Cocteau Twins

On March 16th, however, the reunion was cancelled, with Fraser pulling out for "personal reasons.". Gothic rock, Siouxsie and the Banshees. On January 31 2005 Cocteau Twins announced that they would be reforming to perform at the Coachella Festival on April 30, 2005, and later indicated that additional tour dates through the fall would be added. The Cure, Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities 1978-2001 (15). Elizabeth Fraser provided vocals for two songs on Massive Attack's Mezzanine in 1998, the soundtrack to the film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (and the second installment: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers), as well as for other, less known projects and groups, and is rumoured to be working on a solo album. 2. Raymonde has released the solo album Blame Someone Else. Guthrie released his first solo effort Imperial and continues to create music with his band Violet Indiana. The Cure, Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities 1978-2001 (13).

Guthrie and Raymonde formed the record label Bella Union, and have produced releases from new bands signed to that label. 1. The former members of Cocteau Twins have remained active musically in the years since the band's demise. Given that the group had just recently released a four-disc set of b-sides, the amount of non-album material the band possesses appears to be rather high. Finally, in 2003, 4AD followed Stars and Topsoil with re-releases of digitally remastered versions of the first six Cocteau Twins LPs. Inspired by Elvis Costello's reissues, other albums ("Faith", "Seventeen Seconds" and "Pornography") are planned in the series. In 2000, 4AD released Stars and Topsoil, a compilation of selected songs--hand-picked by the band members--released during their years with 4AD, all digitally remastered by Robin Guthrie. In 2004, a reissue of Three Imaginary Boys was released, with a second bonus disc of unreleased material, demos, live tracks etc.

The collection is a complete record of the band's appearances on UK radio programs from 1983 to 1996, with some rare and/or unreleased material included. The show was hosted by Marilyn Manson. In 1999, Bella Union released a double-CD compilation entitled BBC Sessions. In the event, many artists ranging from AFI to Blink 182 covered various Cure songs as a tribute to the band. Fans of the group weren't however, left entirely empty-handed. The Cure have been made 2004's MTV Icon. While a number of songs were partially recorded and possibly completed, the band has stated that it will likely never be finished or released in any form. The album also received a generally positive reaction with some critics rating it as the group's best since Disintegration.

In 1997, while recording what was to have been their ninth and final LP, the trio suddenly disbanded over irreconcilable differences (mostly related to the break-up of Guthrie and Fraser). The album The Cure made a top ten debut on both sides of the Atlantic in July 2004 and debuted in the top 30 in Australia. There were two singles for it, Tishbite and Violaine (both exist in two versions, with different b-sides included on each). The band, augmented by an extra guitarist and a drummer, toured extensively to support the album--their last with Mercury--and in live performances seemed to have found a cohesive freshness and power that had been lacking on their previous outing in 1993/94. A new song, "Touch Upon Touch," which debuted during the live shows and was recorded later in 1996, was the last Cocteau Twins song ever released. They also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The record, which some hailed as a "return to form," with heavily layered guitars and voice (Fraser began once again to obscure her lyrics, though not entirely), was released in 1996 to somewhat mixed reviews. To promote this album, the band headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on May 2. As it turned out, some of the tracks on both Twinlights and Otherness were versions of songs from the band's eighth album, Milk and Kisses. The Cure released their first eponymous album on iam records on June 28, 2004.

Both EPs were labeled 'experimental' by the press, since they were very different from the EPs the band released in the past. This album peaked at #106 on the Billboard 200 album charts. The former consisted of four gentle acoustic songs, recorded with only piano, acoustic guitar and voice; Otherness, by contrast, was a collaboration with Seefeel's Mark Clifford, and featured four electronic remixes of Cocteau Twins' songs. The set includes seventy Cure songs, some previously unreleased, and a 76-page full-colour book of photographs, history and quotes, packaged in a hard cover. 1995 saw the release of two new EPs: Twinlights and Otherness. In 2004 The Cure released a new four-disc boxed set on Fiction Records titled Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years). The band themselves explained that Four-Calendar Café was simply a response to the turmoil that had engulfed them in the intervening years, with Guthrie entering rehab and quitting alcohol and drugs, and Fraser herself undergoing therapy (the two had been in a long-term relationship, and by this time had a young daughter, Lucy-Belle, born in 1989). In the spring of 2003, The Cure signed to iam Records.

