Comus - Song to Comus The Complete Collection (24 tracks) +Album Reviews

Fierce folk-rock, for one disc, at least

rogar131 | New York, NY United States | 05/01/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The four stars is a bit of a weighted score. Really, we are essentially dealing with two different bands with the same name and some similar personnel, but varying the musical approach wildly.

The first disc, which contains the band's debut album, First Utterance, plus some single and previously unreleased material, is an amazing document of the grey area between the folk-rock and progressive rock genres in Britain in the late 60's/early 70's, a cross pollination that resulted in bands like the Strawbs, the Incredible String Band, and perhaps most well-known, Jethro Tull. Comus became a distant footnote in that hybrid form, but First Utterance is a marvelous document of that footnote. Savage, dark, and unabashedly pagan, it plays like the folk-rock equivalent of early Black Sabbath. The musicianship is strong, with an anything-goes style probably closer to the ISB than the other aforementioned bands, with bongo breaks, string quartet passages, and angry acoustic guitar strumming behind tales of human sacrifice, rape, and old-school (and I mean OLD school) eerieness. To me, it seems like this great band that I knew existed but had never heard, which of course means it never sold. This one is a *****, easily.

Which makes the second disc all the more dissapointing. Given a second chance at the brass ring by a then-fledging Virgin Records, the creative heads of the first Comus formed a new band, and cut the album "To Keep From Crying". The UK music scene had moved away from the folkies and into the Bowie/T. Rex glitter rock chart domination. "Crying" sounds like a half-hearted attempt to jump on the same bandwagon. Gone are the "Wicker Man" like tales of horror, and in their place are more benign cosmic/space boogie in the Marc Bolan mode, though without Bolan's showmanship or sense of fun, and alternately, without the mystery and decadent atmosphere of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust years. Perhaps more than that, Comus never solves the problem of doing glitter without electric guitar solos! There is nothing wrong, per se, with the musicanship, or the songs themselves, which are competently made and performed, just the spirit is gone. It all seems too serious and studied, like an academic exercise in glam. Clearly the band was trying to reach an audience with a style that was out of their element. Tacked on to the end of the disc are two solo shots from Comus creative lion Roger Wootton, which are in the same misguided vein, though "Fiesta Fandango" is catchy in an inane novelty single way. I give this one a **, maybe a *** for historical value.

"

Here comes...Comus !!!! (A pity we haven't both covers!)

PortugueseMusicFan | Porto, Portugal | 11/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I always loved "first Utterance", since I bought it after the first listening...the idea I had, contemplating the cover art was a kind of disturbed world...but I wasn't expecting that musical depth, neither the spooky lyrics, the erotic and morbid passages...and also the sublime beauty of the angelic "The Herald"...it's a pity that Bobbie Watson's voice had so little solo exposition, in fact she is terrific in that extended song...

All the album lives up with that devilish affair...the loss of innocence/the innocence's lust!! We can dance with devil in search of "Diana", the free goddess of hunting...and running out chasing pure young virgins, frightening them with licking lips...well, this is all very pagan, isn't it? And Roger Wootton the perfect incarnation of that melancholic devil, his impressive intonation is catchy as a gargoyle in a gothic cathedral...at the end there's a sad Christian and a prisioner in his dungeon, reaching for freedom...the record's coda is a frenzy repetition of the word "insane", certainly a unusual moment even in 1971...I think Comus, without knowing, invented the acid-psych-gothic-folk or something like that!!

Well, "To Keep From Crying" (1974) is another different story...the group, now augmented by other musicians, seated down and forgot the morbid imagery...the music and lyrics are more dream-like tales, sometimes a little urban or sentimental, driving all to a more conventional collection of songs, without losing a certain eccentricity of the past..."Touch Down" is the greatest moment, a perfect ballad...but all the album is very interesting, balancing like a troubled ship in the ocean, growing up with several listenings...

This "Nice Pair" is completed with the inclusion (for the first time in cd, as is with "To Keep From Crying") of the maxi-single (predecessor of "First Utterance") containing two terrific non-album songs and a slightly different version of "Diana". A previously unreleased one is included to end up the first cd. In the second we have as bonus tracks, Roger Wootton's solo single (and the b-side) of 1974, nice to have in this completist edition...

