One of the most unique and blissful sounding bands ever. They are one of my absolute favorites, though I tend to like their earlier music more this is still a great album with some of my favorite songs by them. So glad you are checking this out.
I'm American, and found out about the Cocteau Twins back in '85 from my best friend in high school. Been a fan ever since. They were definitely known to us American teens back then. I guess it depends on where in the States you grew up. In the 80s we were lucky to have a hugely popular college radio station (WHFS) that played only the alt. rock music.
My favorite band for over 3 decades. Also, Robert Smith's of The Cure favorite band apparently. I get almost embarrassed in a voyeuristic way by Elizabeth Fraser's often-overlooked lyrics because they're such a keyhole peering right into her heart. Achingly honest. Amazingly beautiful stuff.
Hi Prog Dog Watching your reaction to HOLV by Cocteau Twins right now [I'm on part two right now lol] But wanted to jump in real quick. Cocteaus started in 1978/79 With core members Robin Guthrie [ Guitars effects , pedals etc] & Will Heggie [ Bass ] they realised they needed a singer pretty early on, so when Robin [at the time a dj at The Hotel International in Grangemouth Scotland] spotted a girl dancing to the records he was spinning. She [Elizabeth Fraser] asked/was invited to join the band. After a brief period of working together as a 3 piece, they put together two demo tapes. Being massive fans of Nick Cave's band [of the time] The Birthday Party, they decided to travel down to London ... to give one tape to Nick Cave! & another Ivo Watts Russell, who at the time ran/owned 4ad Records based in London, which at the time had Bauhaus & The Birthday Party on their growing rosta. Anywho, Robin & Elizabeth delivered one tape [in person] to Ivo at 4ad.... and the other back stage at a Birthday Party gig .... As you mentioned Ivo loved what he heard and invited the band to come back down to London to record, initially he was going to sign them up to put out a 7" single, but changed his mind and got them into the studio to record their debut album, Garlands which is a dark brooding post punk gothic masterclass in taking a singular idea and refining it through blind faith & experimentation... After a tour with OMD Will Heggie left the band .... And Robin & Elizabeth went on to create their Second album Head Over Heels , as a duo. Whilst it shares some similarities with the brilliant Garlands, it is also an enormous leap forward in their sound. [To this day it remains my all-time favourite album; by any artist ever!] Shortly afterwards Simon Raymonde became the permanent 3rd member of the band , his first album with them was Treasure [which is often sited by fans as their best album, it also happens to be one of Robert Smith of The Cure's favourite albums] OK I'm gonna leave it coz... As you may guess I'm a Cocteau Twins obsessive of some 30+ years and could go on.about them forever lol But wanted to give you a little background, I highly recommend visiting their website www.cocteautwins.com For in-depth history of the band , also keep an eye out for your post man in the next few weeks ... My email will provide more details shortly lol Right back to your reaction lol
it was definitely an underground band when i was growing up. it was a word of mouth thing, at least for me in the US. But i was lucky to have a band and a group of friends that would use their paycheck money, on friday, to go directly to the record store and say “ what’s new. “ and sift through hundreds of vinyls and just pick one because the cover was cool. pre internet days. pretty cool.
Ah taking me back to my college years. I couldn’t get enough of this album. Pre-internet, I never knew what they were saying or the fact that they would just use syllables that sounded right in place of words.
I love your reactions, and I love the fact you're tackling the Cocteau Twins which is more Dream Pop (as you said, than Shoegaze), however if you really want to cover Shoegaze that really begins and ends with Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, nothing else really comes close!
Shoegaze was pretty underground back in the day. Cocteau Twins we’re popular with some of the college crowd and disaffected and somewhat morose teens, which was me and my friends. Big Kate Bush fan too.
Spot on. Dynamo was definitely a shoegaze record. Medium is another track that follows this same wall-of-sound, enveloping gossamer ambiance. Gustavo loved British pop. He was very much into My Bloody Valentine.
Hi Dean. May I suggest for your next prog Sunday 70s prog album Kansas’s “Two for the Show” a double live album from the late 70s that o demonstrate how great they were in the 70s when Kerry was still in the band @ Steve Walsh was the main vocalist & Robby Steinhardt was also a vocalist and the great violinist. I can’t recommend it more highly!!!
