Moon & Melodies

Cocteau Twins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 5, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 4ad / Ada
• ASIN: B00001QEEV
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,792 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #26 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative

Track Listings

1. Sea, Swallow Me

2. Memory Gongs

3. Why Do You Love Me?

4. Eyes Are Mosaics

5. She Will Destroy You

6. The Ghost Has No Home

7. Bloody and Blunt

8. Ooze Out and Away, Onehow

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heaven versus earth, July 25, 2000

By 

loteq (Regensburg/Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moon & Melodies (Audio CD)

Although this album is not really a successful collaboration - there are five tracks which are in the Cocteau's vein and three which resemble Budd's mid-'80s work - the pure beauty and consistency of the music here is impressive. The music takes a rather subdued path, but a few songs are among the best either artist has ever done. The first fifteen seconds of "Sea, swallow me" are awesome: Budd's wonderful piano theme suddenly crashes into a mighty wall of sound, made of ringing guitar chords, nautical bass lines, and slow-motion drums. The spacy, peacefully floating "She will.." features a saxophone solo by Dif Juz's Richard Thomas, and "Ooze out.." slowly builds intensity before a furious finale. Some people will probably balk at the more dissonant "Memory gongs" (this track also appears on Budd's "Lovely thunder" album, it's called "Flowered knife shadows" there) and the meandering, improvised "The ghost..", but these pieces work best as background music, anyway. "Why do you love me?" with its pearling piano runs and lurking guitar feedback is another stand-out track here. This album was one of my favorites for many years and still sounds timeless. Essential for fans of dream pop.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Immersed in flowing crystalline midnight, June 19, 2008

By 

William Timothy Lukeman - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moon & Melodies (Audio CD)

This is a gorgeous fusion of evocative, dreamy sound, courtesy of Harold Budd & the Cocteau Twins, whose styles mesh as if made for each other. The music conjures ghosts, memories, winter stars, whispers of frost ... and yet there's a floating, detached warmth to it all, as well. It's the sound of crushed diamonds, languid chimes of ice, hushed thunder, blind white birds silently circling under the polar night skies ... it's a tangible chill that paradoxically nestles & soothes the listener, without ever becoming pointless New Age noodling. Absolutely perfect for introspection, reflection, drifting ...

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harold Budd's flowered knife, October 26, 2006

By 

olofpalme63 (auf der flucht!) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moon & Melodies (Audio CD)

I'm not as inclined to call this 1986 4AD release a "Cocteau Twins" recording. Although released the same year as Harold Budd's classic Lovely Thunder, for obvious reasons (Liz Fraser's vocal) The Moon And The Melodies was probably better remembered for being more radio friendly than Budd's commercial sounding "Thunder". Strange in that (being a huge Budd fan), I never purchased this recording until I saw the Cocteau Twins 1993 "Evangeline" video and noticed a distinct "Budd" characteristic about the sound I was hearing from my television set. Dark and lush shimmering textures with Budd's trademark icy sparse piano, The Moon And The Melodies is perhaps the pure definition of the "shoe gazer" pop that defined the decade of the 80's. This will most certainly turn Budd fans into Cocteau Twins fans...and vice versa.

olofpalme63