Cocteau Twins – Garlands

Always loved the labels for this pressing. Seems to capture the feel of the album best. 4AD really had the best artwork.

This doesn't sound bad but it doesn't sound great either and I wonder if that lack of fidelity is in the master tape. It sounds fairly restrained across the entire spectrum.

really an impeccable remaster, it is literally one of the best pressings that this album has had, it is simply fabulous as it sounds

Excellent studio production and superb pressing. Each side flows properly, too.

Wonder if the original pressing is all-analog and if yes - up until which album did the Cocteau Twins press AAA vinyl?

Really nice crisp, clear sound with a lot of depth. At first spin it sounded a bit dull and compressed but after a second wet clean the sound really opened up. Since it’s a digital remaster it has a bit of that non-analog coldness but nevertheless it sounds great. However, this is a standard-weight MPO press and my copy had some light surface noise throughout and a few instances of light crackles and a minor pop on the B-side, so the pressing quality isn’t stellar. It’s a really nice reissue, but not something I’d pay more than $20 for or pay a premium to get imported.

I came to this band late and really never bought in, but this is as solid a first album as any artist could hope for. Fits perfectly into the sounds of the time. Think Cure, Bauhaus, Pretenders...

well ... so much for that .... I see the style category has been voted back into existence ...

congrats ! now we can all feel safer that it's been put into its cage and we know how to approach it before the sound waves get into our ears ... God forbid we should find music listening to be disorienting or in any way too challenging ! :)

to whomever just removed the categorizing-of-style label from this release ... thank you much
I know people often have good intentions, but it can be really annoying to see people retroactively trying to "cage" works that at one time existed largely on their own merits and attracted people who often used a different part of their brain than the part that always needs to have things spoon-fed to them in order to properly contextualize and digest work .... sadly, the people who arrive latest to any scene often bring all this baggage that didn't exist for years ... and sometimes even decades ...after works were created and released

Ok so I know this review will be met with likely fierce fanboy disagreement, but in my humble opinion this is THE Cocteau Twins album to end all. I have to say that nothing after it matches the dreamy, brooding, hypnotic droning shoe gaze magic that they invoke with this debut. Everything after feels like a slow and painful disintegration towards commercialism. Head over heels they begin to fall flat on their faces, and it gets worse from there. Sure they manage to maintain a thread of the dreamy gothic magic that Garlands created, but it just gets prettier and tamer and far less interesting.
That’s what I’ve got to say about it anyway. I only wish this wasn’t limited to one album.