Just a quick note, and not to sound pedantic. Cocteau Twins did not produce "genre music," dream pop shoegaze or otherwise. Those are terms coined by the UK music press after the fact to describe the sound of several music artists of that period, some of whom influenced and/or collaborated with others. Cocteau Twins were an avant-garde pop band with origins in the post-punk era. They are/were not Dream Pop or Shoegaze. Genre labels like that diminish their legacy, and reduce the universality of their reach.
Too bad the press had so much power to influence. It is convenient to use the labels, even necessary sometimes I guess. I'm wondering if given the seachange in the music biz that the press no longer does this? Yet somehow it still feels like media influence the music scene rather than respond to it.
@@deanwolfechannel I think you're right, I mean media is maybe no longer the gatekeeper it once was, but it still just loooooves pigeonholing and categorizing wherever it can. But I have to say that the "kids of today" lol are kind of complicit. Dividing and subdividing regurgitated styles of the past and calling them "(blank)wave." It's really rare to hear something truly original anymore.
Same thing happened with grunge. A lot of bands labeled "grunge" bands never called themselves grunge, like Alice in Chains, who just said they played metal, rock, blues, folk, etc. Its the music press and critics who seem to come up with genre names to organize bands into boxes, sometimes when it doesn't even make sense and most bands play all kinds of music that doesn't fit into the same box.
I've listened to Cocteau twins since the album's started coming out in early 80s and never heard the label "dream pop" this band were not pop, listen to earlier albums or some "this mortal coil" deffo not pop
@@deanwolfechannel They have a great catalog. Maybe 2 weak albums but the rest are ranging from great to phenomenal. My personal favourite is "Treasure". Its a very mysterious album
@@justsomejusstsome8994 When you say "easily their best" it kind of implies you think the other albums are on a lower level.. so you don´t appreciate the rest of their catalogue as much? That´s ok. We all have different tastes. Heaven or Las Vegas is a good album that I listen to fairly regularly and I love Cocteau Twins. I just like all of what came before a little better (including ep collections, not just proper albums). It´s just personal taste. I would not say it "easily" is their worst. Cocteau Twins are consistently good. I used to think 4CC was the "worst" and might change opinion again. I like all of their styles. It´s all lovely really.
@@bongodroid I personally think this album is on an all time great level. My favourite however is "Treasures", and I think Cocteau Twins has one of the most respectable and consistent discographies of all 80s/90s bands. I think their songwriting peaked with this album, as well as their production, thats all. I would get someone thinks this isnt their best but to say its their worst is just very odd to me, almost objectively wrong, and I say that without disrespect. I just think that from a songwriting perspective, theres no way that FCC, M&K, HOH or Garlands is better than this. Others might be arguable but those I just named have lesser moments, some more than others, while HOLV is consistently great, and has some incredible peaks
►Part 2: ua-cam.com/video/sUuqp9Mpmp8/v-deo.html
0:00 Intro/background
1:00 Cherry-Coloured Funk
4:11 Comments/melting face
5:34 Pitch The Baby
8:48 comments/Kate Bush fans
I’ve said over and over, their music is heaven on earth. One of a kind brilliance!
yes, I can't believe it's taken me this long to discover it.
The first time I heard the vocal harmonies during the chorus of cherry colored funk, I felt emotions we don't have names for.
One of the most unique and blissful sounding bands ever. They are one of my absolute favorites, though I tend to like their earlier music more this is still a great album with some of my favorite songs by them. So glad you are checking this out.
'Blissful' band: that's a great word for them, spot on...
impossible not to love their music................i only regret hearing them for the 1st time a couple years back.......
I'm American, and found out about the Cocteau Twins back in '85 from my best friend in high school. Been a fan ever since. They were definitely known to us American teens back then. I guess it depends on where in the States you grew up. In the 80s we were lucky to have a hugely popular college radio station (WHFS) that played only the alt. rock music.
My favorite band for over 3 decades. Also, Robert Smith's of The Cure favorite band apparently. I get almost embarrassed in a voyeuristic way by Elizabeth Fraser's often-overlooked lyrics because they're such a keyhole peering right into her heart. Achingly honest. Amazingly beautiful stuff.
also Prince's fav band. apparently dude was a superfan and sought out all types of rare memoribilia and stuff
@@memphiskash Can you imagine Price doing Cocteau covers? If there's a heaven...
Love the Cocteau Twins. Summerhead, Persephone, Sugar hiccup, and Cherry Colored Funk are my favorite songs by them.
Elizabeth Fraser is an Amazing vocal talent.