The only negative aspect of Castle compilation is the lack of both covers. There's only, inside, a reduced image of "First Utterance" inner gatefold and outer cover art, but none from "To Keep From Crying"...it's really a pity not to have (as does Bgo records, for instance) the two covers side-by-side or as is usual to do, the two covers in different pages...instead of that, we have a very conventional cover with any image, at least they need a strong one...

"

Creepy, demented, almost essential

P. Bryant | Nottingham, England | 11/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Note - this is a review of the first album on this cd release. The second album is different - much more conventional! Here goes:

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."

Why you should get this version

Elliot Knapp | Seattle, Washington United States | 04/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first Comus album, First Utterance, is widely-regarded as a classic in the genres known as acid folk, progressive folk, or more generally British folk rock. This is for very good reason--I can't say I own or have heard an album as creepy, disturbing, wildly creative, musically imaginative, or anything quite like it at all. I won't go into great depth like I often do for albums that are important to me (if you want to see that, please read my review of the Italian import issue of First Utterance, which I'm about to tell you not to buy). If you like the unique British spin on folk rock, you have to own Comus' first album--it's not for everyone, but you've never heard anything like it, and there's a good chance it'll become a prized gem in your collection.

Here's why you should buy this version: Right now, the most widely-available edition is an Italian import (linked above). It's got an awesome digipak case with all of the original album's artwork. The problem, though, is the mastering. It just doesn't sound good (almost like it was remastered from a tape, vinyl or a CD), and there is a really annoying click/popping mastering flaw that pops up at the end of the second track and a minute or two into the third. Not acceptable--that product should have never been released. Since I've owned both, I can say that the sound on this version is vastly improved--impeccable. Not only are there no flaws, the overall sound is much better; the instruments sound like they're in the room with you, they're fuller and less harsh, and it sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday.

Here's one more reason: this 2-CD set includes all of the band's recorded output--First Utterance, three non-album tracks and a single, the band's 1974 quasi-reunion album (not all original members were present) To Keep From Crying, and two Roger Wooton solo tracks. If you, like many people who get this album, are completely entranced by its unique spell, you'll probably be hungry for more and want everything the band put out. I have to warn you--To Keep From Crying and Roger Wooton's solo cuts are, at the very least, nowhere near First Utterance in style, creativity, musicianship, or songwriting/lyrical quality. That's putting it pretty nicely--though some reviewers are gracious enough to point to "Children of the Universe" and "To Keep From Crying" as tracks that approach the first album's greatness, I have to say that, after multiple listens, I still find the album bland, sub-par (by any standards), and annoying (just listen to "Perpetual Motion;" I'm shuddering thinking about it). Once you're hooked on First Utterance, though, you'll probably want to find this out for yourself (I did)--if you get this version, you'll be able to hear To Keep From Crying and decide for yourself, but at least you'll have everything Comus, and the best-sounding issue of First Utterance available, without paying expensive Japanese mini-LP prices. The only downsides; it's a bit more expensive since it's 2 discs, and you don't get a booklet-sized version of the chilling First Utterance artwork."

Travel to the beat of a different bongo

TooMuchFun | 09/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am giving this 5 stars because the first cd is absolutely mesmerizing. The lead male vocals have a quirky dramatic tremulous quality that some may find annoying. You will probably get over it quickly. The female vocals are beautiful as are the harmonies. Fabulous all accoustic, aggressive band. Very imaginative arrangements and lyrics. Surprises throughout. And low and behold, no war politics even though it was recorded in 1971. Songs of Pagan ritual and even one about electroconvulsive shock therapy when used as punishment. It happened to more than a few young people who were "running wild" in 1971! The penalty for rebellion could be very cruel back then. If you want to hear the beginnings of ACID folk, this is it. None of the other attempts I have heard measure up to Comus' First Utterance. I bought this 2 cd offering because the sound quality of the the first cd in this set is supposedly superior to the single cd version(First Utterance). I don't listen to the second cd. Didn't really mind spending the extra cash to get this version of First Utterance. Probably won't be in print very long. I even burned a backup copy to play so I can keep my bought one pristine. I don't do that very often."

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