Stars and Topsoil: A Collection 1982-1990

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
This retrospective is not quite career spanning--after parting company with 4AD in 1990, the Cocteau Twins recorded two more albums for Fontana before calling it a day. However, not only did they record the overwhelming majority of their best work for 4AD, they enjoyed a relationship with the label whose symbiotic closeness has had few parallels: opaque and mysterious on record, funny and fond of a drink off it, the Cocteau Twins were always the definitive 4AD act. This typically beautifully packaged collection is a judicious selection of the Cocteaus' oft-imitated, never-bettered canon, with one elusive b-side ("Watchlar") nailed on at the end as bait for completists. The 18 tracks of Liz Fraser's ethereal whooping against Guthrie and Raymonde's crystalline musical backdrops collected on IStars And Topsoil/i are possessed of a spirit, sense of adventure and awesome, adjective-defying beauty rarely equalled before or since. Anyone who has heard the Cocteaus will know this already, and anyone who hasn't should start here, and now. --IAndrew Mueller/i

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Customer reviews

review by: mihcm date: 2008-04-25 rating:
Variations on a Theme?
I first came across the Cocteau Twins when they were a support band for 'Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark' back in the early 80's and I was not sure what to make of them. But I did keep listening to their music and I came to realise what an amzing sound they were making. I now own all their albums and singles on vinyl or Cassette and now on CD. This compilation shows a wide variety of their work from early albums to their most recent. There is an unmistakable theme and style in every Cocteau Twins track and I feel this album portrays some of their very best tracks. However, you would need to get hold of all their albums or the 4 set compilation album to hear the lot. This is a great comilation if you fancy listening to a cross section of their music without having to change the CD.

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review by: date: 2005-09-11 rating:
Good introduction to an underrated band.
Stars and Topsoil is a fairly definitive cross-section of Cocteau Twins material from their near-legendary years on 4AD. The collection includes carefully selected tracks from the period, which began with their debut album Garlands, before progressing right the way through to what some consider to be their ultimate masterpiece, Heaven or Las Vegas. As with the majority of these collections the choice of tracks included is merely subjective, with no single-disk career retrospective ever likely to please the die-hard fans, who will no doubt be too busy bemoaning the fact that a lesser song has been included over their all-time favourite. As a result, Stars and Topsoil works best an introduction to the band for those who don't already have all the albums and are curious as to the style of music the Cocteau Twins create.pThis collection also best demonstrates the evolution the Cocteau's underwent from those first two albums, Garlands and Head Over Heels - which were a lot more rooted in the sound of the early-80's post punk scene - into the band that created the lush dream pop of definitive albums like Blue Bell Knoll, Treasure and Victorialand. The 18-tracks run pretty much in chronological order, progressing on from Blind Dumb Deaf from their first album and beyond into the utter delights of those watershed albums that would follow. Both Sugar Hiccup and My Love Paramour from second album Head Over Heels show early signs of that Cocteau's sound beginning to emerge, with the style and overall integration of Robin Guthrie's layered and cascading guitar tones with the sublime and intoxicatingly opaque vocals of Elizabeth Fraser.pTreasure was the first album in which the three units of the band (Guthrie's guitar, Fraser's vocals and Simon Raymonde's bass) came together most distinctively, leading to an album of astounding diversity and an overwhelming sense of originality. Lorelei and Pandora are both fine examples of the genius of this album, though, if I had my way, it would have also included Ivo, Persephone and Amelia... three of my favourites from Treasure. From hereon in, Cocteau Twins were a band like no other... their influence can be seen all over the place, from contemporaries like Felt and Talk Talk, through to the shoegazers (acts like Slowdive, Ride, Pale Saints, My Bloody Valentine, etc) and in acts as diverse as The Sugarcubes, The Cranberries and Goldfrapp, and yet... the actual Cocteau's sound has yet to be as successfully (or as distinctively) reproduced.pThe later run of songs, i.e. those taken from albums like Treasure, Victorialand and Heaven or Las Vegas, sound as far removed from any kind of contemporary rock or pop music you could ever imagine... with the Cocteau's really creating and defining a sound and a style of music that is probably completely alien to those of us raised on whatever the NME considers to be real music these days!! The sounds that Guthrie gets out of his guitar on some of these tracks is absolutely astounding, developing a chiming, shimmering style that seems like even more of an anachronism when we compare it to the style of a lot of other guitarists from the same era (Guthrie, as a performer, is easily on a par with other 80's UK guitar heroes, like Vini Reilly of the Durutti Column, Johnny Marr of The Smiths and Maurice Deebank of Felt). The overall sound that the band create on songs like The Thinner The Air, Iceblink Luck and Heaven Or Las Vegas is absolutely enchanting, with Fraser's beguiling vocals presenting an aural puzzle for the listener, as we desperately try and work out what exactly is being sung??pThe closing run of songs all stem from the era of Heaven or Las Vegas, their final album for 4AD and a good place to end. Overall, Stars and Topsoil is a great primer to the sound of one of the most interesting and original bands to come out of Britain in the 80's (or any decade for that matter!!). The packaging and art-work is lovely and very much in keeping with those lush album covers for Head Over Heels, Treasure and Victorialand (they're all great really, but those three are my personal faves in terms of evocative cover-art) and also in-keeping with the gorgeous and indescribably music found within. If you're interested in discovering the bizarre and beautiful music created by the Cocteau Twins, but can't really commit yourself to buying all their albums, then this lovely collection is probably the best introduction you'll find.

