2. “Masterhit” – Front 242: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

2. “Masterhit (Part 1 & 2)” – Front 242

(From the album Official Version)

1987

Front 242 had released their debut album Geography in 1982, but the band did not release their second full-lengthed album until 1987, a full five years later. This does not mean that Front 242 had been quiet during those intervening years. With their classic line-up in place following the release of Geography the group began to build a fan base and a reputation with their live shows. Regularly playing live helped the group hone their sound while also proving, one show at a time, that an electronic based band could still put on a heavy, visceral, engaging show. Indeed, Front 242 became infamous for the power of their live shows. Front 242 also released the No Comment EP in 1984, which had more tracks added to later versions and so is sometimes referred to as their second album. No Comment moved the band in a harder and harsher direction while also continuing to build the momentum surrounding the band and the EBM music they were pioneering. In 1984 Front 242 signed with the fledgling American industrial label Wax Trax! and went on tour in the USA opening for Ministry, whose leader Alain Jourgensen was one of Front 242’s biggest fans and musical acolytes (especially at this time). 1987 saw Front 242 release their second official album Official Version. Featuring hard beats, distorted guitars, and militaristic and mechanistic themes, the album continued to pioneer and popularize EBM music while appealing to fans of both hard rock and dance music. This fusion of worlds and sounds can be heard on the excellent first single “Masterhit” which became both a club and alternative radio success. 

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1. “U-Men” – Front 242: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

1. “U-Men” – Front 242

(From the album Geography)

1982

Belgium’s Front 242 formed in the early 1980’s when Daniel Bressanutti and Dirk Bergen decided to team up to make both music and graphic arts that used the new electronic, computer based tools of the time. This early two-piece version of Front 242 soon merged with another similarly-minded duo called Underviewer. This merger brought Patrick Codenys and Jean-Luc De Meyer into Front 242, putting the core of the group in place. After incorporating as an official artistic association in Belgium Front 242 was able to gain access to government funds to upgrade their equipment, which allowed the group to further evolve their sound. Around this same time the group also decided on Jean-Luc De Meyer as their lead vocalist after experimenting with several band members on vocal duties. With things mostly now in place Front 242 went to work on creating their first full-lengthed album (different incarnations of the group had already released a few singles). In 1982 the band self-released their debut album Geography and in the process helped to create a style of music they called EBM or “Electronic Body Music”. Front 242’s EBM drew inspiration from bands like Kraftwerk and had a similar, albeit different, sound when compared with some of their synth-based peers like Depeche Mode and Gary Numan. Front 242’s sound was more rooted in technology and trancelike beats and would ultimately be a major influence on both industrial music and electronica. Front 242 were soon signed to the Belgian label Les Disques Du Crepuscule and that label rereleased Geography. To help promote this release the label also released “U-Men” as a single. While not a hit, “U-Men” did earn some attention in the same clubs and underground music circles where other electronic music was being played. “U-Men” boasts a militaristic beat, a driving synth pulse, sampled noises, and De Meyer’s cold, computer-like vocals, creating a harder, colder, more mechanistic version of what sonic cousins like Depeche Mode, OMD, and Gary Numan were doing; while also foreshadowing the harsher tones that Front 242 themselves would adopt moving forward. Their sound also inspired followers like Nitzer Ebb, and to some degree bands like Ministry and Nine Inch Nails. Not long after the rerelease of Geography Dirk Bergen left the group to focus on both his own graphic art interests and serving as the band’s manager. He was replaced by percussionist, programmer, and vocalist Richard 23. With this change made the classic Front 242 line-up would be in place to move forward.

