was a light show where they had two different background screens, with one abstract projection on the back, and another one on the first opaque screen. These pastel colors danced behind them in 3D and they performed a majority of the material from Heaven or Los Vegas.
Interestingly I did the same , followed them from the start to finish from Scotland , but they're from east coast I'm west coast , they come from delapodated industrial area , I'm from busy tourist area . But still the whole of Scotland was experiencing a big recession , I think some of their sound came from that experience
Wow my opinion on this is completely switched around:
1) Milk & Kisses (Completely underrated to me, but it took a while to click)
2) Four-Calendar Café
3) Blue Bell Knoll
4) Heaven or Las Vegas
5) Treasure
6) Head Over Heels
7) The Moon and the Melodies
8) Victorialand
9) Garlands
I think the ambient stuff is beautiful, but it isn’t my favorite and hard to replay on a daily basis for me.
Cocteau Twins and a Lakers poster on the same wall is an auto like for me.
I mostly agree except I would switch what you had as #1 and #2. Elizabeth Frazer's voice is truly the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.
My personal three favorite Cocteau Twins songs:
1. Carolyn's Fingers
2. Crushed
3. Sigh's Smell of Farewell
Sigh’s is so underrated
Love the video!! Great job, man!! (Actually, it's DONIMO.. Not Domino..) Cheers!!
Lazy Calm
Gerry from scotland.my first ever concert.pavilion theatre,Glasgow Scotland.december 10th 1984.i was 17.brilliant memories.liz Fraser's voice still gives me goosebumps!!!.very proud they are from my country.they were so original.🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴👍👍👍👍😁😁😁😁.pink orange red.
Thanks for this...especially your impressions of Treasure, which made me chuckle...I bought Treasure when it came out in 1984, I already had the previous releases...1984 in the UK, as you likely know, was a year of massive industrial strife, injustice, hyper unemployment, and general misery for many young working class people, I'd just been ejected from the family home, lived alone for the first time in that year, and I still very much viscerally associate the Cocteau Twins, especially Treasure, which I still play a few times a month, with a grubby rented room with a rotten carpet, no heating, no heating and a gangster slum landlord...for me Treasure more than probably any other album is a barometer which tells how far I have travelled, what was lost and what gained, in the intervening decades.
Garlands is actually the only one i really enjoy so far :D I've listened to two or three other albums and they were good but they didnt even come close to the feeling of a great discovery i had when i first listened to Garlands. I'm listening to a lot of post punk tho, so it makes sense, i guess. I didn't even know of dream pop as a genre but maybe i will get into it.
Know who are at every age
Very satisfying rankings! Perhaps do the EPS??
I love garlands I don’t care about how it’s receptive I still love it but head over heels is my favorite
1. Head over hills ,2 The Moon and the melodies 3, Treasure 4 Victorialand
Please ranked the Eps as well!
Great ranking, appreciate the detailed reviews, however as somebody who almost exclusively “listens” to these rankings it would be great to mention each album title aswell.
Garlands last is blasphemy. It's like a sister record to Seventeen Seconds by The Cure, it's very chilling and groovy like you said. But the monotonous groove fits it very well imo.
