Cocteau Twins - Stars and Topsoil – A Collection (1982–1990) poll

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed

Poll Closing Date: Tuesday, 25 November 2025 00:00 (in 11 hours)

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81ap4EuBHfL._SL1500_.jpg

Cocteau Twins "Treasure" Poll
redone: Peep POLL, peach blow, Pandora, pompadour: COCTEAU TWINS TREASURE POLL
"Try to look with us" — it's the Cocteau Twins VICTORIALAND poll!
Blue Bell POLL
Poll the Baby: Heaven or Las Vegas by the Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins — Milk & Kisses poll

Best Cocteau Twins album
redone: BEST COCTEAU TWINS ALBUM POLL

Cups of POLLy-Dewdrops' Drops -- ILM Artist Poll #35 -- The COCTEAU TWINS results thread

1 "Blind Dumb Deaf" - 3:47 Garlands (1982)
2 "Sugar Hiccup" - 3:41 Head over Heels (1983)
3 "My Love Paramour" - 3:38 Head over Heels (1983)
4 "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" - 4:11 The Spangle Maker EP (1984)
5 "Lorelei" - 3:43 Treasure (1984)
6 "Pandora" - 5:26 Treasure (1984)
7 "Aikea-Guinea" - 3:57 Aikea-Guinea EP (1985)
8 "Pink Orange Red" - 4:38 Tiny Dynamine EP (1985)
9 "Pale Clouded White" - 4:59 Echoes in a Shallow Bay EP (1985)
10 "Lazy Calm" - 6:34 Victorialand (1986)
11 "The Thinner The Air" - 3:16 Victorialand (1986)
12 "Orange Appled" - 2:50 Love's Easy Tears EP (1986)
13 "Cico Buff" - 3:46 Blue Bell Knoll (1988)
14 "Carolyn's Fingers" - 3:06 Blue Bell Knoll (1988)
15 "Fifty-Fifty Clown" - 3:11 Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)
16 "Iceblink Luck" - 3:18 Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)
17 "Heaven or Las Vegas" - 4:55 Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)
18 "Watchlar" - 3:17 "Iceblink Luck" single (1990)


Bee OK, Thursday, 20 November 2025 03:32 (four days ago)

This was going to be Head over Heels as it hasn't been polled but I needed to step my game up. I have done two compilations in this series, so this will be a third. This comp has a lot of songs from EPs so I thought it would be a good one to do.

Bee OK, Thursday, 20 November 2025 03:33 (four days ago)

"Watchlar" and "Fifty Fify Clown" are magnificent...Simon Raymonde raves about them in his (excellent) book

X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Thursday, 20 November 2025 04:08 (four days ago)

Whereas I was just thinking that "Watchlar" seemed a somewhat improbable inclusion on a 'best of'. :) Though I certainly don't know what the most correct answer would be here...

It’s a powerful boat for a powerful mind. (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Thursday, 20 November 2025 06:24 (four days ago)

God, so many specific and emotional memories for these songs. CT were my world, aged 17-20 (spanning BBK and HOLV but the joy of discovering all the earlier work was incredible).

assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 20 November 2025 08:41 (four days ago)

Thanks for this Bee. Such a range --- what a run this group had.

Going to sit on this and listen for a few days. I am huge fan of Blue Bell / Las Vegas era but there are so many other standout songs before and after.

Re-sharing something I'm sure was found on this board - Miley taking a pretty good shot at Vegas title track (with many apologies to the audience for obscurity of the source). Hard to think of who else could even approach these songs vocally, much less do them proper justice. Very short list...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emkO5pGwF1w

Psychocandy Apple Grey (Pyschocandles), Thursday, 20 November 2025 14:25 (four days ago)

Would have picked "Musette and Drums" if it was on here, or "The Spangle Maker." Since they aren't..."Pearly," I'd guess. But they're all keepers.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 20 November 2025 14:41 (four days ago)

It's such a great title for a greatest hits I almost wish I could vote for it

fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Thursday, 20 November 2025 16:24 (four days ago)

went lazy calm. Victorialand forever

gman59, Thursday, 20 November 2025 16:39 (four days ago)

Victorialand is their best album, but I don't know if it contains their best song... which is complicated by the fact that that is Love's Easy Tears which isn't on this comp

fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Thursday, 20 November 2025 16:47 (four days ago)

haha I would have gone for "Wax And Wane" if it was here

challopvious (sleeve), Thursday, 20 November 2025 16:49 (four days ago)

I think this might be Orange Appled but... Ned's right, the lack of The Spangle Maker or From The Flagstones make this a third or fourth choice or more.