I believe Coctau Twins predate "dream pop" and "shoegaze" as a touchstone of inspiration for those genres
Could be. A new doc on yt sites the ronettes as perhaps the earliest iteration of dream pop
Oh WOW, I am VERY excited to watch through this and see what you think of this beauty. What an amazing surprise to wake up to.
Cool😎
Hi Prog Dog
Watching your reaction to HOLV by Cocteau Twins right now [I'm on part two right now lol] But wanted to jump in real quick.
Cocteaus started in 1978/79 With core members Robin Guthrie [ Guitars effects , pedals etc] & Will Heggie [ Bass ] they realised they needed a singer pretty early on, so when Robin [at the time a dj at The Hotel International in Grangemouth Scotland] spotted a girl dancing to the records he was spinning. She [Elizabeth Fraser] asked/was invited to join the band. After a brief period of working together as a 3 piece, they put together two demo tapes.
Being massive fans of Nick Cave's band [of the time] The Birthday Party, they decided to travel down to London ... to give one tape to Nick Cave! & another Ivo Watts Russell, who at the time ran/owned 4ad Records based in London, which at the time had Bauhaus & The Birthday Party on their growing rosta.
Anywho, Robin & Elizabeth delivered one tape [in person] to Ivo at 4ad.... and the other back stage at a Birthday Party gig ....
As you mentioned Ivo loved what he heard and invited the band to come back down to London to record, initially he was going to sign them up to put out a 7" single, but changed his mind and got them into the studio to record their debut album, Garlands which is a dark brooding post punk gothic masterclass in taking a singular idea and refining it through blind faith & experimentation...
After a tour with OMD Will Heggie left the band .... And Robin & Elizabeth went on to create their Second album Head Over Heels , as a duo. Whilst it shares some similarities with the brilliant Garlands, it is also an enormous leap forward in their sound. [To this day it remains my all-time favourite album; by any artist ever!]
Shortly afterwards Simon Raymonde became the permanent 3rd member of the band , his first album with them was Treasure [which is often sited by fans as their best album, it also happens to be one of Robert Smith of The Cure's favourite albums]
OK I'm gonna leave it coz...
As you may guess I'm a Cocteau Twins obsessive of some 30+ years and could go on.about them forever lol
But wanted to give you a little background, I highly recommend visiting their website www.cocteautwins.com
For in-depth history of the band , also keep an eye out for your post man in the next few weeks ...
My email will provide more details shortly lol
Right back to your reaction lol
Cocteau twins are great to listen too whilst stoned !!🎶😎🤩
It's impossible not to love this album!
I know!
That key change at 7:23 always hit me hard. It's brilliant,just lifts the song even higher. I saw it in your face. :)
Ohhh. How exciting! I can't wait to watch. They have always been one of my favorite bands. You should check out their album "Treasure".
Once you hear Liz Fraser you can never unhear it, you can never go back..........
exactly. It's like opening up a new book with your ears
it was definitely an underground band when i was growing up. it was a word of mouth thing, at least for me in the US. But i was lucky to have a band and a group of friends that would use their paycheck money, on friday, to go directly to the record store and say “ what’s new. “ and sift through hundreds of vinyls and just pick one because the cover was cool. pre internet days. pretty cool.
Ah taking me back to my college years. I couldn’t get enough of this album. Pre-internet, I never knew what they were saying or the fact that they would just use syllables that sounded right in place of words.
Pitch The Baby!! Love this and Fifty Fifty Clown! 🖤🖤🖤 Miss my youth
I love your reactions, and I love the fact you're tackling the Cocteau Twins which is more Dream Pop (as you said, than Shoegaze), however if you really want to cover Shoegaze that really begins and ends with Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, nothing else really comes close!
ua-cam.com/video/k_yNIr_9amw/v-deo.html
I just reacted to loveless!
@@deanwolfechannel Perfect, I look forward to watching it!
Such a unique and beautiful sound - how could anyone NOT love the CTwins!
Yessss, nice choice, one of my favourites álbum of times, so many times bringing me down from troubles and life itself. Thanks for this.
My pleasure!
I'm a total long time proghead and I love the Cocteau twins. I've seen them live a few times and I get chills just thinking about it.
Lucky you saw them!
Haven’t been on this channel in minute but it’s good to see you doing this reaction 💯🔥👍🏻
Thanks
I'm Scottish and it took me loads of plays to understand remotely what these lyrics were. This is in my top 5 albums.
