645 The Cocteau Twins - Treasure (1984)

 645 The Cocteau Twins - Treasure (1984)

Studio Album - Dream Pop



About the Act:

The Cocteau Twins were a Scottish band (from Grangemouth) who existed from 1979 to 1997. They were well-known for their ethereal sound.

About the Album:

This was their third album, their first to be truly successful and cemented their sound.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Killing Joke, Bauhaus, Japan, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cocteau Twins, Bow Wow Wow, and even ABC. There is a box in my head for a kind of 80s pop band, and up until this morning, The Cocteau Twins were firmly in that box, not that I could have named any of their songs. My understanding of pop history is improving all the time with doing these reviews, and now I can confidently state that this album was the birth of Dream Pop. Maybe.

The word "ethreal" comes to mind, as does the word "reverb". The drums (apparently a drum machine) and often the guitar sound, are drenched in it, making them sound distant. These are augmented by a full and rounded bass, and various spacey synth pads. The music is generally not upbeat, but the kind of big but spacey backing you might associate with Enya, or some film soundtracks. At times it is more classical than pop. Unlike some dream pop that I have found boring, this is pleasant enough. 

Where the real quality comes is in Elizabeth Fraser's vocals. She is often singing two lines, in different registers, differently produced, and both with an angel-like ethereal quality. It's a great voice and great production, and this is what makes it a nice listen. The words are mostly indecipherable, and I understand mostly not actually words.

It's not what I expected. It's nice.

7.6/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7pBPB9vwqCMLKNmUCK4k62

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa3HlKFsnLvaaC7mwuInJZfRVcbvg2bXv

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_(Cocteau_Twins_album)



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