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7. “Tishbite” – Cocteau Twins: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

7. “Tishbite” – Cocteau Twins

(From the album Milk & Kisses)

1996

Cocteau Twins did not release a new album following Heaven Or Las Vegas for three years, which was the longest break the band had ever taken. During those years the romantic partnership between bandmates Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie ended and Guthrie went to rehab to deal with his drug and alcohol addictions. When the band returned in 1993 with Four-Calendar Cafe it was with a stripped down and more pop-oriented sound. Much of Four-Calendar Cafe used more typical pop song structures and replaced the layered, effects-laden music of much of the band’s earlier work with more organic and intimate instrumentation. Furthermore, several songs on the album, like the singles like “Evangeline” and “Bluebeard”, found Fraser singing in recognizable English much of (or at least some of) the time. In spite of the musical cohesion on Four-Calendar Cafe the recording of the album was difficult as things were still tense between Fraser and Guthrie following the dissolution of their relationship and they rarely were present together in the studio at the same time. Furthermore, Guthrie had only recently left rehab and was still trying to learn how to work while sober. Still, Four-Calendar was a relative success. Cocteau Twins’ next full-lengthed album, 1996’s Milk & Kisses, would also be their last. That said, enough time had passed that the three band members worked together in the studio often and the overall mood was friendly and productive during the creation of Milk & Kisses which found the band moving away from the more organic and stripped down sound of Four-Calendar Cafe and back towards the more ethereal and atmospheric sound of their earlier work. This can be heard on the lush and beautiful song “Tishbite” which was released as the first single from the Milk & Kisses album. In spite of being something of a return to their more classic sound Milk & Kisses saw disappointing sales when compared to albums like Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven Or Las Vegas and there was disappointment from their new label Fontana. This pressure led Cocteau Twins to head back to the studio a year later to begin work on their ninth album but things had once again become bad in the relationship between Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser. Some work was done on the new album but Fraser decided she could not continue to work with Guthrie and left in the middle of the sessions, bringing Cocteau Twins to an end. In the years since Cocteau Twins ended Simon Raymonde has released a solo album and done production work. Robin Guthrie has released multiple solo albums and has done production and film soundtrack work. Elizabeth Fraser sang as a guest vocalist on three songs on Massive Attack’s Mezzanine album, including on their song “Teardrop” (a UK #10) and on “Lament For Gandalf” from the soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. She also has released a few solo singles over the years and in 2022 an EP from her new group Sun’s Signature which is a partnership with her real life romantic partner Damon Reece, a former member of Spiritualized, Lupine Howl, and Echo & The Bunnymen.

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6. “Heaven Or Las Vegas” – Cocteau Twins: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

6. “Heaven Or Las Vegas” – Cocteau Twins

(From the album Heaven Or Las Vegas)

1990

Cocteau Twins had earned a greater degree of success than ever before with the previous record Blue Bell Knoll and the song “Carolyn’s Fingers”. This new success brought many changes for the band though. One of the changes was that Cocteau Twins hired an outside manager for the first time as they had run into some tax issues. This led to a deteriorating relationship between the band and 4AD records head Ivo Watts-Russell who allowed to Cocteau Twins out of their deal with the label following the release of their next album Heaven Or Las Vegas. Another major change was that Robin Guthrie’s substance abuse, which had increased during the recording of Blue Bell Knoll, had escalated even further during the making of Heaven Or Las Vegas in spite of the fact that he and his bandmate/partner Elizabeth Fraser had recently had their first child. Third band member Simon Raymonde also had major changes in his life as he had recently married and lost his father, who he was close to, during the making of the record. None of these changes however kept Cocteau Twins from creating the record that many consider to be their masterwork with Heaven Or Las Vegas. Heaven Or Las Vegas expands the core sound of the band slightly without abandoning what made them unique and in the process scored the band their second UK Top 40 with “Iceblink Luck”, while also giving Cocteau Twins two more songs that broke into the Top 10 of the US Alternative charts with “Iceblink Luck” and the title track “Heaven Or Las Vegas”. “Heaven Or Las Vegas” once again proved the Cocteau Twins’ ability to paint aural pictures with their music as the song summons up impressions of dazzling lights, carnivalesque atmosphere, and dark undercurrents, all with almost no discernable lyrics. Heaven Or Las Vegas would prove to be a creative and commercial triumph for the band, but it would also prove to be the end of an era as after its release the band would officially leave 4AD and Fraser and Guthrie would end their romantic partnership. None of these things ended Cocteau Twins however and the band would continue on in spite of the personal and professional changes in their lives.

