Comus songs

Hmm. The Maalgard Suite is pretty amazing and would be their best track if it was properly recorded (in their heyday). It's a crying shame the studio recordings got scrapped.

All things considered, I'd probably choose "The Herald." The way it drifts off into a dream and then returns is chilling. "All the Colours of Darkness" is very close behind that and then "The Prisoner."

Edited by Polymorphia - January 25 2019 at 14:51

^ All of First Utterance. is pretty great.

Polymorphia wrote: Hmm. The Maalgard Suite is pretty amazing and would be their best track if it was properly recorded (in their heyday). It's a crying shame the studio recordings got scrapped. All things considered, I'd probably choose "The Herald." The way it drifts off into a dream and then returns is chilling. "All the Colours of Darkness" is very close behind that and then "The Prisoner."

It is such a shame about "The Maalgard Suite" not being recorded properly. I was tempted to by "The Herald", it is so chilling and eerily beautiful, and I adore the guitar work on it. "The Prisoner" would be my other particular favourite on First Utterance.

Instead of "All the Colours of Darkness", which I do love, I went with "Winter is Coloured Bird." That's where my vote went. I love it.

And off To Keep From Crying, I love the title track "To Keep From Crying" and "Children of the Universe." Off Out of the Coma, I like the beauty of "The Return" considerably (but I find it a little cheesy).

When I think of Out of the Coma, I think of Spinal Tap's "Back from the Dead" (which is not meant as a knock on the album).

"We're back from the grave
Recovered from our coma
More body than aroma
It's life that we crave."

Edited by Logan - January 25 2019 at 15:22

Winter is a Coloured Bird with The Herald as runner-up.

TCat wrote: That first Comus album was amazing.  It's hard to pick a favorite since the entire thing is great.  I had to go with Drip Drip, but they are all excellent.

Tom Ozric wrote: Just 1 track ? The Herald, then Touch Down. To Keep From Crying is an underrated album IMO.

I’m definitely with you on that. I’m on my phone so typing is hard for me, so instead here’s my review of the album.


To Keep From Crying might just be the antidote some of you need from the dirtiness you feel from having listened to "Drip Drip".
If I were the tearful type, I'd say that all the disdain this album gets has barely kept me from crying. I wish more people would join the light side of Comus while still appreciating the dark side. Not only do I think that this album does not get enough respect from those who love First Utterance, but I wish that it got more attention from those who hate Comus based on the rather dark and disturbing, pagan themed conceptual album called First Utterance.

To Keep From Crying is a fun and I think dynamic album that I have recommended to various people who loathe Comus because of First Utterance, and while none of my attempts have so far worked, you can't Keep me From Trying. It's not necessarily that I think that they will like this album, but I want to show people that there is another gentler and happier side to the group. I hear Comus called by people who are not referring to the first album specifically but to the group generally, disturbing, gross, vile, soul destroying and gut wrenching. Generally these people have no familiarity with To Keep From Crying and so it doesn't even factor into their views of the band -- it's like the album doesn't even exist since it's so overshadowed by its sinister older sibling. But beyond that, I look at First Utterance in much the same way as watching a horror film or reading a horror novel.

First Utterance has a concept, and a creepy one at that. I think some who could easily take watching a film that has such themes and would not assume that the filmmaker is someone who condones brutal behavior have a harder time with music that deals with the same subject matter. Like lyrics are supposed to be authentic and heartfelt and not fictitious or something. Just because one writes about defiling a virgin in song, poem, novel or film does not mean that one condones the act, nor does listening to it or reading it mean that you condone it. And just because you tell a pagan story does not necessarily make you a pagan -- I mention this because some religious people are offended by it, and think it's Satanism. Sure, some might say that you're sick for being entertained by it or writing about it, but that's another angle. Incidentally, I think that the film The Wicker Man with its pagan themes works well with First Utterance (and I recommend the soundtrack to folk lovers who love pastoral music with creepy undertones). And no, I have not forgotten that I'm here to talk about To Keep From Crying, but it is hard not to compare it to First Utterance, and for me too when I first heard To Keep From Crying I couldn't help but compare it to the debut, and while I was pleasantly surprised by To keep From Crying because I had low expectations, it did seem on the whole a poor follow-up album. It's over the years that I've come to rate To keep From Crying much more highly and think that it's a very good album in its own right.

So... some are highly critical of the band Comus based solely on First Utterance, while others are highly critical of To Keep From Crying based on their love of First Utterance. Comus is losing out either way. I think each is very good in its own way, and in the ways that they overlap since despite the differences, both albums have musical similarities.

Like the earlier Comus album, this album also has plenty of beauty and a level of eccentricity. Like with F.U. the vocals on To Keep from Crying will grate with some at times. Yes, this is not the acid folk masterpiece that First Utterance is, the direction has changed, but there's still plenty to love in this album. Some of the music on this album would not be musically out of place on F.U. To Keep From Crying is not a harrowing experience, nothing wrong with up-beat, and there is much for varied tastes to enjoy.

From the moment I heard this album I thought the songs "Children of the Universe" and "To Keep From Crying" absolutely terrific which mix beautiful folk with an electrifying rock dynamic, and have fabulous build-ups. Five star songs. Wonderful! I also loved "Touch Down", "Waves and Caves", and the bluesy "Get Yourself a Man" is for me a real treat. That's already most of the album, but I didn't like the rest of the album much. As the years passed I found that I really like the whole album, and I appreciate the contrasts in the album. There's more going on in this album than you might notice at first -- it's not some lame slice of commercial pap, though it is more commercial than F.U. It is a different beast. The To Keep From Crying beast wants to be played, cause to not play it would make it sad, but doesn't want to play, play, play with you in a most bestial manner.

For those that hear this album sl*g.ed by fans of First Utterance, and those that automatically dismiss Comus because of some songs on First Utterance (shame on those who can't appreciate the pastoral and rather creepy beauty of "The Herald" at least ;) ), please give the To keep From Crying album a chance before you judge the album based on what you've heard or before you judge the band harshly overall due to thematic perceptions.

I actually have this album on Song to Comus, and appreciate it even more there for how it contrasts with the music of First Utterance -- dark versus light. For those that don't have this or First Utterance, If you can get your hands on Song to Comus, that is better than getting this alone. The bonus tracks on that album alone are stunning, and you don't know Comus until you've heard "Winter is a Coloured Bird" and "All the Colours of Darkness".

The music on this album is utterly essential to my music collection, and I return to it very frequently. It's also one of those albums that I don't want to end, partially because it ends so wonderfully with the song "To Keep From Crying".

I rated it four originally, but am dropping that rating to three simply because I doubt that most here will feel the same way that I do about this album even if they do give it a chance.

Same as you, Greg.