History Music / CocteauTwins

With the classic Fraser / Guthrie / Raymonde lineup now in place, The Cocteaus put out a long series of critically acclaimed albums and [=EPs=] that continued to refine their DreamPop style. The one anomaly in this series is the album ''Victorialand'', which Raymonde did not contribute to as he was busy working on the new This Mortal Coil album. As a consequence, ''Victorialand'' is a largely acoustic ambient dream pop album, featuring only vocals, reverbed guitars, and occasional saxophone (courtesy of Dif Juz member Richard Thomas).

For their next move, the band signed with Fontana Records for global distribution while remaining with Capitol in the USA. Their first album for the label, ''Four-Calendar Café'', was recorded amidst continued turmoil, with Guthrie entering rehabilitation for substance abuse and Fraser suffering a nervous breakdown. [[NewSoundAlbum It departed even further from their trademark complex dream pop]], moving instead towards clear, conventional AlternativeRock. It drew a predictably mixed reaction. Their next album, ''Milk and Kisses'', returned to heavily-layered guitars and incomprehensible lyrics.

With the classic Fraser / Guthrie / Raymonde lineup now in place, The Cocteaus put out a long series of critically acclaimed albums and [=EPs=] that continued to refine their DreamPop style. The one anomaly in this series is the album ''Victorialand'', which Raymonde did not contribute to as he was busy working on the new This Mortal Coil album. As a consequence, ''Victorialand'' is a largely acoustic ambient dream pop album, featuring only vocals, reverbed guitars and occasional saxophone (courtesy of Dif Juz member Richard Thomas).

* Scatting

The '''Cocteau Twins''' was a Scottish AlternativeRock band known for being the TropeMaker[=s=] and {{Trope Codifier}}s (along with Music/ThisMortalCoil and possibly Music/DeadCanDance) of the DreamPop genre.

* SingingSimlish

The '''Cocteau Twins''' was a Scottish AlternativeRock band known for being the {{Trope Maker}}s and {{Trope Codifier}}s (along with Music/ThisMortalCoil and possibly Music/DeadCanDance) of the DreamPop genre.

* LoudnessWar - Guthrie's remasters of the band's albums have been heavily criticised for this, with even fans advising others to seek out the original versions instead.
* NewSoundAlbum - ''Treasure'' brought some jazz and world-beat influences in, making their sound even airier and a lot less Goth-y. ''Blue Bell Knoll'' boasted the fuller sound and much more polished production that characterized their last four albums.

* ThePeteBest - Will Heggie.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The ''Lullabies to Violane'' collection is the successor to their earlier CD single box set.

* RecordProducer - Raymonde and Guthrie's other line of work. Guthrie, for instance, produced Music/{{Lush}}'s ''Spooky''.
* TranslatedCoverVersion - FayeWong did a few of these on her albums, since she's a big fan of the band.
* TheUnintelligible - Fraser. Less so on ''Heaven or Las Vegas'' and ''Four-Calendar Café''.
* TitledAfterTheSong - Their name came from the rare Music/SimpleMinds song "The Cocteau Twins", about two gay guys who were really into Jean Cocteau.

[[caption-width-right:400:That's Fraser, Raymonde and Guthrie, from left to right.]]

The band was formed in 1979 by Guthrie, bassist Will Heggie and Fraser, who took their name from the song "The Cocteau Twins" by Johnny and the Self-Abusers (who you might know under their new name, Music/SimpleMinds) and quickly obtained a record deal with 4AD Records. Their first album, ''Garlands'', was a largely PostPunk album heavily indebted to their acknowledged influences, Music/JoyDivision, Music/TheBirthdayParty and Music/KateBush. It was an instant success.

Heggie left the band in 1983 after a tour supporting their second EP, ''Peppermint Pig''. Undaunted, Guthrie and Fraser recorded a new album, ''Head over Heels'', entirely on their own with producer John Fryer. It was with this album that the band arrived at its SignatureStyle: Guthrie's [[EchoingAcoustics heavily echoed and processed]] guitars combined with Fraser's powerful singing and IndecipherableLyrics, creating an overall atmospheric sound.

