For no
obvious reason I played Garlands on
the way into work the other day. This is the first Cocteau Twins album from 1982 - I
thought, I've not heard that one for ages. But,
having played it again, I realised why I've not played it for ages. It's not actually very good.
The drum machine dominates - that in itself isn't a problem, but the drum patterns are annoying, basic and very clunky, and the drum sound is harsh and unwelcoming.
Elizabeth Fraser isn't really singing either - again, that needn't be a problem, but she's not really developed her own amazing voice as yet. I'm pretty sure she's still singing in English (or rather Scottish…), but beyond the odd word absolutely nothing is intelligible. Once more, in itself this doesn't matter - later Cocteau's records are full of singing in totally made up Fraserish, but here we don't yet have that gorgeous vocalising, that lovely warm, inviting voice that she developed. Instead Garlands is full of shouty blasts of twitchy yelps and gasps and mumbles.
And, finally, the songs themselves are just rather forgettable. A couple of very strong pieces - "Wax And Wane" and "Blind Dumb Deaf" both hint at later (and better) songs but on the whole the album is repetitive and sadly rather dull.
Fortunately the Twins improved enormously, and rapidly - the next album has stunning soundscapes like "From The Flagstones" and "Sugar Hiccup"; then they recorded the magical "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" and got really, really good!
The drum machine dominates - that in itself isn't a problem, but the drum patterns are annoying, basic and very clunky, and the drum sound is harsh and unwelcoming.
Elizabeth Fraser isn't really singing either - again, that needn't be a problem, but she's not really developed her own amazing voice as yet. I'm pretty sure she's still singing in English (or rather Scottish…), but beyond the odd word absolutely nothing is intelligible. Once more, in itself this doesn't matter - later Cocteau's records are full of singing in totally made up Fraserish, but here we don't yet have that gorgeous vocalising, that lovely warm, inviting voice that she developed. Instead Garlands is full of shouty blasts of twitchy yelps and gasps and mumbles.
And, finally, the songs themselves are just rather forgettable. A couple of very strong pieces - "Wax And Wane" and "Blind Dumb Deaf" both hint at later (and better) songs but on the whole the album is repetitive and sadly rather dull.
Fortunately the Twins improved enormously, and rapidly - the next album has stunning soundscapes like "From The Flagstones" and "Sugar Hiccup"; then they recorded the magical "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" and got really, really good!
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