1. Blue Bell Knoll
2. Garlands
3. Treasure
4. Milk And Kisses
5. Heaven Or Las Vegas
6. Four-Calendar Cafe
7. Victorialand
8. Head Over Heels
mine
9.milk kisses
9a. box set eps
8.victoria land
7.moon melodies
6.head heels
5. blue bell knoll
4. treasure
3. 4 calendar
2. heaven vegas
1. garlands
1a.crushed
1b.song to the siren
1c. frosty and winter ep
1. TREASURE :make feel everything in the night
2. Moon and the melodies : nostalgic I cant
3. Blue Bell knoll : pure love mercy for me
4. heaven or las vegas :obviusly a clasic
5. The pink opaque :🕷🖤
6. Victorialand: oomingmak ptmr this is so good
7.head over heels: the songs of this album hav so much power✊
8. Four calendar cafe
9. Milk&kisses: I need more time with this
10.garlands : I need more time with this album
Best cocteau twins song for me : 1. lorelei 2. Pandora 3.pitch the baby
Favorite song of the moment: those eyes, that mounth
I would put Milk & Kisses ahead of Victorialand and Moon And Melodies, and Heaven or Las Vegas at #1. Still, good job. Except for Garlands, their discography is solid so no wrong choices here. I will disagree with Milk & Kisses being similar to 4 Calendar Cafe and playing it safe. This album actually pushes the band further after the slightly disappointing (yet still good) 4 Calendar Cafe. There are a lot of tracks where they are doing something new: nothing in their catalogue sounds like Eperdu, Serpentskirt, Half-Gifts or Treasure Hiding. Those are some career highlights, along with opener Violaine. The only track I thought was weak was Seekers Who Are Lovers, but it's the last one so it doesn't hurt the flow or pacing. It would have been really interesting to hear what a follow-up album would have sounded like after that one.
For me:
1. The Moon and the Melodies
2. Head over Heels
3. Treasure
4. Victorialand
5. Garlands
6. Four-Calendar Café
7. Heaven or Las Vegas
8. Blue Bell Knoll
9. Milk & Kisses
Good commentary throughout, however the comment around the 19:45 mark about Pandora being sunny and breezy? That wouldn't be how I'd describe it. Strikes me as being more melancholy and contemplative than that.
Your review of this is just heaven. This is the best ever. You totally understand. It’s so good. You say it all. I couldn’t agree more❤❤❤ My God, you are good❤❤❤ Fantastic! Thank you! I love you now💖🤣❤️😂
I fell in love with the Cocteau Twins in 1982, when my club was playing Wax & Wane.
My Top 3 is
1 Blue Bell Knoll
2 Treasure
3 Victorialand
My favorite song is probably A kissed out red floatboat
Thanks for your in depth look at your favorite albums of the twins.
All I’ll say is you best put respect on Head over Heels’ name or I’ll be on the first flight to Canada 😤😤😤
My favorites are Head over Heels and Treasure.
they are my favourite band! i loved your ranking but i'd consider garlands as the first in the list lol. i love its misterious & intense atmosphere. that dark, cyclical guitar, the pulsating bass, the dry vocals. and i have a different opinion regarding the lyrics. i think it's as simple as it had to be. but i just loved your video so much that i wanted to be your friend hahah
(also: even though the first albums' lyrics still had a minimum congruence, this is the least i take in consideration when talking bout cocteau twins lol sometimes i feel like the vocals work only as an instrument, like ethereal words i would never be able to truly comprehend.)
Epic Band!!!!!!!!! Thank u for sharing!
Everything you said about Victorialand is why it's my personal favourite. I am a big ambient fan. And The Moon and the Melodies is how I discovered Harold Budd, who quickly becaue (and remains) my favourite all-time artist. And I love that album too,
I was so enamored of your 3 hour Charmed dancethru that I thought I’d check out your channel only to see you ranking MY FAVORITE BAND EVER!!
We have excellent taste in music!
It’s so special to me to see and listen to a person that loves the Cocteau twins as much as I do. They where my coming of age band. I realised who I am through them. I’m so excited to hear what you have to say. This band is special. This band did something to me back in the day. I knew I was a little different from the rest back then in the 80’s. You know, the alternative listerner. The dreamy type. Like Jeff Buckley. That kind of people🌹
(p.s. for Treasure synths, all praise to the Yamaha DX7 and Emulator II!)
Cocteau Twins made some wonderful songs, my personal favourite, from their last album, Milk 🥛 & Kisses 💋
Half Gifts 🎁
Great to hear your preferences/feelings and enthusiasm for, I agree, a contender for best band .........ever.
Bluebell knoll is my favourite because it’s unsullied by the world 😀 More Heaven than Las Vegas.
