Gothic Tribute to the Cocteau Twins

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 19, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 19, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cleopatra
• ASIN: B00004XSPE
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #477,534 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cicely

2. Icelink Luck

3. Sthol-Brosse

4. Seekers Who Are Lovers

5. The Thinner the Air

6. Violaine

7. Shallow Then Halo

8. Amelia

9. Need Fire

10. Garlands

11. Persephone

12. Wax and Wane

13. Blood Bitch

14. Treasure Hiding

15. In Our Angelhood - Stare

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive Tribute to the Best Band of the Last 20 Years, September 21, 2000

By 

Eric Levy (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gothic Tribute to the Cocteau Twins (Audio CD)

Cocteau Twins fans will be pleasantly surprised by this loving tribute. Most tracks are faithful to the originals, effortlessly appropriating the Twins' distinctive style--right down to Elizabeth Fraser's otherworldly chanting (though Jennifer Hope actually deciphered the lyrics to "Seekers Who Are Lovers" and enunciates all of them). Faith and Disease's "Amelia" is difficult to tell from the original, while The Autumns' "Garlands" is sung by a guy (the only male voice on the album). Non-Cocteau fans probably won't get much out of this album (and they should head straight for the original albums immediately), but the converted will find a lot to savor here.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable and interesting listen., January 2, 2001

By 

Adam Carroll - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gothic Tribute to the Cocteau Twins (Audio CD)

Y'know, I never really considered the Cocteau Twins' music to be gothic, except for maybe their first album (but even that's stretching the definition). So I was a little confused as to why the songs were getting the goth treatment, especially ones from their later, more ethereal period. But I'm a curious fox, and I was interested to hear others' interpretations...so I bought the CD.

I came away with mostly good impressions, but there were a few caveats in the package. It would be hypocritical of me to expect a consistent style throughout the album, as there are 15 different artists performing the songs, but there is definitely a variance as to how well-produced the songs are. Some of the artists (Rhea's Obsession, Trance to the Sun, Absinthee) really go all out in transforming the original tunes into darker, menacing constructs (personally, I loved the strings in "Shallow Then Halo" - good touch). On the other hand, some artists have good ideas for the songs, but don't seem to execute them well - "Iceblink Luck" is particularly disappointing in that regard, with underwhelming vocals and bad drumming, and "Wax and Wane" suffers from vocal deficiency as well. I'm not saying all these singers should sound like Elizabeth Fraser herself - that's a tall order for anyone to fill - but there's room for improvement. Finally, some songs don't deviate much from the original sound, but update it nicely; "Amelia" and "In Our Angelhood" are examples of these.

It's a mixed bag, sure. Overall, though, I enjoyed this CD; hearing new versions of songs that, in some cases, are over 15 years old is always interesting. In short, fans of the Cocteau Twins who know the original songs will probably find something here that they like. If you've never heard the Cocteaus' music before, though, I recommend buying one of their albums first - after all, no one does these songs better than the Twins themselves!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it's gothic, August 8, 2004

By 

M. Peppin "markp" (niverville, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gothic Tribute to the Cocteau Twins (Audio CD)

I think a few of the previous reviewers wanted the Twins and weren't aware of the "gothic tribute" part of the album title. If you don't like goth, don't buy it because you won't like it. If you do like goth, I think you'll like this. Darkening the brilliant shoegazing work of Robin Guthrie (continued so well in Violet Indiana) was an excellent idea.

Calling these bands "amateur bands" shows a complete ignorance of the gothic genre. Most of them have very impressive resume's.