Customer Reviews

Head Over Heels [Vinyl]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first heard this album I was 19 years old working as an import buyer for Tower records in Portland, Oregon, I am now 39. And after 20 years there still hasn't been a record like it. The year this album came out Michael Jackson's Thriller album was on it's way to becoming the greatest selling album of all time. My main contact at an import distributor company told me of a new album called "Head Over Heels", by a group called Cocteau Twins that was getting rave reviews in Europe. For me personally I was sick to death of the music that was popular at the time and I decided to buy two copies, one for the store and one for me. When I took it home and listened to it I knew I was listening to a kind of music that had never been made before. After doing research, I discovered that this was actually their third recording, after "Garlands", and "Sunburst and Snowblind" and bought copies for me and the store of these records as well, and after this I became their biggest fan. I also found out that it was two 20 year old people, named Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie responsible for all that you hear. Ladies and Gentlemen, this record is a masterpiece. "Head Over Heels" is tied with "Victorialand" as my favorite Cocteau Twins record, but it is my favorite album of all time. From the incredible opening of "When Mama Was Moth", to the orgasmic ending of "Musette and Drums", this album is the best album ever made, in my opinion. Let me review my five favorite songs off of "Head Over Heels". 1)"Musette and Drums". It was after hearing this song for the first time, that I became their greatest fan. It was and still is my favorite song of all time. The last two minutes of this song is the greatest piece of music ever recorded. And understand that everything you are listening to is made by two people. This song is incredible. And after it is over, play it again. 2)"My Love Paramour". The sexiest, and most erotic song they have ever done. Pure genius. 3)"In Our Angelhood". Pure Rock and Roll, Cocteau Twins style. 4)"In The Gold Dust Rush". Angelic and beautiful. There is a part of this song that sounds likes an airplane is about to crash, it is actually the music spinning. Listen to it loud, and you will hear what I mean. Incredible production. 5)"The Tinderbox(of a Heart)". This song makes me feel like I am out looking at the ocean watching the tide roll in. I have this album to thank to having an open mind to listening to music. I learned to have patience and tolerance of all kinds of things because of this record. I rate this album the greatest along with the group that created it.

"Head over Heels" could be seen as a transitional album, the Cocteau Twins' sound moving from the raw post-punk of "Garlands" towards the beautifully textured soundscapes of "Treasure," but HOH's material is still captivating. The style ranges from dark, slow songs like the first track, "When Mama was Moth," to (not quite) typical 80's prog-rock ("In Our Angelhood"). But undoubtedly the highlight of the album is the final track, "Musette and Drums." I truly doubt that any review could communicate this song's power and majesty to one who has not yet heard it, but I shall say a few words. This is the first of the Cocteau Twins' usual type of album-ending songs (like "Pur" and "Frou-Frou Foxes in Mid-summer Fires"), in which the sound starts off stable and easy before launching into a driving beat and absolutely gorgeous wailing by Liz Fraser. On "Musette and Drums" this shift, however unpleasant it might be to use this word, is nothing short of orgasmic. And that voice! Liz Fraser might not have the greatest range in the world (although it's certainly not limited), but the amount of emotion which she puts into her singing is incredible. I would certainly recommend this album as a first to anyone who has not yet heard the Cocteau Twins. Along with "Treasure," I think it serves as a wonderful introduction to the greater body of their work.

Not very often do you hear music that transcends language - this one did it for me. Even though much of the lyrics cannot be understood, one connects immediately to the silky-smooth vocals and the almost-magical guitar tracks. A colleague of mine said I'd love the Cocteau Twins if I liked Jazz-Fusion (I do!). He got me a couple of his CDs, and I couldn't give them back! All I can say is, a 1000-word review is not going to do much. Go buy one; own one and you'll understand.

This CT album was released in 1983, and it is the one and only album where the Cocteau Twins really were twins, consisting of Liz Fraser on vocals and Robin Guthrie on guitar/bass. The sound of this album is a complete departure from "Garlands" and their early EPs like "Lullabies" and "Peppermind pig". Robin's growling and petulant guitar-work is still present, but the production is much calmer and pushes the Twins into a bass-heavy, mighty, if also misty sound. Overall, this album is slightly uneven, there are many good songs, but the guitar-rave up of "Musette and drums" doesn't fit in here. "Multifoiled" even has a light jazz touch, and "In our angelhood" is one of the Twins' few up-tempo songs. All in all, this is a diversified album which shows the entire musical range of the early Cocteau Twins.

It really drives me crazy when people say that they dislike Head Over Heels and Garlands because they sound "too different" or even worse "they are bad." The 2 previously mentioned albums were not the first CT albums I owned, but I love them with my whole heart. I love to listen to Head Over Heels on rainy nights, it seems to urge the torrents to come harder. Every single song is powerful. The intro of When Mama Was Moth is the breaking of the chains of conventional songwriting. Liz haunts and draws the listener in deeper with the refrain of "Five Ten Fifty-fold" "Sugar Hiccup" is the beginning of Robin's fore-telling of a "lighter Cocteau Twins sound" I love the freedom of "In The Gold Dust Rush" and the Billy Holidayesque "Multifoiled." The intro to "Tinderbox of a Heart" is stunning and entrancing, but my favorite track would have to be "My Love Paramour" with the way Liz delivers the lyrics "Ooze Out and Away Onehow." So intoxicatingly delicious is the whole album. The Cocteau Twins are more than just the definitive dream-pop band of the the 1990's. If you can't hear the beauty in all of their releases, you need to expand your sonic horizons to understand why this album is just as beautiful as the rest of their works.

Also, for the person that says the Liz's vocal range is limited, you obviously haven't heard very much of the Twins work!