Will now give Victorialand some more time because it’s the album I’ve played least. Treasure was the album which got me hooked and in many ways distilled their essence for me. Song to the Siren, was my first love. They managed to do the best cover ever too!
Asked Robin to sign his solo album for me after a great local gig. Had to say ‘Thanks for your music” and put my hand on his shoulder ....just to check, that the person who came up with those sounds, was/is real 😀
Used to live overlooking Grangemouth, I’m sure Blade Runner was filmed there .... on a wet January evening.
Interesting. For me Heaven or Las Vegas falls third to last, with milk and kisses second to last, and four calendar cafè on last place. First place for me is Victorialand.
Oil of angels and essence are literally top tier FCC songs imo lol
I might actually put moon and the melodies at number 2.
@16:15 exactly my reaction to hearing it for the first time. I'd just put it on to listen to in the background but I was utterly transfixed by the music and vocals. Especially that chorus is just like being lifted off the ground.
Respect for your comments, spot on. I still think Shallow Then Halo is one of the best tracks ever made. I actually think they're very underrated as a band.
As a fan of Shallow Then Halo you might want to listen to this: ua-cam.com/video/i1OecrJGoAE/v-deo.html
I don't care it's a compilation, The Pink Opaque. For those who were actually there, and didn't call it dreampop.
Yes. One of the best bands of our time. Magic. Simply sublime.
bro ur so real for this like this was really good
All flowers in time with Jeff Buckley
My Studio Album Rankings
1st: Head Over Heels
2nd: Garlands
3rd: Treasure
4th: Heaven or Las Vegas
5th: The Moon and the Melodies (with Harold Budd)
6th: Victorialand
7th: Blue Bell Knoll
8th: Four Calander Cafe
9th: Milk and Kisses
David, I enjoyed your thoroughly immersive dive into this wonderful musical entity! Please find the Group Sun's Signature which is her new project released on June 16 for RSD. it is an EP with shades of Liz's glorious past with the twins but also an amalgamation of otherworldly sounds and influences. It is my favorite release of the year.
Started out with you ranking one of my faves second last but you sold me when we had the same top 2 🤩
I just hope we can move past calling Treasure their masterpiece when Blue Bell Knoll exists
My truth on four calendar cafe is one of my favorite Cocteau songs. Like top 5. Also I go back n forth on what is my most favorite album but atm blue bell knoll is it. The live version of cico buff is sooooooooooo good.
I love Treasure and Heaven or Las Vegas pretty much almost equally. They’re both 10/10 perfect albums, and I think they’re also the best album of their respective years (Treasure = best album of ‘84, Heaven or Las Vegas = best album of ‘90). That’s how much I love both of them. Here’s where the differentiation exists for me: Heaven or Las Vegas is the pinnacle of dream pop, and is absolute big lush perfection…….however, I think that Treasure has the slight edge for me because it’s a little more raw and multifaceted, and unlike Heaven or Las Vegas, Treasure can’t be pinned down to one style or one genre. It also has more dynamic depth and spontaneity imo, with Donimo being my absolute favorite Cocteau Twins song. The first time I heard it, I just couldn’t believe it was made by mere human beings. It’s their best for me. The band hate it, especially Robin Guthrie (well, he’s actually softened a bit on it), and I totally get that you’re gonna hate anything that you have to through a ton of pressure and stress and pain to make, but they shouldn’t be so hard on themselves. They did an amazing job, and Robert Smith saying that it’s one of the most romantic albums ever made and listening to it while getting ready for his wedding speaks for itself.
Such a low placing for the masterpiece that is Victorialand. Unacceptable.
9. Four Calender Cafe
8. Garlands
7. Milk & Kisses
6. Moon and Melodies
5. Heaven or Las Vegas
4. Blue Bell Knoll
3. Treasure
2. Victorialand
1. Head Over Heels
I've been on a revisiting campaign of the Cocteau Twins of late and don't know why. My list matches your exactly. Although I must admit I gave up on them right before Milk and Kisses. I didn't even know the album existed but did know one track. Funny thing is about The Cocteau Twins, (and yes I use "THE") is that I love them, but I don't love every song. Maybe on Treasure I like the most songs at about 7. I just feel they had too much filler. Maybe because I followed them in real-time? There were so many bands hitting in the early to mid 80s that it was hard to listen to albums all the way through unless it was XTC. XTC's songs were mixed in very specific orders, and it was impossible to skip songs on their records.