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5. “Carolyn’s Fingers” – Cocteau Twins: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

5. “Carolyn’s Fingers” – Cocteau Twins

(From the album Blue Bell Knoll)

1988

Following the rush of music the Cocteau Twins released during 1985 and 1986 the band took a deserved break over most of the next two years, not releasing any new music until late in 1988 when the band released their fifth album Blue Bell Knoll. While still signed with their longtime label 4AD Cocteau Twins signed an international distribution deal with Capitol records who gave Blue Bell Knoll the band’s first major label release in North America. The increased exposure paid off as Blue Bell Knoll went top 20 in the UK and was the first Cocteau Twins album to reach the US Billboard Top 200 when it peaked at #109. Much of this success was driven by the single “Carolyn’s Fingers” which finds Elizabeth Fraser fully walking the line between siren and banshee in one of the most stunning vocal performances ever recorded. Under it Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde lay a bed of chiming, reverb-drenched guitars, Celtic drones, and programmed drumming that serves as the perfect backdrop to make “Carolyn’s Finger” a shimmering, fairy-like experience that drips with an atmospheric dreamworld quality. “Carolyn’s Fingers” is quite possibly the best thing the band ever recorded and deservedly brought the group long-denied American success when it went to #2 on the US alternative music charts. In many ways “Carolyn’s Fingers” feels like the apex of the Cocteau Twins unique sound as on the albums following Blue Bell Knoll the band would incorporate both more comprehensible lyrics and influences from newer styles of music. Cocteau Twins would never be a typical band, but they would never feel more otherworldly and creative than they do here.

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4. “Sea, Swallow Me” – Cocteau Twins: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

4. “Sea, Swallow Me” – Cocteau Twins (with Harold Budd)

(From the album The Moon & The Melodies)

1986

Following the release of Treasure in November of 1984 Cocteau Twins released a dizzying array of releases over the next two years. During that time Cocteau Twins released four EP’s – Aikea-Guinea, Tiny Dynamine, Echoes In A Shallow Bay, and Love’s Easy Tears – and a compilation album that was their first official US release titled The Pink Opaque. All of this led up to their next full-lengthed album Victorialand, a quieter, more subtle affair than their previous work. Cocteau Twins were never afraid to explore new sounds and experiment but the new direction was, at least in part, a matter of necessity as bassist Simon Raymonde (who had been on every release since 1983’s Head Over Heels) was away working on the next This Mortal Coil project. Even with all of this output Cocteau Twins found time to record an album with minimalist composer Harold Budd. This album was released under the names of the four musicians – Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Simon Raymonde, and Howard Budd – rather than as an official Cocteau Twins album. That said, the joint affair, titled The Moon & The Melodies, sounds and feels like a Cocteau Twins release and is generally included as part of their discography. The Moon & The Melodies also contains one of Cocteau Twins best-loved songs with the chiming, angelic “Sea, Swallow Me”. Harold Budd’s underpinning piano work gives “Sea, Swallow Me” an organic grounding that sometimes is missing in the Cocteau Twins work while Fraser’s vocals are some of her most alluring, balancing a childlike wonder with a siren’s luring call. “Sea, Swallow Me” is a stunning opener to an excellent album and the collaboration with Budd, much like Cocteau Twins’ previous work with This Mortal Coil, proves that they can incorporate the ideas of other collaborators effectively even while still working within their own unique style.

