Four-Calendar Café

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (133 ratings)
Sample Album
ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 41:23

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Great in the Middle too!

FiddlinGreg

This group seems to be without ego. I can't think of one album that any liner notes indicated who they were or showed a picture. Their music reflects that too, as they clearly are following their muse. I started hearing CTs in the early 80's. Because most of Fraser's vocals were overdubbed, (and of course no liner notes) the name implied to me two women, and so they became when I listened. At first I thought 'they' were singing in French ... but soon came to realize that it was tone poem. The lyrics became your own thoughts and so changed each time it was heard. The group grew and changed over the years ... all the way to Milk and Kisses, and I can't think of one album that I don't enjoy immensely. I love the earlier edge and the later softness, and all of it in between. They are still singing twins to me ... and Elizabeth Fraser's voice is sheer beauty. Soft, hard, beckoning, erotic. There is no good or bad, best or lest ... just music to get lost in or make love to.

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Inteligible lyrics?

senatorbobdole

Cocteau Twins fans generally poo-poo this album because one can actually decode Frasier's lyrics. But it's their most straight forward, accessible record, and it ends up being really beautiful. I own many of their cds, and this is the one i come back to. I wish she'd hurry up and make music already....

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Bluebird Sings

DasFox

Bluebird sings to me, and this song has a driving force behind it like no other I have felt by them. Bluebird truly is a song that sings out and takes you for a ride... Granted this song doesn't quite have the strong early etheral edge, but it floats and sways you... Even for those that can't understand the lyrics, how can you not be swayed by the sounds... Picture yourself on that motorcyle, or convertable automobile cruising down the road with the air blowing through our hair, and you'll see what I feel, ALIVE! Aliveness!!!!!

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Great album.

stabdaddy

Different. Beautiful. Classic. 'Summerhead', 'Know Who You Are At Every Age' and 'My Truth' are my favorites from this release.

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Far better than advertised

Remmev

I think this collection is full of beautiful songs. I've always been baffled why so many seem to really dislike it. True, it's pretty smoothed out, and not remotely edgy, but if I need that I'll listen to another recording.

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Better With Time

Relayer71

Not as immediately beautiful as Heaven Or Las Vegas or as unconventional as Head Over Heels or as pretty as Treasure - this album is one I disliked for years before truly appreciating it. It starts off with a decent but understated track and then goes off into one of the most dull and unnecessary Twins tracks, Evangeline. The next track is marred by a very straightforward chorus which lacks the usual mystery and tension of a CT song. This is resolved by the end of the next track though. From there on the album is full of a lovely mellowness with airy tracks like "Oil Of Angels" and "My Truth" and in the touching and moving "Pur". "Summerhead" is also a standout which wouldn't seem out of place in Blue Bell Knoll. I wouldn't rate this their most consistent and it lacks some of the originality of their previous albums, but this is probably Cocteau Twins most mature and underrated album.

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I like it

leemail98

If this was the first Cocteau Twins album I'd ever heard (actually that was blue bell knoll), and I had no idea what the Cocteau's were "supposed" to sound like... then I would have to admit that this isn't half bad. I would more likely put this on if I'm in the mood for The Sundays or Lush before I would place it next to earlier Cocteau. The first half of this disc is a guilty pleasure of mine.

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a travesty

snej

Horrifically watered-down, it sounds as though they're not even trying anymore musically; although Liz unfortunately _is_ trying to make her words understandable, and they are revealed as trite beyond belief. I was horrified by this CD when it came out. The strange thing is that the Cocteaux had already shown, with "Heaven Or Las Vegas", that they could make their sound more 'accessible' without losing the basics of what made it great. I'd recommend that, or any of their earlier albums, over this pale imitation.

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They Say All Media Guide

Cocteau Twins’ first release following their exodus from the 4AD stable, Four-Calendar Cafe is also, tellingly, their most earthbound effort; as with Heaven or Las Vegas, the emphasis here is on substance as much as style — “Evangeline,” “Bluebeard,” and “Know Who You Are at Every Age” continue the trio’s advance into more accessible melodic and lyrical ground without sacrificing even an ounce of their trademark ethereality. – Jason Ankeny