The Greek root for enthusiasm refers to one inhabited by a god. Your enthusiasm here really conveys the idea of the divinity of their music... it animates you. Loved your careful attention to detail and your insights.
Bought Garlands when it first came out, and still listen to it. The Harold Budd collaboration is outstanding.Treasure, though, is my favourite. The
I’m realizing upon watching this video that despite having been a fan for the last decade there’s a couple Cocteau Twins albums I’ve never listened to at all. Guess I gotta fix that
I've loved the Cocteaus for 40 years and your ratings are close to mine, although I love Victorialand more than you do. If you'd like to hear an equally amazing voice and music Agnes Obel is a major talent!
Tiny/Echoes my fav CT experience
i love blue bell knoll with a passion, glad it was in top 3. i understand the low rating, but i think garlands is still a highly enjoyable album
Points off for your reviews: the Twins didn't use "synthesizers". More like effects and sound processing. 😎
They briefly used keys on Head Over Heels, but quickly decided to just cut them out.
I LOVE four calendar café ahh
But you have to stay in the Cocteau mood. It’s just a mood. It’s the feeling. And that is what it is. The dream head feeling! Can’t we just be like that!!!
🔥🔥
Amazing vid!
Pandora for Cindy❤
My personal favorite has to be the Moon and Melodie’s they should’ve collaborated with Budd more often
dude, what are you talking about? summerhead is simply incredible.....
love the vid :P
Yer wrong. So wrong. So wrong I want to fight you.
The only thing you were right about is that every album is so good... it becomes nitpicking to set them apart.
Still... you're wrong and I want to fight. Victorialand is the best!
It's a shame all you've done is followed convention. Victorialand & Four Calendar Cafe are very underrated and their stripped-back production really brings forth both LF's vocals and the instrumentation.
Hands up if you played Victorialand at the wrong speed...? Interestingly (for me at least) Treasure was my first introduction to CT and I've loved them since those dreamy 80's days.
I think the last two albums were pedestrian, still love them tho.
glad to see Treasure in the top spot. Persephone alone would make it there for me! (:
Meh...Heaven was too commercial for me. Loved Garlands and especially Bluebell Knoll. Best single - Carolyn's fingers. Favourite single overall - Sugar Hiccup.
Commercial? An album where you could still not make out many of the lyrics, has nearly-operatic vocals, and maybe ONE bit that can be called a guitar solo can't be commercial I mean, sure, it has a bit more of a pop sound in the first few tracks, but nothing commercial about the second half of the album.
Not really tho, it only hit #99 in the States.
My top three are Head Over Heels, Garlands, and Blue Bell Knoll.
Victorialand is to me their best album
I also prefer Milk and Kisses to Moon/Melodies but the MK closer "Seekers Who Are Lovers" is imo totally stunning!
You got Four Calendar Cafe completely wrong, in almost every point you made. But I respect your subjective view, and to be frank, I doubt I could rank the Twins albums in any way whatsoever; each one is a singular, unique experience that defies comparison.
What about pink opaque
compilation album which features songs from their other albums
blue bell knoll is #1
I believe Robin called treasure an abortion. I tend to agree more with you. It comes across as a gorgeous series of portraits in music
While I don’t agree with Robin or the band when they call Treasure garbage, I don’t think it’s their best. I think Heaven or Las Vegas is clearly the superior record.
I couldn’t disagree more! (But that’s ok ;) )
I believe that, even though NOT my fave, four calendar café is their most cohesive album, song to song, feeling to feeling.
Then I’d put HOLV in that regard…
Blue bell knoll
W
M