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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Diana | |||
| 2. The Herald | |||
| 3. Drip Drip | |||
| 4. Song To Comus | |||
| 5. The Bite | |||
| 6. Bitten | |||
| 7. The Prisoner | |||
| 8. Diana | |||
| 9. In The Lost Queen's Eyes | |||
| 10. Winter Is A Coloured Bird | |||
See all 11 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Down (Like A Movie Star) | |||
| 2. Touch Down | |||
| 3. Waves And Caves | |||
| 4. Figure In Your Dreams | |||
| 5. Children Of The Universe | |||
| 6. So Long Supanova | |||
| 7. Perpetual Motion | |||
| 8. Panophany | |||
| 9. Get Yourself A Man | |||
| 10. To Keep From Crying | |||
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See all 13 tracks on this disc
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
59 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Note - this is a review of the first album on this cd release. The second album is different!
In 1971, when hippies still roamed the earth , many strange records were made, and none stranger than this one. It's a complete one-off. Where to begin. Shall I describe it as an acoustic death metal album? Could be. It's not so much a piece of music as a pagan ritual involving some kind of sacrifice, and Comus are not a band, they're a very small cult. One thing which is sacrificed from the get-go is traditional song structures. Like the Incredible String Band, these melodies stretch out, meander, get lost, find themselves again, always surprising the listener with sudden flights of beauty as the two gorgeous high choirgirl female voices twine together creating lovely dreams which get pulverised by the guy with the goat-like bellow, a dead ringer for Roger Chapman (from Family, a contemporary band) and also strangely called Roger (Wootton).
The album creates its own unique style with acoustic guitars, violin, flute, percussion (as opposed to drums), and its two opposing male female ugly/beautiful lustful/chaste voices. It's demented, exciting, disturbing and really creepy, and very compelling, and it couldn't be sustained at this pitch - when they were allowed to make their second album, a couple of years later, the magic had completely vanished and they were just another second-rate folk band.
In 1971 Comus were completely ignored, and understandably so - too nasty and weird for folkies, too acoustic for anyone else. But great music will always survive, and so Comus crawls like an unstoppable cockroach back to the surface.
This record is for the adventurous.
In 1971, when hippies still roamed the earth , many strange records were made, and none stranger than this one. It's a complete one-off. Where to begin. Shall I describe it as an acoustic death metal album? Could be. It's not so much a piece of music as a pagan ritual involving some kind of sacrifice, and Comus are not a band, they're a very small cult. One thing which is sacrificed from the get-go is traditional song structures. Like the Incredible String Band, these melodies stretch out, meander, get lost, find themselves again, always surprising the listener with sudden flights of beauty as the two gorgeous high choirgirl female voices twine together creating lovely dreams which get pulverised by the guy with the goat-like bellow, a dead ringer for Roger Chapman (from Family, a contemporary band) and also strangely called Roger (Wootton).
The album creates its own unique style with acoustic guitars, violin, flute, percussion (as opposed to drums), and its two opposing male female ugly/beautiful lustful/chaste voices. It's demented, exciting, disturbing and really creepy, and very compelling, and it couldn't be sustained at this pitch - when they were allowed to make their second album, a couple of years later, the magic had completely vanished and they were just another second-rate folk band.
In 1971 Comus were completely ignored, and understandably so - too nasty and weird for folkies, too acoustic for anyone else. But great music will always survive, and so Comus crawls like an unstoppable cockroach back to the surface.
This record is for the adventurous.
