Blue Bell Knoll
| Cocteau Twins
Blue Bell Knoll
Blue Bell Knoll (1988) is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 19 September 1988 by 4AD.This was the band's first album to receive major-label distribution in the United States, as it was originally licensed by Capitol Recordsfrom 4AD for North American release. After a period of being out of print while 4AD reclaimed the American distribution rights for their back catalogue, the album (along with much of the band's 4AD material) was remastered by Robin Guthrie and reissued in 2003. Elizabeth Fraser named the album after a peak in southern Utah called Bluebell Knoll. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Consequence of Sound
Blue Bell Knoll, with its rich and ambitious expressiveness, returns the band to its dream pop roots in the ether.
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The Quietus
One could argue that this sound predates Boards of Canada's ruraldelic electronica by almost a decade; their combination of wavering guitar and synth tones and programmed, hip hop-like beats bears striking resemblance to their enigmatic countrymen's uncanny soundscapes.
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All Music
While Blue Bell Knoll has some striking moments that are pure Cocteaus at their best -- the opening title track is especially lovely with a keyboard loop leading into Fraser's ever-wonderful vocals, a light rhythm, and a great final Guthrie solo -- it's still the band's least noteworthy release since Garlands.
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No Ripcord
The vibrations we felt then still resound, undimmed by the decades and affecting new listeners. Dreams, after all, exist outside of time.
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Pitchfork
Pop rarely sounds as transformative and as transfixing as it does here.
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Drowned in Sound
Blue Bell Knoll is simply a rich, beautiful, liquid record - expressive and ambitious yet never impenetrable or awkward.
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Only Solitaire
If this isn't the voice of God, I don't know what is.
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Adrian's Album Reviews
The usual Cocteau Twins sounds and textures are here, gloriously so.
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Exclaim!
At the time, it was their most daring creation yet, but BBK was also a vivid, wide-screen pop album that managed to express this band's versatility, much like its two predecessors, The Moon and the Melodies and Victorialand.
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Resident Advisor
A denser, more sophisticated sound.
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Eric Roosendaal
Meanwhile most of these ten songs stand out as solid proof that the Cocteau Twins could deliver great quality despite radical changes in their musical style.
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Post Punk
Elizabeth Fraser displays one of the most impressive soprano’ in the history of modern music, resembling some some of exotic song bird from a higher dimension, or as music critic Steve Sutherland put it: “the voice of god”.
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Ambient Music Guide
The Cocteau Twins’ blissful, enigmatic mood music remains utterly distinctive and very special.
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Audiophile Review
Liz Fraser's stunning voice sounds better than ever, lush and round and haunting.
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People
With Blue Bell Knoll playing in the background, real life starts to feel like a movie dream sequence, or if you close your eyes, you may see that balloon floating over the sea, like a mind that has been temporarily set free from the restraints of the world.
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Leonard's Lair
In a perfect world all records would be as good as this.
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The L.A. Times
To gaze into [this album] is to immerse oneself in swirling, mysterious, mesmerizing whirlpools of color. They are deceptively simple. They are magical.
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Adrian's Album Reviews
You can still lose yourself within 'Blue Bell Knoll'. It just takes a bit more work than before to achieve such a state.
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Mecca Lecca
Airy. mystical. cryptic. dream pop.
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