Overtoun House windows (aldo), Thursday, 20 November 2025 17:46 (four days ago)

Love’s Easy Tears is the enigmatic, transcendent peak of the Cocteaus for me, such ecstatic music I can hardly stand to listen to it. So “Orange Appled” I guess, if forced to choose.

assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 20 November 2025 17:52 (four days ago)

Checked the poll thread and that's what I said 12 years ago too. xpost to me

Overtoun House windows (aldo), Thursday, 20 November 2025 17:53 (four days ago)

The multiple apologies in that Miley clip are pretty annoying. She's doing good, the fans seem to enjoy it, just own it.

From that list of CT songs it's a tight race between "Aikea-Guinea" and "Orange Appled". But AG just edges it. When those chimes come in at the end, I feel like I'm levitating.

LeRooLeRoo, Thursday, 20 November 2025 18:41 (four days ago)

Yeah that’s another blinder

assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 20 November 2025 20:48 (four days ago)

Not sure how Goth this comp actually is, Jead over Hills sure but they sort of turned into their own thing.

Bee OK, Friday, 21 November 2025 17:35 (three days ago)

This comp is so good, I could listen over and over again. I know a few albums but what I like most about this comp is those EP songs, all are new to me.

Bee OK, Saturday, 22 November 2025 00:02 (two days ago)

It's probably the normie choice, but I'm going with "Iceblink Luck"

Still evocative of a fleetingly happy moment in my life back then

Josefa, Saturday, 22 November 2025 01:53 (two days ago)

Bee OK I recommend you check out the early EPs-heavy compilation The Pink Opaque, it's pretty immaculate.

assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 22 November 2025 02:23 (two days ago)

Settled on "Pink Orange Red" somewhat arbitrarily. Fun fact: that 2-EPs-combined package was the first CT artefact I procured.

It’s a powerful boat for a powerful mind. (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Saturday, 22 November 2025 02:55 (two days ago)

this is hard. aikea-guinea EP was the first one I owned, it was the one that won me over; victorialand my favorite album; all the early singles are pure fire; but carolyn's fingers, geez, it's so iconic to me, it really takes so much of their style and concentrates it, the clarity of the vocal track is like sunlight on wet grass, a joy to hear every time, and when they shore it up with the lower register it's like settling into a warm blanket in a cool room...it must have my vote, it's such joy

J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Saturday, 22 November 2025 03:16 (two days ago)

the run of Tiny Dynamine/Echoes in a Shallow Bay/Love's Easy Tears EPs is incredible... to be languid underwater, in the sky, or in a parade

pretty sure Carolyn's Fingers was the first song by them I heard, on a Capitol Records sampler cassette... also had Testure by Skinny Puppy on it!

really can't decide what to vote for here

fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Saturday, 22 November 2025 04:24 (two days ago)

I still listen to this CD often. For the full immersive experience in the Cocteaus sound you need to hear the EPs in full (among other things), but as a 70-minute summary of the band, there's nothing better than this disc.

I also think that Love's Easy Tears was the epitome of their sound, so I'm tempted to pick Orange Appled without a second thought, but Pearly Dewdrops Drops is the Cocteaus song I listen to the most, that chorus is so unfathly majestic.

NoTimeBeforeTime, Saturday, 22 November 2025 10:12 (two days ago)

Love 'Pink Orange Red', being an EP track I think I only first heard about 8 years ago, but went for HOLV - their strongest version of their softer sound.

nashwan, Saturday, 22 November 2025 10:33 (two days ago)

I think Lullabies To Violaine is their best compilation. It's only missing "Crushed", another masterpiece from the Love's Easy Tears era.