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought the first album when it came out and it did funny things to my head, but nevertheless it was one of the most original pieces of work I'd ever heard and appealed to my adolescent ear. Had I have bought the second album at the time I would have been hugely disappointed with it. However, having heard it for the first time 2006 I think To Keep From Crying is actually rather good, much better than some of the reviews may have suggested - and much better than the band themselves may have intimated.What sets it apart from other albums of the time, as with First Utterance,is the completely bonkers mad vocals - how does Bobbie sing in that register? It must almost be off the vocal scale! O.k., it is more "commercial" than First Utterance, and the production could be better in places. They could have made a more consistent piece of work, but what the hell - this is top quality "acid folk" which blows most of that ilk out of the water. There is very little out there as weird and wonderful as these two albums,and Roger Wootton et al should really be pleased with their efforts all those years ago. Granted,the lyrics on First Utterance may sound a bit sick in places (much more so than some of the death metal and heavy stuff about at present) but it is ethereal, evocative, well played,quite mad, but still has its moments of beauty. What more do you want? If you compare this with the early efforts of bands like early Pink Floyd and all the other supposedly wacky late sixties and post psychadelic stuff, there's no real comparison. Comus are a one off and I defy anyone to name a band that comes anywhere near the sheer audacity of what to do with mainly acoustic instruments and the male and female voice. Put it on your your i-pod, go down into the cellar in the dark and see how long you last before calling out for mummy........
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This collection is brilliant just because it exists; it is truly wonderful that someone has seen fit to re release the music of Comus so that we can enjoy it. I give it five stars because of this, even though the content of the collection as a whole varies wildly in quality. Disc one, with their astonishing album, 'First Utterance', is a soul wrenching journey through eerie passages of Frenzied folk rock, which deals with such themes as rape, martyrdom and mental illness. All of its songs are different and unlike anything you have heard before, capturing with brilliant musicianship and a wide range of instruments a similar feel to the creepy pagan feel of 'The Wicker Man' film and its soundtrack. This is why I rate this album with 5 stars. Just ignore the second disc!
Comus are just one of those bands which formed and made something amazing, and having done what they had to do, petered out. This is why their second album, 'To keep from crying', was such a mistake. While the content of the second disc is at least varied, the album has not any shred of the genius which made 'First Utterance' and not one song offers even a moment of its haunting passages. And Wooton's two disastrous solo project songs tacked on at the end are nothing short of vomit inducing, and are quite amusing to compare to the debut of Comus.
Comus are just one of those bands which formed and made something amazing, and having done what they had to do, petered out. This is why their second album, 'To keep from crying', was such a mistake. While the content of the second disc is at least varied, the album has not any shred of the genius which made 'First Utterance' and not one song offers even a moment of its haunting passages. And Wooton's two disastrous solo project songs tacked on at the end are nothing short of vomit inducing, and are quite amusing to compare to the debut of Comus.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Extraordinary ...
This isn't to my taste but if you are at all into odd things in music then you should give it a serious listen. It's not like much I've heard before and I cast the net pretty wide. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dr. E. CHATTOE-BROWN
Disturbingly good
I always forget how much I love this album, and everytime I remember I put it on and the I love it a little bit more. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Number 6
Great memories
I remember these guys when they performed at The Three Tuns in Beckenham on a Sunday night & rushed out to buy the album when it was released, I still have it but daren't play it -... Read more
Published 9 months ago by HJ
you like good music?
This is so wonderful, it doesn't need me to say so. Imagine Family with a female co-vocalist. As commented elsewhere, the second cd is a bit more MOR, but still interesting. Read more
Published 16 months ago by 70s
Extraordinary lost gem
I can't imagine why it took me so long to become aware of this group and the beautiful music they created in their debut album, First Utterance. Read more
Published 22 months ago by ProgDave
aha!
The mother lode of acid-psych-wierd folk....
Around the time of Comus unfortunately a sort of braying vibrato was deemed a great way to sing, led by Roger Chapman of... Read more
Around the time of Comus unfortunately a sort of braying vibrato was deemed a great way to sing, led by Roger Chapman of... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2009 by N. Black
Comus - Opera Omnia
This double CD set covers all of Comus' heritage, with two albums, one EP, one single and an unreleased song. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2009 by M. Ranchicchio
Glad I was persuaded
First off I would not call myself a fan of the acid folk scene of the early 70's. After hearing this perhaps it is my loss and i shall be checking similar items out in future. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2008 by Peter Duff
BEYOND THE BEYONDS
On "First Utterance" and the "Diana EP" Comus sounds like a great band you`ve never heard elsewhere. Read more
Published on 4 April 2008 by The Evil Prince
Comus. As influential as any?
Having just purchased this Album . I have to say that I wish I had bought this years ago.
Ok. To set the record straight. Read more
Ok. To set the record straight. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2007 by J. Gatens
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