Garlands Music Cd

Cocteau Twins - Garlands

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Garlands      Artist : Cocteau Twins      List Price : $11.98 USD        Your Price : $11.98 USD      ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 2003-02-18      Studio : Import      Label : Import      Avg. Customer Rating : (13 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for Garlands      dark, brilliant, and unique even for the Cocteau Twins      Rating:      Eleven years ago, my girlfriend introduced me to the Cocteau Twins through the album "Four Calendar Cafe." As a pleasant and airy contrast to the mostly loud and abrasive music I was listening to, I enjoyed the dream pop that Cocteau Twins had to offer in their later catalog. They were certainly a unique and creative band, and when I heard that this, their first album, was starkly different than anything they undertook later, especially albums like FCC, I never really gave it a chance. Fast forward through time and a steady working backwards through their works, aided especially by the superb "Lullabies to Violaine" compilation, and I find myself holding this cd in Austin, Texas on a whim. By then the Cocteau Twins had earned that all-important trust from me that any great band cultivates in its listeners. On the strength of that trust I plunked down the money. I now hold a new favorite. This album is different from their other efforts in every way imaginable, but it's tough to not wish they did at least another one in the same vein. It has a harsh, concentrated, wild feel to it, and a dark heart that pulses through every song. Onetime bassist Will Heggie only appeared on this recording and the Peppermint Pig EP before Simon Raymonde replaced him, and he provides the base-line for contrasts with the rest of Cocteau Twins history. (see what I did there? har-har) His bass announces its dominance in the first chords of the opener, Blood Bitch, and drives every song throughout. It uniquely sets the tone: throbbing, intense malevolence in "Blood Bitch," lunatic weird in "Wax and Wane," watery menace in "Shallow Then Halo"(with two or three simultaneous bass tracks),and a straightforward, dark brooding presence in the spooky "Grail Overfloweth." With a few exceptions, Robin Guthrie's guitars are really an accompaniment. The guitars are indispensable and remarkable in their own right, however, even if they are not the focal point. They add a haunting wail that raises every song to its most disturbing and otherworldly heights. It is difficult to provide descriptive adjectives that do their importance justice: the guitars echo, caterwaul, screech, and reverberate with a beautiful but twisted lunacy. At the center of it all is the one-of-a-kind vocal talent of Liz Frasier. Her range is incredible, but here it only goes where the atmosphere requires it. It can be harsh, it can be crazy, and it is difficult to understand, but as always, it is perfect for the album in which it appears. If you've heard her light, layered and angelic efforts on other albums, what she does here will blow you away for its darkness and nearly violent passion. It's as if the fairy-land shimmer of the Cocteau Twins took an evil turn and transported the listener to a bacchanalian gathering in a haunted woods. It's unique, unforgettable, and one of the best cds I've picked up in a long time.     Customer Reviews for Garlands Cd      Bleeding Bass      Rating:      The first and arguably the best of Cocteau Twins. The lilting Fraiser and heavy watery bass is still my favorite of all the C.T. albums, I have the original and I cannot say how the re-issued remastered version compares Editorial Reviews for Garlands Audio Cd      Album Description      2003 4AD reissue of 1982 album remastered by guitarist Robin Guthrie.