Customer Reviews

Treasure

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
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Fans all have their favourites, and often those very favourites change upon rediscovering an artist's music. With the Cocteau Twins, I can honestly say that--as much as I love all their work--Treasure is their most timeless of treats. Building on their ground-breaking soundscapes that characterized Head Over Heals, this album is a work of infinite beauty. Liz Fraser's voice is in fine form, and the baffling one-word song titles keep the curiosity level high; the lyrics as well are equally mysterious, since they rarely seem to mean much. Really, the sum of its parts is the best way to define this album's beauty.

Robin Guthrie's meticulous remastering makes for a fine listen.

everything was great from the quality of the cd and package to the music tis self.

The Cocteau Twins are the sort of band that has a very distinctive sound, unlike anything that has come before or since, and "Treasure" is an outstanding example of their sound.

Tracks like Otterly and Donimo, the last songs on the album, sound at once otherworldly and intensely familiar. Other reviewers have compared this music to the singing of angels, and that comparison isn't far off - it sounds like it's always been there, playing just beyond the range of your hearing as the sun rises (in the case of Donimo) or you drift off to sleep (for Otterly) or grin inwardly as you prepare a suprise for someone you love (Pandora, though oddly titled for it).

If you're new to the Cocteau Twins and looking for a place to start, "Treasure" is an ideal place to start as an early example of that distinctive otherworldly-familiar sound. If you're already a fan and looking for more, "Treasure" will be a welcome addition, as it combines the dreamlike vocals of Victorialand with the stronger instrumentations of "Milk and Kisses" and similar.

Music that becomes you.
Words that surface like lost phrases of Dickinson.
From the celestial to the carnal, these songs soar,
dive, rise, and cut through the air.

Frazer is the great unknown poet.
Guthrie is the metaphysical architect.
Do yourself a favor.
Buy every single recording they ever made.

Since 1988 I have collected everything by the Cocteau Twins I can get my hands on and still, after listening to all these albums for all these years 1984's "Treasure" still remains my absolute favorite. The first song on the CD "Ivo" gets your skin buzzing with the beautiful highs and lows of Elizabeth Frasier's voice, then song #2 Lorelei comes in and completely blows you away, and by the time #4 Persephone (my personal all-time favorite song) blasts through your speakers you're in a completely different world. It's a timeless and classic piece of art that will always sound as good as it did the first 100 times you listened to it. Other recommended Cocteau stuff. "4 Calender Cafe" is a must have album for songs like "Bluebeard" and "Know Who You Are at Every Age", any compilation with the song "Spangle Maker" on it such as "Pink Opaque" is a must have, and of course "Heaven or Las Vegas" is a well known Cocteau Twins classic for 10 absolutly perfect songs such as "Iceblink Luck", "Cherry Coloured Funk", "Pitch The Baby", and "Road River and Rails".

This CD by the Cocteau Twins makes me think angels do tread on the ground and have a habit of singing whatever they please. The music is lush but not lost, soaring yet not new age. The work is simply something you put on and listen to and enjoy the experience every time over time. I do not know of another band as successful with completely non-worded lyrics and atmospheric sound walls. The floating over head voices of the Cocteau Twins, enter the Treasure...

Matthew Hahn, www.movingtracks.com

I have always been meaning to check out the Cocteau Twins music over the years. I only have been exposed to a couple of songs of theirs over the years. I loved what I heard from my very limited exposure...the swirling yet lush guitars of Robin Guthrie and the angelic vocals of Elizabeth Frasier. While perusing one of my local favorite indie record stores after work today, I decided to see if they had any of the Cocteau Twins reissues and thankfully they did. I had a difficult time choosing which cd I wanted to get. It was between "Garlands" and "Treasure". I eventually decided upon "Treasure". I am so glad that I chose "Treasure". The music is simply breathtaking and moving to my ears. To say that Elizabeth Frasier has a lovely voice would be a gross understatement. Her vocals on "Treasure" took my breath away. I loved the album the moment I heard "Ivo" but the real winner on this album has to be "Donimo". That song is nothing short of amazing. All the songs on "Treasure" is a real gem and an early precursor to goth bands like Diva Destruction, Faith & the Muse, Lycia, and of course Black Tape for a Blue Girl with its gorgeous ethereal melodies. After listening to "Treasure" twice, I am a converted fan. Although the band is no longer around, I will continue to seek out the other cds that were recently reissued.

In the early 1300's, Dante Alighieri became increasingly underwhelmed with language. He felt Latin (the written language) was artificial and furthermore, all the "natural languages" (languages used for speaking, opposed to Latin) were vulgar. He believed that this all had stemmed from the blasphemy of Babel, where God's (and Adam's) perfect, true language had splintered and fragmented and probably died. After years of research Dante decided it was impossible to find the first and perfect language so he vowed to make one himself. He felt he'd write poetry so lulling and beautiful that the rest of the world would adopt his new-language. As far as I know, he never succeeded. The Cocteau Twins, however, (and you thought I'd never get around to them) may have found what Dante had craved. Elizabeth Fraiser's "vocals" are stunningly beautiful, and one can always hear pieces of words or sentences from as many languages as are out there, I swear I have heard Dutch, French and of course English in her "lyrics" and I presume there may be a healthy dose of Gaelic, or Celtic, in some of her yodels (but I wouldn't know for sure). Most describe her form of singing as gibberish (in a good way) but I think it may be more calculated than that. I suppose it can be said she is singing in both Babylonian and Dante's imaginary language, embracing each. I dunno.

I first heard of the Cocteau Twins in 1985 when I was a rather rabid Cure fan, I had read somewhere that the Cocteau Twins were Robert Smith's favorite band. That was enough for me to search them out, but it simply wasn't that easy. Anyone who is my age with my musical tastes will recall the days when record stores just didn't have everything. They will remember how hard it was to find things like this. I had searched seemingly everywhere, but couldn't find the Cocteaux, until, by chance, visiting a friend who had a neighbor, who somehow had several dusty and thick LP's. That was my introduction. Like many Cocteau Twins fans, I have nearly every release, stopping after they left 4AD. I have always considered Treasure their opus, with it's lilting melodies and richly embroidered tapestry of sound, sexy breathy voices and desperate wailing screams, unlike anything at the time, or since. It is every Cocteau Twins fan's hobby to try and sing along and the lyrics one comes up with are as amazing as they are varied. For instance, from Persephone "....leads a paperchase, for a timepiece never changes this..." (one of my own, now it's your turn).

There really needs no convincing, buy this album, it is simply one of the best ever made, and timeless too. I have given this album as gifts in the past to a wide range of people who have all enjoyed it. In fact, I only know one person who knows of the Cocteau Twins who does not like them, but she's really weird and dislikes most things. This is a great album for the CD format because you can put it on repeat, but I must admit, I do miss the style and slickness of 4AD albums, the vinyl was definitely thicker and heavy, they were a good label.

Another way to review this album would be swifter with only these two words: "BUY IT". Worth the remaster.