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Cocteau TwinsHead Over Heels

Label:

4AD – CAD 313

Format:

Vinyl, LP, Album, Gloss Sleeve

Country:

UK

Released:

Genre:

Rock

Style:

Art Rock, Experimental, Ethereal

Tracklist

Over
A1When Mama Was Moth3:06
A2Five Ten Fiftyfold
SaxophoneAlly (2)
5:01
A3Sugar Hiccup3:41
A4In Our Angelhood3:00
A5Glass Candle Grenades2:45
This Side
B1In The Gold Dust Rush3:40
B2The Tinderbox (Of A Heart)4:57
B3Multifoiled2:37
B4My Love Paramour3:40
B5Musette And Drums4:38
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Companies, etc.

  • Phonographic Copyright ℗4AD
  • Phonographic Copyright ℗Beggars Banquet Music
  • Produced AtPalladium Studios
  • Pressed ByMPO

Credits

  • Design [Sleeves]23 Envelope
  • EngineerJon Turner*
  • Performer [The Cocteau Twins Are]Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie
  • ProducerCocteau Twins, John Fryer
  • VocalsElizabeth Fraser
  • Written-ByCocteau Twins

Notes

Released in a Gloss finish outer sleeve with printed paper inner sleeve.
There is also a version that has Satin finish outer sleeve with printed paper inner sleeve Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels
Produced at the Palladium Studio, Edinburgh. The Cocteau Twins are Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie.
℗ 1983 4.A.D - Beggars Banquet Music

Pressed at MPO Averton, France.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

  • Matrix / Runout (Side A runout): CAD 313 A2 MPO
  • Matrix / Runout (Side B runout): CAD 313 B2 MPO

Other Versions (5 of 51)

View All
Title (Format)LabelCat#CountryYear
Recently Edited
Head Over Heels (LP, Album)VertigoVOG-1-3329Canada1983
Recently Edited
Head Over Heels (LP, Album, Stereo)Intercord, 4ADINT 145.082, CAD 313Germany1983
Recently Edited
Head Over Heels (LP, Album)New Rose Records, 4ADROSE 25, CAD 313France1983
Recently Edited
Head Over Heels (LP, Album)PowderworksPOW 6077Australia1983
New Submission
Head Over Heels (LP, Album)4ADCAD 313New Zealand1983

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Reviews

  • roeek's avatar
    roeek
    My Copy is from 1983-84, UK Press and it is another variant,
    Does not appear here.
    It is Not Glossy
    It is Not Satin
    And it does not have "MADE IN ENGLAND" in the back cover.
    Sounds great after deep cleaning.. Much better than the re-issue.
    • djased1's avatar
      djased1
      Edited 4 years ago
      Can anyone explain and comment on the difference between the Satin and Gloss covers? Thanks
      • maxal's avatar
        maxal
        It's interesting what some say here about the cover of Head over Heels. Out of all the Cocteau Twins 4AD albums Head over Heels is the album cover which has gone through the widest range of cover printing variations - because it is the most sensitive image.

        Firstly it's good to have the original edition of the album (to kind of define the original intentions of the cover image?). Head over Heels is a dificult cover image to get right as there is not much colour or tonal variation - there is a lot of 'muddy grey'. But it is a lovely photograph (of the surface of a muddy puddle with mixed flora detritus - broken carnation flower heads, an honesty seed pod, helicopter seed, broken leaf stem etc). With this first edition cover there is no barcode and the colours are printed excellently, there is a silvery sheen to the 'puddle' in the top left corner and the colour range is good. There are some reds! There is a dot of red above the helicopter seed head , top right of the cover, and the carnation on the back has a good amount of red.

        Flash forward into the future and the Cocteau Twins box set of Vinyl 180 records (2008) is printed on a different paper stock! It's a glorious, uncoated matt paper finish. The Garlands album beniefits most from this paper choice as that photograph has a good, defining contrast and a good colour range. I was thrilled when I first saw the Garlands album cover printed on this paper. However, the Head over Heels cover does not benefit in the same way. I still think it's beautiful; it's a murky dreamy cover. But it's a close hit and miss, any darker and it wouldn't work - and perhaps to some people's taste it doesn't work. The sheen on the puddle is no longer silvery (there's a lack of rare 'treasure') and the red has pretty much disappeared. I don't know whether it is my love for this cover, that I still like it printed on this paper stock or what. Perhaps it is because Cocteau Twins' music is so mysterious, that the murkiness of a potentially 'bad' printing can still work?. But note: this is not bad printing - it is the limitations of a high quality paper. In that respect, I think the cover on this paper works. This isn't a cover which is supposed to shout out and draw attention. It's a quiet cover. However, a bit more contrast could have improved it - the loss of the silvery sheen for instance is symbolically important to the nature of Cocteau Twins' music.

