TO KEEP FROM CRYING

COMUS released two albums in the seventies, the cult classic "First Utterance" in 1971 and this aptley titled record from 1974.The band had actaually broken up in between these two albums, but they were brought out of retirement as it were by Virgin Records who saw the potential of this band and no doubt thought maybe they'd luck out like they did with Mike Oldfirld's "Tubular Bells". Not even close. In fact this shouldn't have even been the second album as they already had written and performed that album but never actually recorded it. It was called "Malgaard" and it was the logical followup to "First Utterance". It was a concept album in the "Lord Of The Rings" style.The label out right rejected it though and eventually the band lost their manager but continued playing live as long as they could before folding.THIS album is a disaster. None of the band wanted to reform to begin with as it had been 18 months since they called it quits. Some of the original band members refused to be involved yet even the replacements were dropping out. It was a shambles.The music here is pop / rock commercial drivel to be honest.

I'll be brief. "Down (Like A Movie Star)" is acoustic guitar and clapping to start as a full sound arrives.The vocals sound like he inhaled helium. Poor at best. "Touch Down" is better with that spacey background but the vocals only take away from it. "Waves And Caves" is a short 1 1/2 minute atmospheric instrumental.The highlight sad to say. "Figure In Your Dreams" is strummed acoustic guitar as female and male backing vocals join in. Awful. "Children Of The Universe" is a melancholic track with male and female vocals. I like when it gets fuller. It's not bad at all. "So Long Supernova" opens with cello and is an upbeat track. "Perpetual Motion" is where they slow it down with strummed guitar as piano and vocals join in. It reminds me of the THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS but with poor vocals which kind of defeates the purpose. "Panophany" is 30 seconds of strange sounds. "Get Yourself A Man" opens with piano as female vocals join in.This is by far the longest track at over 7 minutes.Synths join in as it gets fuller. Sax late to end it. "To Keep From Crying" is a mellow tune with laid back female vocals.It does get fuller. "After The Dream" is the soft one minute instrumental closer.

It's been a while since i've listened to something this poor.