Blue Bell Knoll cover

Blue Bell Knoll

Released

The idea that such a seemingly, almost defiantly arty group as the Cocteau Twins would end up on a major label at some point was likely viewed with incredulity more than once, but by the late eighties that’s what happened in the US as Capitol signed them, though they remained on 4AD for a little while longer. Blue Bell Knoll is a bit rich, almost too rich, in its sound — Robin Guthrie’s layers had never been so detailed, and the songs sometimes felt lost — but on the title track and especially “Carolyn’s Fingers,” Elizabeth Fraser’s voice in excelsis, it all perfectly clicks.

Ned Raggett

Recommended by

Suggestions
Mesmerised cover

Mesmerised

Experimental Audio Research
Pisces Iscariot cover

Pisces Iscariot

The Smashing Pumpkins
Tienken cover

Tienken

Au Revoir Borealis
Entropy cover

Entropy

Arcwelder
Head Over Heels cover

Head Over Heels

Cocteau Twins
Epithalamia cover

Epithalamia

Various Artists
Thermos cover

Thermos

Bailter Space