“I thought it was a really good idea because I thought, well, what are people gonna see in these names? They’re gonna realise it’s got nothing to do with mythology and all that bollocks. Well, it’s not bollocks, but I foolishly thought people wouldn’t think that we were into that sort of thing.” Elizabeth Fraser
“Treasure sounds to me like a really dated record, 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.” Robin Guthrie
Treasure
- October 1984
- 4AD
- CAD 412
- 41 min, 34 sec
Track listing
- Ivo
- Lorelei
- Beatrix
- Persephone
- Pandora (for Cindy)
- Amelia
- Aloysius
- Cicely
- Otterley
- Donimo
Formats
- Vinyl
- Cassette
- CD
- Digital
Performers
Release notes
- All titles written and produced by Cocteau Twins.
- Recorded during August and September, 1984 at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh and Rooster, West London.
- Engineered by Jon Turner and Droston J. Madden.
- Thanks to Yvonne and Pierrot for sleeve props.
- Art direction, design and photography by 23 Envelope.
- Some versions of CADC412 (cassette) and CAD412CD (CD) manufactured in 1985 included tracks from the EP Aikea-Guinea.
- Treasure peaked at #29 on the UK album chart.
- Alternate Peel Session recordings were done for “Ivo,” “Beatrix,” and “Otterley.” The then-working title for “Beatrix” was “Whisht.”
- “Lorelei,” “Pandora” and “Aloysius” have appeared in live performances, including a live remix of “Aloysius,” by Mark Clifford, during the 1996 Milk & Kisses tour.
- “Lorelei” was performed live on the UK television programme “The Old Grey Whistle Test” in 1985.
- “Lorelei” was featured on the 1985 compilation The Pink Opaque.
- “Lorelei” and “Pandora” are featured on the 2000 compilation Stars and Topsoil.
- Treasure was digitally remastered and re-released by 4AD in 2003.
- “Lorelei” was included in the 2005 4AD compilation 1980 Forward.
- In 2012, Elizabeth Fraser gave two solo performances in Bath and London, England, during which she performed a new arrangement of “Donimo.”
- The song “Pandora“‘s dedication, for Cindy, is a reference to friend Cinder, otherwise formerly known as ‘Gordon Sharp’, of the band Cindytalk.
- Included in Pitchfork.com’s “Top 100 Albums of the 80s.”
- Ranked #17 on Paste Magazine’s “Top 25 Dream Pop Albums of All Time.”
- In 2020, The Cure’s Robert Smith named “Persephone” one of his “30 favourite songs of the 1980s.”
- In 2022, Rolling Stone cited “Pandora (for Cindy)” as one of its “50 Best Goth Songs of All Time.”
Listen and buy online
Videos
Press
- Cocteau Twins featured on Spotify’s ‘Bandsplain’ podcast
- NEWS | 16-Sep 2021
- Poet Christina Pugh celebrates Cocteau Twins in new work
- NEWS | 23-Aug 2021
- “Six Definitive Songs: The ultimate beginner’s guide to Cocteau Twins”
- Far Out | Jul 2021
- Re-creating the Sound of Cocteau Twins: Guitars, Synth Keys, and Drum Machine Beats
- YouTube | 10-Apr 2021
- “The 25 Best Dream Pop Albums of All Time”
- Paste Magazine | 24-Aug 2020
- “A Buyer’s Guide to Cocteau Twins”
- Sun-13 | 6-Aug 2020
- “The truth is not perfect: Robin Guthrie on the Cocteau Twins’ major label years”
- Sonic Cathedral | 31-May 2020
- “An Introduction to Cocteau Twins in Five Songs”
- KTSW 89.9 Blog | 30-Sep 2019
- “Simon Raymonde on… Nostalgia”
- Long Live Vinyl | 10-Jan 2019
- Review of Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years
- Pitchfork | 18-Oct 2018
- “The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s”
- Pitchfork | 10-Sep 2018
- “The Strange World of… Cocteau Twins”
- The Quietus | 5-Mar 2018
- Cocteau Twins Announce Treasure and Head Over Heels Reissues
- Pitchfork | 17-Jan 2018
- “National Treasure”
- Louder Than War | Jan/Feb 2018
- “Cocteau Twins: Treasure”
- Sputnik Music | 16-Apr 2016
- “The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s”
- Pitchfork | 24-Aug 2015
- Reviews of Treasure and Blue Bell Knoll
- The New Perfect Collection | 21-Feb 2015
- Review of Treasure
- BBC Music 2008
- “Ether Madness”
- Uncut | Apr 2003
- “Digging for Treasures”
- Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music | Feb 1985
- “Polar Bears, Kittens, and Puppy Dogs’ Tails”
- NME/New Musical Express | 08-Dec 1984
- Review of Treasure
- Melody Maker | 10-Nov 1984
- “Ghostly traces”
- NME/New Musical Express | 3-Nov 1984
- Untitled
- International Musician Monthly 1984
- Coctale
- One-Two Testing | Nov 1984