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review by: We're all Frankies' date: 2003-06-30 rating:
A pretty definitive collection of 4AD Cocteaus
StarsTopsoil is a pretty definitive selection of Cocteau Twins career on 4AD from 1982 to 1990- their work after was slightly less interesting (though the Bella-Union sampler'At Least You Can Die With a Smile On Your Face' showcases the later work of Fraser, GuthrieRaymonde- as does MassiveAttack's Mezzanine). This is a pretty definitive single compilation, one that takes in their whole 4AD career, rather than focusing on singles like the lovely boxset or compilation'The Pink Opaque'. pThe opening track is a curious choice- more of a product of their obssession with Siouxsiethe Banshees (which wouldn't be completely expunged till 1984's Treasure). I'd have preferred Peppermint Pig personally- though as with every compilation there are so many titles that YOU feel should be hear (eg Blue Bell Knoll, Crushed, MusetteDrums, Rococo,The Spangle Maker, Love's Easy Tears,Pitch the Baby, Cherry-Coloured Funk etc). pWe get the early highlights- the sublime Sugar Hiccup, Head Over Heels' My Love Paramour and the kind of hit single Pearly Dewdrops'Drops (one of FraserGuthrie's most popular moments, along with This Mortal Coil's Song to the Siren 1990's Iceblink Luck). Next up are two tracks from the wonderful Treasure, where Simon Raymonde came on board the classic Cocteau's sound was born and developed on- there is a wild feel to the drum machine, which is more akin to EricBRakim at times (no surprise that the Cocetaus would influence AR Kane and PM Dawn- bands who fused beats with those obligatory sonic cathedrals palatial chimes!). It gets better with a selection of ep tracks from 1985- the huge Aikea-Guinea and the sublime Pink-Orange-Red...Raymonde went off to work on the second This Mortal Coil album in 85/86- so FraserGuthrie made the minimal, more acoustic ambient Victorialand- which is certainly underrated in their back catalogue- Lazy Calm and The Thinner The Air don't come more gorgeous or more perfect. The Harold Budd compilation is ignored, though Love's Easy Tears b-side Orange-Appled is a most welcome addition- here the acoustic sounds of Victorialand fuse with the bands previous band ethic (the trademark chimes found themselves on Gun Club's awesome Guthrie-produced The Breaking Hands, alongside AR Kane's debut work). p1988 saw the Cocteaus reach their peak form with Blue Bell Knoll, from which Carolyn's Fingers and Cico Buff stem; this quality would be topped in 1990 with Heaven or Las Vegas- which provides the source for the final tracks. Hit single Iceblink Luck, b-side Watchlar, the albums title track and fave Fifty-Fifty Clown show that there was more than a formula to the Twins work. Fraser was stressing words more: "emotions are emotional/emotions are..."- p to be fair, many shoegazing bands would encroach on the Cocteaus' turf and like Talk Talk they would be forgotten for the likes of Chapterhouse, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Ride Slowdive. Stars Topsoil is the perfect intro to Cocteau Twins, whose version of Pink-Orange-Red on The Tube in the mid80s so beguiled me! Though personally, I'd plump for ANYTHING they did from 84 to 90; but if funds are mildly limited- this is the one! The perfect soundtrack to dreams, love, sex and wondering: a blissed out poetry that perfects itself with the passage of time...

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review by: glynos date: 2003-04-04 rating:
Rediscovery
On finding a home made compilation tape of old and playing it, what should re-aquaint itself with my ears? Aikea-Guinea. I've always loved this track, and although the tape was knackered and the quality very poor, I still felt the same as I did when I first heard/saw it on the '85 Channel 4 program 'Max Headroom'. 'Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops' was the introduction, but A-G was the clincher. I then felt deep regret at having sold off my entire vinyl collection some ten years hence (including everything Cocteau between '82 '86). Suitably fired-up, I visited this site, but didn't know which album/ep to purchase first. Treasure, Victorialand, Tiny Dynamine, etc, etc. Saw this retrospective, and I though 'that will do for a start.' And it was. Heady college days of '84-'86 were relived as if they were yesterday. They (the twins) were bloody good. You don't need to grasp the lyrics, just feel the vibe. Great. The latter tracks (apart from Iceblink Luck) were all new to me (having been a deserter from '88 onwards, I blame acid-house poverty), but it was good to hear that the momentum of the mid '80's was maintained. 'My Love Paramour' and 'Carolyn's Fingers' are gems, but that is then unfair on the others. It's all good. Reading the inner booklet, there is the hoping that this collection will lead the listener back to all the albums/ep's form whence these songs came. It has, and I've almost bought back all I got rid of. Aikea-Guinea still does it for me, though. 18 years old, and still fresh as a daisy. Best listened to through headphones, with a relaxing view or eyes closed.


review by: date: 2002-01-24 rating:
stars topsoil-memories, laughter tears
Play this and remember when the british record industry made little sense or had even less credibility (except for Liz's BRIT)than today. There in the glare of mullets, rolled-up jacket sleeves and white footwear shone the black-light of the Cocteaus and along with fellow hooded guardians 'the Chain, Smiths, Cure and New Order maintained the balance between the lameness of 'pop' and what really mattered . Anyone who had a thought in their head during the 80's will remember that this was the reason late-night radio existed. Nearly two decades on and the pretenders of ambient and trance are still pretending. Long dormant memories and emotions manifest in the form of Sugar Hiccup, The Thinner The Air and Fifty-Fifty Clown. You'll have your own reasons for owning this compilation but to me and anybody with children named Pandora, Carolyn or Phoebe it's what being in-love sounded like.

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