I'd love to know what are the other 4 albums on your top 5 list
Shoegaze was pretty underground back in the day. Cocteau Twins we’re
popular with some of the college crowd and disaffected and somewhat morose teens, which was me and my friends.
Big Kate Bush fan too.
I think they are my favourite band, I love them as much as I love Kate Bush!
cool. I've been listening to Kate Bush's double cd, Ariel for the first time this year- loving it.
I like their early post-punk stuff a lot. I need to get into this album although it sounds totally different.
Omg, this brings memories of Dynamo and Lago en el Cielo. Anyone else?
Spot on. Dynamo was definitely a shoegaze record. Medium is another track that follows this same wall-of-sound, enveloping gossamer ambiance. Gustavo loved British pop. He was very much into My Bloody Valentine.
classic
indeed, indeed
Hi Dean. May I suggest for your next prog Sunday 70s prog album Kansas’s “Two for the Show” a double live album from the late 70s that o demonstrate how great they were in the 70s when Kerry was still in the band @ Steve Walsh was the main vocalist & Robby Steinhardt was also a vocalist and the great violinist. I can’t recommend it more highly!!!
very tempting indeed
Just a quick note, and not to sound pedantic. Cocteau Twins did not produce "genre music," dream pop shoegaze or otherwise. Those are terms coined by the UK music press after the fact to describe the sound of several music artists of that period, some of whom influenced and/or collaborated with others. Cocteau Twins were an avant-garde pop band with origins in the post-punk era. They are/were not Dream Pop or Shoegaze. Genre labels like that diminish their legacy, and reduce the universality of their reach.
Too bad the press had so much power to influence. It is convenient to use the labels, even necessary sometimes I guess. I'm wondering if given the seachange in the music biz that the press no longer does this? Yet somehow it still feels like media influence the music scene rather than respond to it.
@@deanwolfechannel I think you're right, I mean media is maybe no longer the gatekeeper it once was, but it still just loooooves pigeonholing and categorizing wherever it can. But I have to say that the "kids of today" lol are kind of complicit. Dividing and subdividing regurgitated styles of the past and calling them "(blank)wave." It's really rare to hear something truly original anymore.
Same thing happened with grunge. A lot of bands labeled "grunge" bands never called themselves grunge, like Alice in Chains, who just said they played metal, rock, blues, folk, etc. Its the music press and critics who seem to come up with genre names to organize bands into boxes, sometimes when it doesn't even make sense and most bands play all kinds of music that doesn't fit into the same box.
Hello reactions Los Jaivas song arriba quemando el sol
Yes of course Kate bush influence here.
Did you boost the bass? Anyways... Liz left the band and she hasn't reached this level since, she's lost it. Too bad, the were a very very good trio.
I've listened to Cocteau twins since the album's started coming out in early 80s and never heard the label "dream pop" this band were not pop, listen to earlier albums or some "this mortal coil" deffo not pop
I love Cocteau Twins but this is their worst album! (still good though)
How? How is this their worst? Its easily their best
well I will be working backwards and reacting to more, maybe the whole catalog !
@@deanwolfechannel They have a great catalog. Maybe 2 weak albums but the rest are ranging from great to phenomenal. My personal favourite is "Treasure". Its a very mysterious album
@@justsomejusstsome8994 When you say "easily their best" it kind of implies you think the other albums are on a lower level.. so you don´t appreciate the rest of their catalogue as much? That´s ok. We all have different tastes. Heaven or Las Vegas is a good album that I listen to fairly regularly and I love Cocteau Twins. I just like all of what came before a little better (including ep collections, not just proper albums). It´s just personal taste. I would not say it "easily" is their worst. Cocteau Twins are consistently good. I used to think 4CC was the "worst" and might change opinion again. I like all of their styles. It´s all lovely really.
@@bongodroid I personally think this album is on an all time great level. My favourite however is "Treasures", and I think Cocteau Twins has one of the most respectable and consistent discographies of all 80s/90s bands. I think their songwriting peaked with this album, as well as their production, thats all. I would get someone thinks this isnt their best but to say its their worst is just very odd to me, almost objectively wrong, and I say that without disrespect. I just think that from a songwriting perspective, theres no way that FCC, M&K, HOH or Garlands is better than this. Others might be arguable but those I just named have lesser moments, some more than others, while HOLV is consistently great, and has some incredible peaks