TO KEEP FROM CRYING

Well, this album must surely rank as one of the worst falls from grace in musical history. After releasing the outstanding phenomena FIRST UTTERANCE in 1971, Comus dropped off the radar for a few years changing up their lineup and returning 3 years later with their second offering TO KEEP FROM CRYING. I'm guessing that maybe the title refers to their loss of inspiration and direct channeling of the god Comus after being lured to the pop side of music, perhaps inspired by Roger Wooten's involvement with Slapp Happy.

Upon first listening I thought this was absolutely horrible! The songs are goofy and clumsy and all I could do is compare them to the previous album. I can totally understand why this album is as disliked as it is. However, I loved this band enough to give it more than a simple brush off and threw these songs on my ipod and heard them pop up randomly. After hearing them off and on for over a year, I grew to appreciate a few of them more. The problem is the kernels of some of them are interesting but they are underdeveloped and some are really, really bad. Some of them are quite amusing. I'm being generous but I think I can give this 3 stars.