Heaven or Las Vegas definitely.
I love them and was very sad when they broke up
Don’t try to decipher the lyrics, you’ll just get a headache:)
For me HorLV brings memories of driving up along the coast from SF to Mendocino in beautiful sunny weather.
I’ll chime in with a minority opinion and say The Pink Opaque. I’m probably biased because it has my favorite Cocteau Twins song on it, “Lorelei.” I think this is the album that most clearly defined the Cocteau Twins’s style.
Blue Bell Knoll. But then again, that album provided the soundtrack to the night I lost my virignity, so I may be a little biased. (Good memories and all that.) I don’t talk to the girl any more, but I still listen to the album.
Ah, my first “favorite band.” I have all their albums and my three favorites are:
Heaven or Las Vegas
Blue Bell Knoll
Victorialand
About the impossibility of deciphering Liz Fraser’s lyrics: firstly, her speaking voice has such a heavy Scottish accent it’s almost impossible to understand her anyway; secondly, during the '80’s the Cocteaus were known for doing lots and lots of drugs, especially when they were recording. I haven’t seen them live but I’ve heard bootlegs, and the words are much easier to understand. Fraser said in an interview that she never actually wrote any lyrics down; she just listened to what the other two (Simon Raymonde and “mental block”–I’m typing this from work) came up with in the form of instrumentals and sang the first thing that came into her head, though she usually stuck with those lyrics afterwards. They don’t make bands like that anymore, sadly.
Heaven or Las Vegas is their most accessible album, but it’s not a favorite of most of the longtime, hardcore Cocteaus fans I know, who seem to usually consider Treasure the best.
Personally the only album of theirs I really like is Garlands.
Just wanted to put my good word in. If you guys like CT, then you might want to check out STOA, kinda remind me of DCD with a a little bit of CT thrown in, and a heapin helping of modern etheral/goth sound.