This, along with audibly comprehensible lyrics--something previously elusive, as Fraser tended to sing in a style that masked or otherwise obscured her lyrics--led to mixed reviews: some critics would accuse the group of selling out and producing an 'accessible album,' while others would praise the new direction as a worthy successor to Heaven or Las Vegas. These performances were relased as the Trilogy DVD in 2003. It was a departure from the heavily-processed, complex and layered sounds of Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas, featuring crystal-clear, minimalistic arrangements. In 2002 they continued recording, and also headlined twelve major music festivals, in addition to playing several three-hour concerts during which they performed the albums Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers in their entirety in Berlin. The band's seventh LP, Four-Calendar Café, was released in the fall of 1993. In 2001 The Cure left Fiction and released their Greatest Hits album. 4AD and Capitol released a Box Set in 1991 that compiled the band's EPs from 1982 to 1987, including a bonus disc of rare and/or previously unreleased material. The band also embarked on the nine-month Dream Tour, attended by over one million people worldwide.

While on their international tour supporting Heaven or Las Vegas, the group signed a new recording contract with Fontana in the UK and elsewhere, while retaining their ongoing US relationship with Capitol. This album was widely seen as the third in a trilogy including Pornography and Disintegration. They parted ways with 4AD following Heaven or Las Vegas, partially because of conflicts with its founder Ivo Watts-Russell, and were close to breaking up over internal problems, due in large part to Guthrie's addiction to drugs including alcohol. The Grammy-nominated album Bloodflowers was released in 2000. However, despite the success of the record and the tours, not everything was well with the band. The Cure also contributed to the soundtrack album for The X-Files: Fight the Future as well as For the Masses, a Depeche Mode tribute album. The most commercially successful of their many recordings, the album rose to the top of the charts immediately after its release. In 1996 The Cure released the album Wild Mood Swings, and in 1998 Smith appeared as himself on the animated TV show South Park.

The style the group began exploring with Head Over Heels reached its peak on Heaven or Las Vegas, released in late 1990. Boris Williams (drums) left the band, and was replaced by Jason Cooper (formerly with My Life Story), and Roger O'Donnell rejoined. While remaining a 4AD band internationally, Cocteau Twins finally signed a major-label contract with Capitol Records in 1988 for distribution in the US, and released their fifth proper LP, Blue Bell Knoll, in October of that year. During 1994, Lol Tolhurst sued Robert Smith and Fiction Records over royalties payments, also claiming joint ownership of the name "The Cure" with Smith; after a long legal battle Tolhurst eventually lost. To commemorate the event, the compilation The Pink Opaque (1985) was released as a way of introducing the new, broader audience to the band's back-catalog. Porl Thompson (guitar) left the band once more during 1993 to play with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. In 1985, with a major-label release still years away, 4AD signed an agreement with Relativity Records for distribution of Cocteau Twins in the US and elsewhere. The EP has since become an extremely sought after item, copies exchanging hands for approaching £100.

He returned to the group for The Moon and The Melodies (1986), which was a collaboration with Harold Budd, and was not released under the Cocteau Twins name. Entitled Lost Wishes, the proceeds from the four track cassette tape went to charity. Raymonde, who was collaborating on the second This Mortal Coil LP, did not participate in the recording of the fourth Cocteau Twins LP, Victorialand (1986), a predominantly acoustic record which featured only Guthrie and Fraser. As a promotional exercise with the Our Price music chain in the UK, a limited edition EP was released consisting of instrumental outtakes from the Wish sessions. These included The Spangle Maker (1984), Treasure (1984), Aikea-Guinea (1985), Tiny Dynamine and Echoes in a Shallow Bay (1985) and Love's Easy Tears (1986). The Cure also embarked on the "Wish Tour" and released the live albums Show and Paris. With Simon, the band released a series of critically acclaimed albums and EPs, exploring their new style. "Mixed Up" was followed in 1992 by the album Wish, which went straight to #1 in the UK and to #2 in the US.

