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Cover of Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins
Cover: Heaven or Las Vegas

Song · Cocteau Twins

“Heaven or Las Vegas” by Cocteau Twins

From the album Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)

“Heaven or Las Vegas” by Cocteau Twins appears on 29 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1990 and 2026. It was first released in 1990 on the album Heaven or Las Vegas. Its best result is #51 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1990. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #147 alternative song of 1990 and #918 alternative song of all time.

29countdowns
10stations
#51best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1990–2026years charted

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Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (Cocteau Twins). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Heaven or Las Vegas", the title track of Cocteau Twins' 1990 album on 4AD, is the Scottish band at their most open-hearted, a vocal floating up through a glittering fog of guitars, and proof that dream pop could land a real hook. Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde wrote it, and the band produced it themselves.

Guthrie built the shimmer from four electric guitars: a 1959 Jazzmaster, a 1959 Stratocaster, a PRS, and a modified Levinson Blade he saved for the slide solo. He handled the drum machine programming too, and bassist Raymonde hailed him as the track's mix king. American alternative radio took to it, carrying it to number 9 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks in 1991, and it has stood ever since as one of the band's signature songs and one of the high-water marks of dream pop.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1990 51 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1990 105

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1992 181 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 279 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1995 262 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995) 300
1999 727 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 443 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 444 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 445 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 445 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 375 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 445 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 286 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 445 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 447 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 1487 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1429 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1446 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1476 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1543 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1560 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1576 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2021 808 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2022 728 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 194 KEXP KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) 491
2023 496 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 815 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 148 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places 800
2026 483 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917
2026 1162 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Also listed as: Heaven Or Las Vegas.

Charting alongside it in 1990

Best songs of 1990 →
  1. 1Nothing Compares 2 USinéad O'Connor
  2. 2The Only One I KnowThe Charlatans
  3. 3Blue Sky MineMidnight Oil
  4. 4Enjoy the SilenceDepeche Mode
  5. 5Here's Where The Story EndsThe Sundays
  6. 6The Emperor's New ClothesSinéad O'Connor

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