        As an aside, it is also interesting to compare the Japanese (Strange Days Presents) CD covers in paper sleeves, 2003. For me, these are the best CD option for the Cocteau Twins' albums - they are beautiful little objects, visually and aurally. With the paper covers, you have direct contact with the artwork. Regarding the Strange Days Head over Heels cover the general first impression is that it is a sharper, more contrasty image than the first edition 4AD vinyl cover (it would be - it's a much smaller size). It's a very good printing of it and there is not too much difference compared with the first edition. However, on balance, I still prefer the first edition vinyl cover - the Strange Days cover, being an increment too dark at the bottom quarter, where the title is, and the sharpness of the image take away from the dream quality, again important in reference to the Cocteau Twins' sound.

        I also have a Vinyl 180 misprint of this cover with some 'bands' running across the cover. I was going to return it for refund - I'm so glad I didn't, it actually works! (I was never sure whether it was an experiment or a mistake . . .).

        I know, I know, you think I'm wierd to go into such detail! I have an interest in publishing and photography as well as music.
        • maxal's avatar
          maxal
          [I wrote this because of Garlands, but as I mention Head over Heels I copy it here too.] Garlands is such a strange album. I have written a few bits here on Discogs, but have not yet brought myself to chain this album to words . . .

          I love all of Cocteau Twins' releases, but Garlands definitely has a place of its own in my heart. Many 'fans' don't like Garlands. Others say Cocteau Twins albums get better, one after the other until Heaven and Las Vegas (the professed pinnacle). Obviously personal taste affects assessment of how to rank a Cocteau Twins album. It is hard to 'pick a favourite', kicking the others off the pedestal.

          I'd say the best CT albums are the first three and between the first three there is a kind of odd journey - emerging a primordial state (Garlands); raw, seeing for the first time, all is a dazzle and there is little difference between blindness and sight. The journey continues in Limbo (Head over Heels); and finally there is arrival, or transcendance (Treasure). Of course I love the CT albums succeeding these three as the gems are all undoubtedly still present. (Alice is a wonderful track - and Dif Juz's Love Insane with Elizabeth Fraser's vocals is one of my favourite tracks . . .). But for those first three albums there seems to be something more complete / completely perfect.

          Treasure is certainly a beauty, and with the track titles - godly, with a small G. It is a finely polished gem. Donimo is like arriving at the pearly gates, wings aflutter. Lorelei evokes the feeling of having been in heaven and passed straight through it. What else is there? Listen to Lorelei from 2 minutes twenty secs onwards: 'de dow de dow de dow de dow de dowwww . . . wwwwwop!' this part of the song effortlessly conveys a past yearning for heaven, twiddling thumbs to the turned face of beauty.

          Head over Heels is also a beauty with its extraordinary position between two other perfect albums. "When Mama Was queer, I broke down in my womb" . . . this first track has the raw, vital sound of the album it is leaving, Garlands, but there is a new twinkling of purity, the future sound of CT: listen to this track, you'll hear what I mean. My Love Paramour - can you imagine if a piece of music like this were to emerge again today? And then the final track, Musette and Drums - insinuating the fusion of hard and soft, the delicate musette and the beating of drums.

          To get back to the feeling of Garlands as a Cocteau Twins album in a territory of its own, part of the reason for this is the different line-up, having Will Heggie's bass. But also, Garlands has a rawer sound, almost grating - this gets to the magic of the album. Garlands seems to fuse the beauty of sound with its discordant opposite better than I have heard in other music. This fusion reveals a kind of pure light as it first emerges from its partner, darkness. It's difficult to put into words, once put in words they seem too small: sacred / profane, a religious feeling of being shown something secret, a lot of people have spoken like this to me of this album.

          Blind Dumb Deaf seems to evoke some kind of fated, unrelenting, inescapable entrance into reality, "by the method of faith, I'll swear that I'm part of it." Swearing into a reality which could be both horrific and wonderful - the only reality. And then the title track itself, Garlands. I do love the opening track of Blood Bitch, it's supremely powerful with it's bass. However, if Blood Bitch weren't there, then Garlands could be. Garlands starts off with a strange build up of discordant screeches (very much like the sound of Gordon Sharpe's Cindytalk at that time). It's a bit like a train approaching. The music then hits you like a train. Garlands therefore is the perfect beginning album for the CT journey.

          By the way, most of the Cocteau Twins' lyrics are words. I really wish Elizabeth would publish them - she obviously worked on them very hard and they do contribute to the beauty of the sound.

          I mentioned Gordon Sharpe of Cindytalk. He appears with vocals in some of the extra tracks of Garlands. I wish there were more of these collaborations: his voice with Elizabeth's would be the perfect accompaniment. Camoufalge Heart is a stunning Cindytalk album (along with Wappinschaw and In This World.) Cindytalk is the best group 4AD didn't release - Gordon Sharpe did some work with This Mortal Coil.
          • NothingLikeThe80s's avatar
            Heavyweight black vinyl reissue (cut from brand-new HD 96/24 masters) is releasing 16 Mar 2018 on 4AD.
            • vegasbiss's avatar
              vegasbiss
              2 different versions of the cover exist in my collection. One glossy on silk mat
              • dexterfeng's avatar
                dexterfeng
                The second release from the Cocteaus, visually the artwork is stunning. Much more solid than Garlands, possibly thanks to updates in equipment or perhaps from a better understanding of studio mayhem and more racks of effects introduced into the mix. More of an uplifting album than the gloom and doom of the aforementioned.

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