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3. “Lorelei” – Cocteau Twins: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

3. “Lorelei” – Cocteau Twins

(From the album Treasure)

1984

The Cocteau Twins were signed to Ivo Watts-Russell’s influential indie label 4AD and in 1983 Ivo created a collaborative collective of musicians and producers (most of whom were connected to 4AD) called This Mortal Coil. While officially only Ivo and John Fryer were members of This Mortal Coil the “group” included a rotating cast of contributors including Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie. The first single from This Mortal Coil’s debut album It’ll End In Tears was a cover of Tim Buckley’s “Song To The Siren” performed by Fraser and Guthrie. While it was not billed as a Cocteau Twins song, “Song To The Siren” became an indie success and raised the profile of Cocteau Twins. Another benefit of Guthrie and Fraser working on the This Mortal Coil project was that they were introduced to another of the project’s contributors, multi-instrumentalist and producer Simon Raymonde, who would join Cocteau Twins as their new bass player (along with other duties). It would be this new trio of Fraser, Guthrie and Raymonde that would make the next several albums and EP’s by Cocteau Twins including 1984’s Treasure. Originally, the plan was to have Brian Eno produce Treasure but he declined as he did not think the group needed his help. In the end the band self-produced the record. Due to pressure to get the album released quickly to capitalize on the relative success of “Song To The Siren” Treasure was recorded fast and in the end the band were unhappy with it, feeling it was both rushed and unfinished. Indeed, Robin Guthrie called Treasure “an abortion; our worst album by a mile”. That sentiment however was not shared by fans of the band or critics, both of whom consider Treasure to be among the group’s best work. Much of the album balances (and perfects) the pull between the enigmatic and mysterious elements of the band’s music and the melodic hooks buried in the songs. “Lorelei” is a prime example of this tension as Guthrie’s guitars have an abrasive, wiry quality to them and the programmed backing track is sharp. Yet, Fraser’s cooing vocals have an uplifting, effervescent quality that lends the song a beauty and buoyancy at odds with the jagged, pulsing music behind them. “Lorelei” is only one of several excellent songs on a record that also includes “Ivo”, “Beatrix”, “Persephone” and “Pandora (For Cindy)”, all fan favorites. In spite of the band’s own ambivalence towards the record Treasure stands as a clear high point in the Cocteau Twins’ discography and is a beautiful, haunting, and rewarding listen.

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2. “Sugar Hiccup” – Cocteau Twins: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

2. “Sugar Hiccup” – Cocteau Twins

(From the album Head Over Heels)

1983

Founding bassist Will Heggie decided to leave Cocteau Twins following the tour supporting the Peppermint Pig and his departure meant that the remaining duo of Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser worked as a duo on their next full-lengthed record Head Over Heels. In many ways Head Over Heels marks the beginning of the Cocteau Twins’ classic sound. Without Heggie’s dark and driving basslines Guthrie and Fraser began to explore the sound the group would become known for as Head Over Heels features both Guthrie’s sonic explorations with reverb and effects-laden guitars and Fraser’s move away from singing actual words and towards vocal tone painting and lyrical impressionism. While Head Over Heels does not fully abandon the gothic and post-punk influences of their earlier work (opener “When Mama Was Moth” and “My Love Paramour” both still evoke a foreboding power), much of the album moves in a dreamier, more ethereal direction. One of the songs that best evokes this new direction is “Sugar Hiccup”, a dreamy, breezy song that marries pop sensibilities with ethereal beauty and an underlying sense of mystery. “Sugar Hiccup” became one of Cocteau Twins’ best-loved songs and pointed the way forward to much of the future music the band would make.

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1. “Garlands” – Cocteau Twins: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

1. “Garlands” – Cocteau Twins

(From the album Garlands)