With the classic Fraser-Guthrie-Raymonde lineup now in place, The Cocteaus put out a long series of critically acclaimed albums and [=EPs=] that continued to refine their DreamPop style. The one anomaly in this series is the album ''Victorialand'', which Raymonde did not contribute to as he was busy working on the new This Mortal Coil album. As a consequence, ''Victorialand'' is a largely acoustic ambient dream pop album, featuring only vocals, reverbed guitars and occasional saxophone (courtesy of Dif Juz member Richard Thomas).

The '''Cocteau Twins''' was a Scottish AlternativeRock band known for being the {{Trope Maker}}s and {{Trope Codifier}}s (along with ThisMortalCoil and possibly DeadCanDance) of the DreamPop genre.

The band was formed in 1979 by Guthrie, bassist Will Heggie and Fraser, who took their name from the song "The Cocteau Twins" by Johnny and the Self-Abusers (who you might know under their new name, Music/SimpleMinds) and quickly obtained a record deal with 4AD Records. Their first album, ''Garlands'', was a largely PostPunk album heavily indebted to their acknowledged influences, JoyDivision, Music/TheBirthdayParty and KateBush. It was an instant success.

Guthrie and Fraser next contributed to 4AD's collective {{Supergroup}} ThisMortalCoil, being the sole players on the highly acclaimed [[CoveredUp cover]] of "Song to the Siren" by Tim Buckley. It was during these sessions that they met Simon Raymonde, who joined the group shortly thereafter as bassist and remained with them until the end of their career.

* RecordProducer - Raymonde and Guthrie's other line of work. Guthrie, for instance, produced {{Lush}}'s ''Spooky''.

[[caption-width-right:400:That's Fraser, [[strike:[[SexPistols Johnny Rotten]]]] Raymonde and Guthrie, from left to right.]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ct.jpg
[[caption-width:400:That's Fraser, [[strike:[[SexPistols Johnny Rotten]]]] Raymonde and Guthrie, from left to right.]]

The '''Cocteau Twins''' were a Scottish AlternativeRock band known for being the {{Trope Maker}}s and {{Trope Codifier}}s (along with ThisMortalCoil and possibly DeadCanDance) of the DreamPop genre.

** And the ''Peppermint Pig'' EP, their recording debut, sounds more pop-influenced, almost like they were [[Music/ThePolice Police]] wannabes.

The CocteauTwins were a Scottish AlternativeRock band known for being the {{Trope Maker}}s and {{Trope Codifier}}s (along with ThisMortalCoil and possibly DeadCanDance) of the DreamPop genre.

* ''Victorialand'' (1986)

* NewSoundAlbum - ''Head over Heels'', ''Heaven or Las Vegas'' and ''Four-Calendar Café''.

The band was formed in 1979 by Guthrie, bassist Will Heggie and Fraser, who took their name from the song "The Cocteau Twins" by Johnny and the Self-Abusers (who you might know under their new name, Music/SimpleMinds) and quickly obtained a record deal with 4AD Records. Their first album, ''Garlands'', was a largely PostPunk album heavily indebted to their acknowledged influences, JoyDivision, TheBirthdayParty and KateBush. It was an instant success.

The band broke up in 1997 while recording a new album, due to irreconcilable differences. All three members have gone on their own ways, with Raymonde and Guthrie focusing on producing for other artists and recording solo albums. Fraser has had the most public exposure since due to her vocal contributions to MassiveAttack's song "Teardrop" and "Lament for Gandalf" off HowardShore's soundtrack for ''LordOfTheRings'', but has otherwise stayed in a sort of semi-retirement, only rarely releasing new material.

* ''Echoes in a Shallow Bay'' (1985)

* ArchivePanic - The discography above.

* 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]].

* WorkingWithTheEx: A major reason why the band broke up.

* CreatorCouples - Fraser and Guthrie.

* RecordOfLoudnessWar - Guthrie's remasters of the band's albums have been heavily criticised for this, with even fans advising others to seek out the original versions instead.