Cocteau Twins

Milk & Kisses

A rather tired swan song for an otherwise incredible band

Review Score:

(4/10)
I own almost the entire Cocteau Twins catalog. To this day I believe they were so far ahead of their time that the rest of the world has yet to catch up. Like many other releases of theirs, I bought this CD as soon as it came out. But after a few listens, it has pretty much stayed on the shelf. I was surprised to see so many reviewers claiming this was the Cocteau Twins' best, so I decided to keep an open mind and give it a good listen again.

My opinion hasn't changed. "Milk and Kisses" lacks the spark and creativity of previous releases. It sounds as if they kept the drum machine running through the same dirge-like 4/4 tempo for the entire album, with the songs bearing little distinction from the tracks on most of their other 90's albums. Of course, a mediocre Cocteau Twins album still beats most other "alternative" albums by a long mile. There are a few good tracks on this CD. But for the most part, the Cocteau Twins on this CD settle for what is kind of a highly textured soft rock, which was predominant but more effectively carried out on "Four Calendar Cafe," the previous release.

I believe the Cocteau Twins' best work was in the 80's, with "Treasure," "Victorialand," "The Moon and the Melodies," and "Tiny Dynamite/Echoes in a Shallow Bay" being their best. These albums and others released during the period were ground-breaking, bringing multiple genres and influences into a highly original, richly-textured, and unbelievably beautiful sound. I strongly recommend these instead.

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