Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins were an influential and prolific British band formed in 1980, their music becoming nearly synonymous with their record label 4AD. Their trademark sound of layered, ethereal guitar and indecipherable vocals inspired the 1990s shoegazing genre, which included numerous bands such as Lush, Slowdive, Pale Saints, and My Bloody Valentine.

Early 90s

The style the group began exploring with Head Over Heels reached its peak on Heaven or Las Vegas, released in late 1990. The most commercially successful of their many recordings, the album rose to the top of the charts immediately after its release. However, despite the success of the record and the tours, not everything was well with the band. They parted ways with 4AD following Heaven or Las Vegas, partially because of conflicts with its founder Ivo Watts-Russell, and were close to breaking up over internal problems, due in large part to Guthrie's addiction to drugs including alcohol.

Related Topics:
Head Over Heels - Heaven or Las Vegas - 1990 - Ivo Watts-Russell - Addiction - Drugs - Alcohol

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While on their international tour supporting Heaven or Las Vegas, the group signed a new recording contract with Fontana in the UK and elsewhere, while retaining their ongoing US relationship with Capitol. 4AD and Capitol released a Box Set in 1991 that compiled the band's EPs from 1982 to 1987, including a bonus disc of rare and/or previously unreleased material.

Related Topics:
Fontana - 1991 - 1982 - 1987

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The band's seventh LP, Four-Calendar Café, was released in the fall of 1993. It was a departure from the heavily-processed, complex and layered sounds of Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas, featuring crystal-clear, minimalistic arrangements. This, along with audibly comprehensible lyrics--something previously elusive, as Fraser tended to sing in a style that masked or otherwise obscured her lyrics--led to mixed reviews: some critics would accuse the group of selling out and producing an 'accessible album,' while others would praise the new direction as a worthy successor to Heaven or Las Vegas.

Related Topics:
Four-Calendar Café - 1993

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The band themselves explained that Four-Calendar Café was simply a response to the turmoil that had engulfed them in the intervening years, with Guthrie entering rehab and quitting alcohol and drugs, and Fraser herself undergoing therapy (the two had been in a long-term relationship, and by this time had a young daughter, Lucy-Belle, born in 1989).

Related Topics:
Rehab - Therapy - Daughter - 1989

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~