Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas LP

Label: 4AD

Our Review:

Heaven Or Las Vegas - the 1990 album that marked the creative peak of this ethereal and influential British trio - gets a proper remastered vinyl reissue and it has never sounded better.

This was the last album the band did for indie stalwart 4AD of which the band had a long, genre-defining relationship with throughout the eighties, before they headed for major label territory. The sound had noticeably more polish, sparkle, and shimmer in its production than anything previous, introducing them to a whole new audience. Also very noticeable was that the lyrics of singer Elizabeth Fraser contained actual words instead of the wordless glossolalia that had become one of the band's hallmarks. Not that anyone could really divine any coherent narrative from the lyrics, still, these were big changes for a band that seemed so far removed from outside influences and popular trends. They were really going for something larger here as evidenced in the title, and at the time, it seemed sadly like it was the end of an era, and perhaps it actually was. Yet, we have to say, this record has really grown on us over the years and eventually became one of our favorites. The music swoops and floats as if conjured by the wings of the most lovely and magical birds. Somehow it's at once immensely majestic, deeply comforting and sweetly infectious. Robin Guthrie's glistening guitars and Fraser's voice spiral together effortlessly while Simon Raymonde forms waves of regal bass lines that anchor the proceedings. And its influence stretches far and wide into the ethereal-pop sound of so many recent bands from the past couple of years. Perhaps the band's most fully realized and strongest release in a string of incredible records. Beautiful and highly recommended!