LeRooLeRoo, Saturday, 22 November 2025 16:28 (two days ago)

agreed, pair that with the 10CD bonus EP and you're good

challopvious (sleeve), Saturday, 22 November 2025 16:35 (two days ago)

matttkkkk otm. as a used record store employee in the early 2000s, we had a LARGE AND WELL-STOCKED cocteaus section. i was allowed to borrow store stock like a library, so after sorting through that rush of early 80s releases, it became immediately clear upon hearing pink opaque that its selections were made with a lot of consideration. it stops at 85(?)ish though?

that was perfect for a one disc vinyl summary. this comp kinda does the same thing, but for cd. i have to parrot the usual sentiment whenever cocteaus come up: their incredible mid-80s run is a thing to get lost in. i randomly put on disc two of this set a couple weeks back and it sounded as good as ever, even going into the 90s material.

austinato (Austin), Saturday, 22 November 2025 16:58 (two days ago)

The multiple apologies in that Miley clip are pretty annoying.

Agreed, and also, her arrangement left out the best bit, the "Come fantasy, for a carnival" section.

Vast Halo, Saturday, 22 November 2025 18:16 (two days ago)

Re-sharing something I'm sure was found on this board - Miley taking a pretty good shot at Vegas title track (with many apologies to the audience for obscurity of the source). Hard to think of who else could even approach these songs vocally, much less do them proper justice. Very short list...

― Psychocandy Apple Grey (Pyschocandles), Thursday, November 20, 2025 6:25 AM (two days ago)

Faye Wong (HK via Beijing mainstream model/actress/singer) covered not one but TWO cocteau twins songs on her 1994 album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqr4AeR5COo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx34QxXzZrg

At the time, Faye was imho a bigger and popular than Miley comparatively.

imperial frfr (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 22 November 2025 19:55 (two days ago)

voted Aikea-Guinea

imperial frfr (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 22 November 2025 20:05 (two days ago)

Austin yeah TPO came out in 1986 and it was 4AD’s first CD release; I bought the cassette. No barcode on the sleeve either, like all their early CDs.

assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 22 November 2025 20:20 (two days ago)

(and for the format geeks, Blue Bell Knoll was 4AD’s only DAT release)

assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 22 November 2025 20:21 (two days ago)

CADT807! I remember the ad in Blitz magazine :)

Michael Jones, Saturday, 22 November 2025 20:42 (two days ago)

xo to myself - actually you still need TPO for "Millimilenary" and the remixed "Wax And Wane", neither of which are on Lullabies To Violane sadly

challopvious (sleeve), Saturday, 22 November 2025 20:46 (two days ago)

MILLIMILLENARY

challopvious (sleeve), Saturday, 22 November 2025 20:46 (two days ago)

There was a 180gm vinyl reissue of TPO about ten years ago which someone bought me as a gift (with download links for 24/96k WAVs). I think I’ve the NME comp somewhere where Milli… first appeared but this is probably better. Simon R’s first appearance?

Michael Jones, Saturday, 22 November 2025 21:00 (two days ago)

I think so, yeah!

challopvious (sleeve), Saturday, 22 November 2025 21:05 (two days ago)

Needs another EP of that, “Crushed” and “The High Monkey-Monk” I think. (basically the EP box bonus with “Millimillenary” added)

assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 23 November 2025 01:10 (yesterday)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 24 November 2025 00:01 (twelve hours ago)

The bonus tracks included on the Canadian CD of Garlands would've also made a great EP. "Dear Heart", "Hearsay Please", "Speak No Evil", and "Perhaps Some Other Aion" all deserve to be more accessible.

LeRooLeRoo, Monday, 24 November 2025 00:52 (eleven hours ago)

100%, those are great

challopvious (sleeve), Monday, 24 November 2025 01:01 (eleven hours ago)

i only saw CT live once, on the Heaven or Las Vegas tour, it was easily one of the greatest shows I've ever seen, as proven by the fact that I still remember it over 30 years later (whereas there are shows I went to this year that I barely recall)

I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Monday, 24 November 2025 06:22 (six hours ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.