* ArchivePanic: The band's discography is lengthy with several non-album singles and [=EPs=] to go along with the eight studio albums. ''Lullabies to Violaine'' at least collects the singles and [=EPs=] into one box set, but that's still many hours of music to explore. Even then, it still misses some tracks like the Chinese-language version of "Serpentskirt" featuring Faye Wong and "Need-Fire" from the Film/JudgeDredd soundtrack, the latter which was never released as a single.
* CoveredUp: Their version of Music/TimBuckley's "Song to the Siren" (done as part of the Music/ThisMortalCoil project), is much better known than the original. That is, at least until his son Music/JeffBuckley had a cult following, causing Tim's cult status to make his version well known again, although it never reached the cover's popularity.
* CriticalDissonance: ''Blue Bell Knoll'' is a fan favorite, but was trashed by some critics for what they believed was the band [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks repeating its formula.]]
* GatewaySeries: For DreamPop.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: They managed to attract a cult following in the U.S. via word of mouth and CollegeRadio airplay. They even played gigs there before they had a U.S. record deal, and their records were popular imports before Capitol released American versions.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: Pretty much all of ''Heaven Or Las Vegas'', which was written after the birth of Liz Fraser's daughter. Also doubles as SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel.
* MemeticMutation: "[[SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein What the fuck are the Cocteau Twins saying?]]"
** Can my nuts hang?[[note]]A misheard lyric from "Cherry-Coloured Funk", one of the band's best-known songs, spread around due to the unintelligible and/or [[WordSaladLyrics word-salad]] nature of the band's music. The line is actually "unbro''ken by not saying''".[[/note]]
* SpiritualSuccessor: The ''Lullabies to Violaine'' collection is the successor to their earlier CD single box set.
* SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel: "Heaven Or Las Vegas". Can also be applied to everything they've done with the exception of ''Garlands'' and ''Head Over Heels''. There's a reason they're the first thing most people think of when they hear the word, "DreamPop". They were the chill-out band of choice for indie kids of the '80s and '90s.
* TheWoobie: Regardless of how important her vocals were to the band's sound, Fraser's endured probably the most crap during the band's career, and has said that [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/nov/26/cocteau-twins-elizabeth-fraser-interview this is the main reason she hasn't made much music after the band broke up.]] Also the fact that as a child she was sexually abused by various relatives and forced to leave the family home at an early age.
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