Reduced to a duo after the departure of Will Heggie and reacting violently to Alan Rankine's sharp-focus production on the Peppermint Pig EP, Cocteau Twins' sophomore LP Head Over Heels opens dramatically with "When Mama Was Moth," a whirlpool of reverb and tremolo sludge - thick, black, and endless. Immediately it becomes apparent that there has been a major shift in the band's aesthetic and focus. Gone are the plodding post-punk basslines and any pretense of sounding like a live band. Head Over Heels is a diverse and synaesthetic work, each song evoking its own set of mental images explicitly suggested through careful mood-setting.

"Five Ten Fiftyfold" adds saxophones and compressed 12-string acoustic guitars to the stew, Elizabeth Fraser's soaring vocals drawing plaintive and romantic emotions out of the desolation of the cold, crystalline landscape. "Sugar Hiccup" is graceful and bouyant, riding a wave of mysterious choral effects and liquid guitar arpeggios - this song is a daydream encapsulated in sound, the occasional dissonant guitar is so small against the pretty background that it isn't disturbing and only adds to the fantasy.

"In Our Angelhood" is the last Cocteau Twins song to ever resemble late-70s post-punk and early-80's goth-rock, and it sounds as if the band included it just to prove retrospectively that they had always been the best band of that genre even if their earliest recordings never reflected it. Peter Hook and Siouxsie Sioux are audible influences, but neither Joy Division nor the Banshees ever used sound to paint a picture so effectively - a listener could drown in this mix!

"Glass Candle Grenades," a sci-fi cabaret fanfare of sorts, doesn't sound like anything at all recorded before or since. It sounds more like an H.R. Giger painting, but with more grace and femininity. "In The Gold Dust Rush" is a lilting anthem of angelic voices and slashing acoustic guitars. Its choruses are placid mirror-surfaced ponds from which verses ascend like Martian spires. "The Tinderbox (Of A Heart)" is hushed and cyclical, hypnotically beckoning the listener draw closer until all of the instruments vanish suddenly leaving the vocals and drum machine hanging like a spider's web to ensnare the entranced. In case anyone listening was still questioning the band's range, they include the bluesy "Multifoiled," the closest to filler on this disc. It's still oddly intriguing and works well in the context of the album. "My Love Paramour" is seductive and cryptic, using moaning guitar sustains to create a sense of tension and danger. The album ends as dramatically as it began with "Musette and Drums," a minor key waltz full of queasy harmonic intervals and feverish vocal acrobatics. It rises to a climax and dissolves, only to return like a freezing gale. Robin Guthrie's guitar screams atonally as the song fades into nothingness.

By the time of Head Over Heels, Robin Guthrie has developed into a masterful producer and guitarist, building oceanic panoramas from heavily-effected guitar overdubs and sputtering drum machines. Elizabeth Fraser is no longer the sheepish mumbling girl-child of Garlands. She has grown into a powerful feminine presence capable of shredding hearts and brains with only her voice, but wise and benevolent enough to exercise restraint. Intellectually free to explore new ideas and emotions as well as technically capable of creating exciting and complex textures, Cocteau Twins undergo a cathartic rebirth with Head Over Heels, and in doing so begin a succession of masterful albums among the most unique and intriguing in the history of rock music.

It's hardly believable that a second album by a band not even consciously trying to do _anything_ could come out so fully-realized, so completely majestic. That _sound_! Hazy guitars wrap around langorous basslines which play devil's advocate to crashing rhythms. This music throbs as with some timeless heartbeat echoed by poets and lovers throughout the ages. The heart-tugging cello harmonies in "The Tinderbox (Of A Heart)" swell and swoon as if in time with the ocean. The propulsive, syncopated rhythms of "My Love Paramour" are just miraculous. The pealing and thunderous guitars of "Musette and Drums" (one of my favorite CT songs ever) are like a force of nature. Would you believe Robin and Liz were only 20 when they made this peerless masterwork?

I rarely give 5 stars, but Head Over Heels deserves it. It's difficult to believe it's from 1983. Ambient, yet doesn't float away; ominous, and yet comforting. I really think this is a perfect disc. Goes splendidly with adolescent angst or break-ups or hanging on the rim of the abyss or similar emotional extremes.

If you love dreamy, otherwordly sounds that reverberate all through you and transport you to another place, then "Head over Heels" is for you. This collection is truly hypnotic. From the haunted yearnings of "When Mama was Moth" and "Glass Candle Grenades" to the cotton candy swirl of "Sugar Hiccup" and 'Multifoiled," these songs completely envelope you, providing an emotional resonance that transcends the need for defined lyrical structure. "Head over Heels" strikes just the right balance between the rhythmic and the ethereal, and is probably the best Cocteau Twins album.

Most albums feature music which reveals the era in which they were recorded. But "Head Over Heels" by Scotland's Cocteau Twins doesn't sound like it belongs to ANY era, even though it was released in 1983. A beautiful rush of etheral magic, "Head Over Heels" stands in a class of its own. The slow-moving opener "When Mama Was Moth" has vocalist Liz Frazer delivering hypnotic (yet incoherent) chants, while the brooding "The Tinderbox (of a Heart)" marches along in all its dark glory. Things get upbeat in "In Our Angelhood" with great melange of guitars, and the single "Sugar Hiccup" holds up well. I've owned this CD since my days in college, and I like it more with each listen. The melodies these guys craft are some of the most beautiful I have ever heard. Mainstream listeners may not realize it, but the Cocteau Twins are among the most influential acts of the last 25 years, developing a unique and distinguished sound that would inspire later genres known as trip hop and ambient. Press "play" and allow the Cocteaus to take you to another world.