Other than I have listened to all four of these albums today as they all fit my mood, I haven't much to say about the choices. Feel free to vote for any album you like on my list despite any lack of familiarity with the other choices. It's not a contest -- multiple votes enabled in case you wish to vote for more than one. And If you don't like any of them, or want to talk about one or ones you dislike, feel free to get into that.

Some samples (a track rarely suffices):

Comus, its a masterpiece

No doubt its Comus

Definitely Comus here. The only one I'm not familiar with is Current 93, I also have an album called Return To The Sabbath by Black Widow which is supposed to be an early version of Sacrifice, sorry but that's one of the worst albums I heard in prog and it's not really prog imo.

Comus First Utterance - one of my all time favourites and a masterpiece

Voted for Black Widow, I like Sacrifice. It's not a real masterpiece, but I like it very much.

Black Widow and Comus. The other two are also good, but a step down.

It is nice to see all four with votes.

Mortte wrote: Logan wrote: Mortte wrote: Comus. Haven´t heard any of those other albums before, what I have now listened (I have listened more than just those clips BTW Current 93-clip didn´t work at me at all) really any of those albums don´t sound the rise of the level of Comus great debut. Maybe you should´ve put there second of third album from theirs? For those other three albums Message sounds most interesting to me also (that piece of you put Black Widow is a little bit comedy, there are more serious pieces in that album). This multiple choice poll is not a contest and is just based on that day's listening. My particular favourites on the list are Comus and Message (I would vote for both if I cared to vote in my own polls).   I like the other Comus albums, especially To Keep From Crying (unlike so many), but had I listened to that yesterday then decided to add it to a poll of four, then I expect that my four albums would be altogether different. I also love all their three albums, but First Utterance is their only masterpiece (Out Of the Coma could also be, but recording quality of live side is so low). Earlier it seemed only First Utterance got votes, that´s reason I suggested to put second or third album here, but now there are votes in every album.

I understood. I fully expected First Utterance to dominate but didn't mind as I wasn't treating this as a competition. I am still pleased to see all of the options with votes. First Utterance is definitely the masterpiece, but I also think it rather a shame that the band has been as typecast as it is by that album (I wish the band had had a more successful, more albums, and varied career). Especially since some that hate Comus based on the dark, pagan themes of First Utterance won't give the much lighter To Keep From Crying a shot, or take it into consideration when judging Comus, I find the stereotype to be more of a shame. And others who love First Utterance I don't think give To Keep From Crying a fair shot because it's as different as it is to First Utterance -- instead of judging the albums and tracks on their own merits.

I have the compilation album, which if re-issued should be called Comus: The Incomplete Collection that included First Utterance and To Keep From Crying, as well as what I think to be wonderful "bonus" tracks -- "Winter Is a Coloured Bird" and "All the Colours of Darkness" are two of my very favourite Comus songs. I find it interesting that Song to Comus: The Complete Collection has a 4.53 average rating at PA, which make it the highest average rating of all Comus releases, yet To Keep From Crying has a rating of less than three and is often despised even if people like tracks such as "Children of the Universe" and "To Keep From Crying" (my favourites off the To Keep From Crying album).

I enjoyed Out of the Coma, and it is a shame that "The Maalgard Suite" is a poor recording. I wish they could have included that plus a re-recording (that costs money to do of course and it's an ambitious piece). My main issue with that album was that it felt like a pastiche of First Utterance Comus to me. It felt like too much of a product of fan service to me. It didn't show much development. Out of the Coma immediately made me think of Spinal Tap's "Back From the Dead", but it wasn't as fun.

"We're back from the dead
Climbing from the coffin
We don't come here often
Or so it is said
We're back from the grave
Recovered from our coma
More body than aroma
It's life that we crave" (Spinal Tap, "Back From the Dead").

Which is not to say that I don't appreciate Out of the Coma, but I find it more aspirational than inspirational in a sense.

It's a tricky choice for me, as I've written 5-star reviews for both albums by Black Widow and Comus, but I've gone with Black Widow's "Sacrifice", because Comus' "First Utterance" gives me nightmares. By the way, it feels good to be taking part in the PA polls again after my recent long vacation in Hiatus.