What to do after "The Pink Opaque"

[alfke@csvax.caltech.edu]

Several people I know or have heard from are familiar only with the
Cocteau Twins' "The Pink Opaque", so it seems that more productive than
ranting & raving would be for me to describe the albums, etc. that the
various songs are taken from...

"Wax and Wane" from the album "Garlands"
	The re-mixing indicated on the liner notes is just the substitution
	of a better drum machine.  Kind of detracts from the song, in
	my opinion.  "Garlands" is fantastic, one of the eeriest, most
	frightening records I've ever heard.  "Wax and Wane" is typical,
	though one of the best songs.  Screeching guitar, droning bass...
	Not as pretty as their later stuff, but it's one of my all-time
	favorite albums.

"Musette and Drums" from the album "Head Over Heels"
	"Head Over Heels" is my favorite of their albums, but they could
	have chosen a better song from it.  "Tinderbox of a Heart" and
	"My Love Paramour" are amazing, stunning ... as is the album as
	a whole.  If you must buy only one more Cocteau Twins record,
	buy this one.

"Hitherto" and "From the Flagstones" from the E.P. "Sunburst and Snowblind"
	The E.P. also contains "Sugar Hiccup", a beautiful song from
	"Head Over Heels", and "Because of Whirl-Jack".  The latter is
	a good song (so are they all, all good songs), but not worth
	getting the whole thing for unless you're a completist.

"Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops", "Pepper-Tree" and "The Spangle Maker"
from the 12-inch single "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops"
	Well, there you have the whole single, although the version
	of "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" on the single is just a bit different
	at the start for some reason.

"Millimillenary" from an NME compilation tape
	Well, I've never seen the tape, so what can I say?
	(Has anybody seen it? What/who else is on it?)

"Lorelei" from the album "Treasure"
	Two people have told me that this is their favorite song on
	"The Pink Opaque", and it's certainly, along with "Ivo", the
	best song on "Treasure".  The rest of the album is good, but
	not nearly as good as the other two, and there's some definite
	filler on it.  Get "Head Over Heels" first!

"Aikea-Guinea" from the E.P. "Aikea-Guinea"
	I was disappointed by this song when it first came out, but
	I like it more and more (it sounds even nicer in digital :-).
	The other three songs on the E.P. are also good (even though
	one's an instrumental) but not spectacular.

There are also two very good singles/E.P.s from which nothing was taken:

"Lullabies": released quite soon after "Garlands"; probably just after
	they got a better drum-machine :-).  Less scary than "Garlands"
	("Feathers Oar-Blades" could almost be described as sounding
	New-Order-ish) but in somewhat the same vein.  Great stuff.

"Peppermint Pig" b/w "Laugh-lines" and "Hazel"
	Three great songs.  "Hazel" has the fastest 3/4 beat of any
	song I've ever heard ... Chronologically, between "Lullabies"
	and "Head Over Heels".

In addition, there are two new E.P.s, released almost simultaneously,
that I'll get around to reviewing sometime.

The lowdown?  Get "Head Over Heels".  If you like "Wax and Wane", get
"Garlands".  Hell, all their stuff is good, those are just the ones I
like the best . . .

Enough self-indulgent fannish bullshit.  Back to our regularly-
scheduled programming.

						--Peter Alfke
						  alfke@csvax.caltech.edu
"Poor worthless lover, I'm all lackluster
 I'm no longer multicolored,
 I'm just multifoiled"