How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Not applicable
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
30songs,great value for money . An unofficial Greatest Hits
Disadvantages:
a few dodgy tracks on disc 1
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The Cocteau Twins 'BBC Sessions' is a great album and the second of theres that I purchased.It reads like a best of but played live via mainly John Peel and Mark Radcliffe sessions between 1982 and 1996. An added bonus is the tracks therefore appear pretty much chronologically so you can chart the groups musical progression.
Tracks Wax And Wane Garlands Alas Dies Laughing Feathers oar Blades Hearsay Please Dear Heart Bind Dumb Deaf
Hazel The Tinderbox Of A heart Strange Fruit Hithertoo From The Flagstones Sugar Hiccup In Our Angelhood My Hue And Cry Musette And Drums
Disc 2 Hitherto From The Flagstones Musette And Drums Pepper Tree Beatrix Ivo Otterley Serpentskirt Golden Vein Half Gifts Seekers Who Are Lovers Calfskin Smack Fifty fifty Clown Violaine
The Cocteau sound was made up of thudding bass,treated guitar a drum machine and Liz Frasers hauntingly spooky vocals.The first couple of tracks 'Wax And Wane' and 'Garlands' are taken from the average debut album 'Garlands'.All the components of great songs are included here but still the songs dont quite work.The next few tracks follow in the same vain with evident promise often mixed up in songs that never quite mature or blossom melodically. I think the first stand out track is 'Dear Heart' it menaces and Frasers vocals sound atmospheric and emotional.There are the first signs that the band had mastered the art of matching melody to there song structures.'Blind Deaf Dumb' the following track also taken from 'Garlands' disappoints as it is plodding and eventually tuneless.'Hazel' lifts the tempo with 'Cure like' guitar and a busy base line.Frasers voice echos throughout the arrangement and there is the first appearance of backing vocal sounds that were often to be a theme of Cocteau songs as there sound developed. 'Tinderbox of The Heart' is rare enough in that you can actually hear in english the lyrics of the title.I like the track, again Frasers backing vocals to the main lyrics work well.However the song suffers in that there is no tempo change, perhaps my strongest criticism of the Cocteaus throughout their album career.'Strange Fruit' is a great song.Frasers voice is strong and clear on this track and you can hear the range of her vocal.Another of my favourite numbers is 'Hitherto', there is a great guitar intro and the song follows a more conventional song structure than they usually use.Vocally the track is strong and the song is more layered in arrangement and it gains in being more atmospheric as a result.Much the same can be said of 'Through The Flagstones' which has a strong baseline and pretty lead guitar decorating the vocal melody.Fraser plays with her vocal on this track and is evidence of a growing confidence in their work. 'Sugar Hiccup'has always been very popular among fans and is a landmark song as the track perhaps incapsulates what great Cocteau songs had, a strong baseline,atmospheric arrangement and melodies being based primarily on Frasers burgeoning vocal style, not forgetting the lyrics that were never designed to mean anything.'In Our Angelhood' and 'My Hue And Cry' maybe struggle in comparison.'Musette And Drums' is another great vocal from Fraser and the twisted treated guitar works brilliantly. Disc two is in my opinion stronger.Perhaps its main weakness is at the start because we again have 'Hitherto','From The Flagstones' and 'Musette And Drums' again, though different live versions taken from a 'Saturday Night Live' session.I think musically and more certainly vocally they are stronger but it does beg the question why we have to have these three songs duplicated on the album. 'Pepper Tree' is sublime.A great song.Haunting backing vocals and churning guitar, lovely key changes and a Kate Bush type vocal.'Beatrix' is non sensical lyrically and strangely crafted and almost childlike for a Cocteau song.Daspite this it still has something and works.I loved 'Ivo' from the first time I heard the whooping vocal at the start of the song.Again great key changes and an atmospheric song and Frasers vocal seems to comprise of many parts.It also sees a gradual move to the Twins taking on more conventinal song structures with out losing the originality that their sound had.'Otterley' would make a great atmosheric soundtrack to a detective series.Is this a good thing?I am not sure. Im my opinion by a mile the highlight of the album is the Mark Radcliffe session in March 1996.I have always loved 'Serpentskirt'.Listening to Frasers vocal live on this I am just staggered by her talent.Her voice moves me,is pure and this track sounds as sad as a Cocteau Twin song can go.On 'Golden Vein' her vocal is again beautiful exuding an opera like shrill to it, reaching high notes with a perfection.Undoubtedly a brave song to perform live.Again it is a song to haunt and worm its way into your soul. 'Half Gifts' has always been another of my fave Cocteau songs.Agin it is not the song quality here(though immense) but the vocal strength that chokes me.Beautiful!!! The same comment applies to 'Seekers Who Are Lovers' a top five fave song of theirs.Maybe the closest they ever got to a traditionally written song.There is a bridge and even what masquerades as a chorus.The guitars resonate through the song and need I say it the vocal soars.The day this session was recorded was Liz at her very best. The final session was done with Robert Elms in April 1996.'Calfskin Smack' lilts impressively and 'Fifty fifty Clown' with its high pitched vocal over laying a thudding base works superbly. The brooding 'Violane' ends the 30 track collection.Moody, evocative and heavy the album leaves me wanting more and ready to go play all their albums to get some of the gems not included on here. I have no qualms recommending this album.With 30 songs it is great value for money and shows the diversity and brilliance that was the Cocteau Twins.Listen to this album and I am sure yo uwill then want to add the studio albums to your collections.
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Outstanding
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Good
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