1982

Anyone who only has a passing knowledge of Cocteau Twins may find themselves surprised by the sound of “Garlands”, the title track to the trio’s first album. Indeed, all of the Garlands album has an atmospheric post-punk sound that features driving bass and jagged guitar that makes this album a sonic cousin to the music being made by The Cure or Siouxsie & The Banshees around this time; there is very little of the dreamy and effervescent soundscapes that Cocteau Twins are later known for. The band was formed initially by guitarist Robin Guthrie and bassist Will Heggie and it is Heggie’s prominent bass parts that are one of the main reasons that the Garlands era Cocteau Twins sounds different from their later work. The pair began making music together with a drum machine providing the backing rhythms, but the missing piece was added when vocalist Elizabeth Fraser joined the group after meeting Guthrie while DJing at a local club. It would be the threesome of Fraser, Guthrie, and Heggie who would record their debut record Garlands for British indie label 4AD. Garlands undeniably sounds different than the Cocteau Twins later work but pieces of what they would become are already present here such as Fraser’s vocal range and sometimes indecipherable lyrics. Musically, Garlands is darker and more abrasive than most of Cocteau Twins’ later work but the album still creates soundscapes that have a haunting beauty to them, it is just a different kind of beauty. Garlands would prove to be an outlier in Cocteau Twins discography as bassist Will Heggie would amicably depart the group after the release of the album (and one further EP titled Peppermint Pig) and his departure would allow Guthrie and Fraser, who would become romantic partners as well as musical ones, to reshape the musical direction of Cocteau Twins in a more ethereal and even more unique direction.

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7. “Cradle Of Love” – Billy Idol: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

7. “Cradle Of Love” – Billy Idol

(From the album Charmed Life)

1990

Billy Idol had just finished recording his 1990 album Charmed Life when he was injured severely in a motorcycle accident that nearly cost Idol his leg and left him unable to tour or promote the album very much. Realizing the importance of music videos to Idol’s career and needed something to promote the lead single “Cradle Of Love” a video was shot that only showed Idol from the waste up intercut with scenes of an attractive young woman doing a striptease dance at the house of a stuffy older neighbor. “Cradle Of Love” became another smash hit for Idol both on radio and MTV and carried Charmed Life to Platinum sales. However, like Whiplash Smile before it, the follow up singles failed to become hits, this time barely even charting. At the time, this was largely attributed to Idol’s difficulty in really promoting the record, but other factors played a significant role as well. First, was a general shift in musical trends. While the alt rock revolution that would take place in the wake of Nirvana’s Nevermind was still a little way off bands like Jane’s Addiction and The Pixies were starting to indicate the change that was coming and Billy Idol was the sound of another era (and despite his own punk roots was seen as decidedly mainstream by this point) even if “Cradle Of Love” was an very good song. Second, Idol and his former guitarist and writing partner Steve Stevens had parted ways and Stevens is missed on Charmed Life. While the singles are strong, much of Charmed Life sounds far more subdued without Stevens’ guitar heroics and it is quite apparent how much of Billy Idol’s sound was, at least in part, the work of Steve Stevens writing and playing. In 1993 Billy Idol followed up Charmed Life with the critical and commercial failure of Cyberpunk. Out of step with the grunge and alt rock music of the time, Idol never sounded more like a relic of another time as he tried to weave industrial elements and samples into his music, which was more bland and lifeless than ever. Idol also did himself no favors by attempting to signal his alternative rock credentials with a techno-inspired cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” that features a vocal sample from Patti Smith. While the album was a musical failure that basically ended Idol’s career for around a decade, Idol did have a real interest in the dawning internet technology of the time and his use of the internet, multimedia software, virtual communities, chat rooms, and other early internet technology of the time was groundbreaking. Idol was able to begin to repair his reputation in 1998 when he played himself in Adam Sandler’s hit film The Wedding Singer. The cameo appearance was somewhat self-deprecating and helped introduce Idol to a new audience. Still, other than a few soundtrack contributions to various movies Idol kept a low profile. With his reputation somewhat improved and 1980’s nostalgia becoming a force Idol reemerged in the early 2000’s as a more respected elder statesman with a new greatest hits album, a successful MTV Behind The Music documentary and an appearance on VH1’s Storytellers where Idol was reunited with Steve Stevens. Stevens also returned to the fold for 2005’s album Devil’s Playground, Idol’s first new album in twelve years and his first with Stevens since 1986. More albums have followed in the years since, Happy Holidays in 2006, Kings & Queens Of The Underground in 2014. Idol released an EP called The Roadside in 2021 and another titled The Cage a year later.

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