Track Listing

1. Cherry coloured funk
2. Pitch the baby
3. Iceblink luck
4. Fifty fifty clown
5. Heaven or Las Vegas
6. I wear your ring
7. Fotzepolitic
8. Wolf in the breast
9. River road and rail
10. Frou frou foxes in the midsummer fires

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3749 in Music
• Released on: 2004-04-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

CD Description
A band who have had to endure the term 'ethereal' being bandied about around their name more than any other. With theirsoulful and quite blissful meanderings, their music has a sustainable beauty free of regard for contemporaries or peers. Heaven Or Las Vegas saw vocalist Elizabeth Fraser substituting the occasional obscure lyric in place of her uniquely visionary wall of sound, and the single, 'Ice Blink Luck', even had a near-recognisable structure and a very tempting hook. Their unearthly wealth of ideas remains undiminished eventhough Fraser has suffered greatly from problems with her voice in recent years..

Customer Reviews

I'd forgotten...
I bought this album years and years ago...and then my sister nicked it. And I forgot about it.

But then Amazon had it going in their sale for less than £5.00 so I thought 'why not'?

What a classic album. I'm sat here, listening to it now. It just hasn't aged at all.

A rare thing with the Cocteau's, just about understandable lyrics, but still with that ethereal winsomeness that is such a trade-mark of all their albums.

O.k., I suppose you could say that this is the most 'commercial' Cocteau album. Who cares? It's got some beautiful tunes, some gorgeous productions, some classic songs.

From the promising, slightly down-tempo 'Cherry-Coloured Funk', the album moves into the lilting, almost circular 'Pitch the Baby'. After dreaming off, we wake up to 'Iceblink Luck', with that lovely bell-like guitar and melodious bass and glorious chorus. Then, suddenly, 'Fifty-Fifty Clowns', that insistent beat, smooth keyboard chords stepping through up to a climax, wilting vocals behind a wailing guitar, but so smooth and mellifluous.

Then we have the almost rousing chant-like `Heaven or Las Vegas'. No idea what she's singing about, don't really care, but it's something about being in either Heaven or Las Vegas. That unmistakable Cocteau bass and guitar, loads of reverb softening the sound to the typical sonic dreamscape.

Oh, and then `I Wear Your Ring'. This album just keeps getting better. That lovely, stepping up, almost gasping vocal harmony. `Fotzepolitic', electric twelve string guitars or something, almost an electronic acoustic strumming wall of sound. `Wolf in the Breast', again, a lovely soft melody, with a gently howling guitar, but a harmony that just keeps reminding me, somehow, of late Beach Boys.

`Road, River and Rail' is a seriously down-beat track, almost sounding Joni Mitchell-ish, circa Hejiraand then, finally, `Frou Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires', a gentle, laid-back start, reminiscent of older Cocteau, blossoming into a fairly conventional (for the Cocteau's) song, finally fading away.

A lovely album. The Cocteau's have been so influential. Talking of Frou Frou, I was listening to a Frou Frou album (Details) the other day and noticed how much it owed, not only to Bjork, but also to the Cocteau's. This is one fine album which I am very happy to own again.

Last and best album for 4AD
Their last album for 4AD and without doubt their best. With this and the previous “Blue Bell Knoll” their sound had become much sharper with an airiness and clarity not present on earlier releases, especially so on this re-master. There is such an exuberance about this record, maybe due in part to Elizabeth Fraser’s impending status of motherhood at the time of recording. Whatever, the performances are very buoyant with actual words being used on many songs. The title track is so energetic that the vocals and guitars almost burst out of the mix. Other beauties on this are the single “Iceblink Luck” and the absolutely gorgeous closer of “Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires”. But the whole album exudes warmth and joyfulness. A fitting end to the 4AD years.

The most succesful Cocteau Twins album...
'Heaven or Las Vegas' remains Cocteau Twins most succesful album, the band having a degree of commercial-success and a kind of hit-single with 'Iceblink Luck.' It is also their most succesful artistic album- balancing the more ambient/avant-elements of their sound with some wonderful songwriting/arrangements & a big change in Frazer's vocals, and most of all her lyrics (some of which are apparent- clearly pronounced words nuzzle against the alien/oblique). Despite being a fan of most of their oeuvre, 'Heaven or Las Vegas' remains my favourite album of theirs and perhaps their ultimate statement (no wonder the follow-up albums weren't that great- there wasn't really anywhere for them left to go & MBV had taken things to the next level in 1991 with 'Loveless').

Things open perfectly with 'Cherry Colored Funk', Liz Frazer sounding deeper on the verses, jarring against the heavenly-vocal styles of the past on the chorus (and then there's the line about "...andfallingeverythingelse..."). Even better is 'Pitch the Baby', possibly my favourite Cocteaus song and a track I can listen to over and over again without boredom (see also 'Loomer', 'Nocturne VII', 'Two Step', 'Into Dust', 'Indian Summer', 'Glass Onion', 'September Gurls', 'Orpheus', 'Surf's Up', 'Good Morning Captain', 'I'll Come Running' etc...)- the kind of song I can put on repeat until the end of time....

The rest of the album is as wonderful, evenmoreso in this remastered-edition - the title track sounding better than any drug I have ingested, while 'Fifty-Fifty Clown' is more alien-pop-perfection, possessing some lyrics that would also turn up in 'Iceblink Luck' b-side 'Watchlar' ("emotions are emotional- they are...")- which turned up on lovely career-compilation 'Stars & Topsoil.'

'Heaven or Las Vegas' reminds me of a certain age, though it manages to transcend nostalgia alone & seems to be one of those all-time classics (see also 'Rock Bottom', 'Sulk', 'Tilt', 'Spiderland', 'Laughing Stock', 'Loveless', 'Everclear', 'Star Sailor', 'No Other' etc). A definite desert-island disc for myself anyway...