COCTEAU TWINS - TREASURE @ 40

 

Released on November 12th, 1984, the third studio album by Cocteau Twins, Treasure, turns 40 years old today. While the album is cherished by the band's fans as one of their finest releases, the band themselves were less confident in its qualities.

The album found the group settling into what would be its stable lineup for the remainder of their career, with vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist Robin Guthrie and bass guitarist Simon Raymonde. 4AD record label executive, Ivo Watts-Russell, originally tried to hire Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois to produce the album, however Eno felt the band did not need him and Guthrie ended up producing.

The album was recorded from August to September 1984 at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh and at Rooster in West London. Raymonde alluded to Treasure being rushed and unfinished, while Guthrie referred to it as "an abortion", "our worst album by a mile", and to the period in which it was made as "arty-farty pre-Raphaelite". Additionally, Guthrie noted the record's 'dated' quality "because of the early digital stuff and the technology we used on that record. It’s got good things on it, but it’s certainly not got that timeless quality.'" Nonetheless, as Raymonde observed, "It seems to be the one that people like the best and it's probably sold the best".

So despite the band's reservations, the album has become well established with fans of the group as one of their most revered recordings. It was certainly the album that sold me on the group, though as someone who has produced music for nearly 45 years, I can appreciate when Guthrie says it sounds "dated". It's something that's common with a lot of music from that era, where the brittle quality of the 1st gen digital reverb devices and other electronics can add a harshness to the sound. Still, the quality of the music surmounts most production shortcomings.