The Pink Opaque

Brand new sealed 180 gram remastered album with free digital download voucher.

The Pink Opaque is a 1986 compilation album by Cocteau Twins, composed of tracks originally recorded between 1982 and 1985. A joint release by the UK-based 4AD (the band's label) and the USA-based Relativity Records, it was the band's first official domestic USA release.^[2]

After signing to 4AD in 1982, Cocteau Twins released three LPs and five EPs between the autumn of 1982 and January 1985. Despite having no American distribution, the band was gaining popularity in the USA on college radio, particularly with the 1984 single "Pearly Dewdrops' Drops." The American label Relativity Records reached an agreement to distribute the band's albums on license from 4AD. Rather than reissuing all of the band's releases to that point, it was decided that the compilation The Pink Opaque would be issued instead, as a sampler of the Twins' output up through early 1985.^[2]

The Pink Opaque is also significant in 4AD's history, as it was the label's first CD release. As part of the agreement, Relativity pressed a single CD edition for both US and UK release. Therefore, the CD's sleeve contained both the 4AD and Relativity catalog numbers (CAD513CD and EMCD8040, respectively). Relativity also made the album available on cassette and LP in America only.