In 1983, the band participated in 4AD's This Mortal Coil project (this spawned a cover-version of Tim Buckley's Song to the Siren performed by Guthrie and Fraser, which became a major hit), and during their work for that, they got to know Simon Raymonde (formerly a member of Drowning Craze), who joined the group later that year as a bass player. In 1990 The Cure released a collection of remixes called Mixed Up, a collection which was roundly panned by both critics and fans (Smith says that he expected this, but decided to release the collection anyway). Despite being very different from its predecessor, Head Over Heels was well-received by both press and fans. This tour featured some of the band's longest ever shows; their final gig at Wembley Arena (announced By Robert as "probably our last show") lasted over three and a half hours. This led to establishing the Cocteau Twins' signature sound: heavily effected guitars combined with Fraser's ethereal voice. The Cure embarked on the "Prayer" tour. Since the band's sound on its first three recordings relied heavily on Heggie's rhythmic basslines, Guthrie's minimalistic guitar and Fraser's voice, Cocteau Twins' next full-length LP, Head Over Heels, had to rely solely on the latter two. In 1989 they released the album Disintegration, which became their highest-charting album to date at #3 and featured four Top 20 singles ("Lullaby", "Fascination Street", "Pictures of You", and "Lovesong"). Shortly before the release, Tolhurst left permanently, leaving Smith as the only remaining founding member of The Cure.

Will Heggie left the group after the tour that followed the 1983 release of the band's second EP, Peppermint Pig. In 1988 the band history Ten Imaginary Years was released, and Lol Tolhurst, though he had not yet left the band, was replaced by Roger O'Donnell. Their debut recording, Garlands, was released by 4AD in 1982, and was an instant success, as was the subsequent Lullabies EP. In 1987 The Cure released the double album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, and embarked on the "Kissing Tour.". The name Cocteau Twins itself comes from an early (unreleased) song by Simple Minds. Throughout 1986 Lol Tolhurst's alcohol consumption was interfering with his ability to perform, and Roger O'Donnell was frequently called upon to stand in for him. The band's influences at the time included The Birthday Party, Sex Pistols and Siouxsie & the Banshees. The album's title was taken from a line in the song "Killing an Arab." This release was accompanied by a video version called Staring at the Sea and by another tour, as well as a live concert film called The Cure In Orange.

At a local hotel disco club, Nash, they met Elizabeth Fraser, who eventually provided (vocals). Following this release and another world tour, the band released Standing on a Beach, a collection featuring all The Cure's singles and B-sides. The band was formed in 1980 by Robin Guthrie (guitar) and Will Heggie (bass), both from Grangemouth, Scotland. In 1985 the new lineup released The Head on the Door which reached #7 in the UK and #59 on the American charts. Their trademark sound of layered, ethereal guitar and indecipherable vocals inspired the 1990s shoegazing genre, which included numerous bands such as Lush, Slowdive, Pale Saints, and My Bloody Valentine. Robert Smith later expressed his satisfaction with the reunited Cure, saying "we're a band again.". Cocteau Twins were an influential and prolific British band formed in 1980, their music becoming nearly synonymous with their record label 4AD. At the end of the tour, however, Anderson was fired and replaced by Boris Williams, and Thornalley was replaced by returnee Simon Gallup.

Stars and Topsoil (2002). The Cure then embarked on their "Top Tour" with Thompson, Anderson, and bassist Phil Thornalley on board. BBC Sessions (2000). In 1984 The Cure released The Top, an album on which Smith played all the instruments except the drums (played by Andy Anderson) and the saxophone (played by returnee Porl Thompson). Box Set (1991). Reduced to the duo of Smith and Tolhurst, the Cure released four studio singles and their B-sides as the album Japanese Whispers. The singles from this period were uncharacteristically upbeat and accessible, though Smith would soon return to writing more melancholy (if not as somber) material. The Moon and The Melodies (1986) with Harold Budd. The same year, Smith also recorded and toured with Siouxsie and the Banshees, contributing his writing and playing skills on their Hyaena and Nocturne albums, as well as recording the Blue Sunshine album as The Glove (see above).

The Pink Opaque (1985). In 1983 The Cure released two more singles, "The Walk" (UK #12) and "The Lovecats," which became the band's first UK top 10 single at #7. Other: