SONG TO COMUS: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

So how did First Utterance earn its whole 77 reviews? When I first got into Comus (actually not too long ago, about 2 years) I had hardly heard anything about them. They were simply an unknown gem that I happened to stumble across. Now look at them! Comus all over the place! This, interestingly, seems to have happened with the help of Opeth. With references such as my arms, your hearse and the baying of the hounds, not to mention the many times Comus have been cited by Opeth's Akerfeldt, Comus are gaining their well deserved reputation as (ironically) a known acid-folk obscurity. To strengthen this argument: Comus even reformed again very recently and played with Opeth, amongst other bands, at the Swedish/Norwegian Mellotronen Festival (my God, how I would have loved to go to that...). Interesting. I can't help but wonder if this compilation is a response to their growing recognition, or whether or not Comus were just planning on re-releasing their album just as a lot of other 60's/70's bands have been doing? Either way, what a fantastic double-CD!

On here we have every piece of music that Comus ever commited to studio recording (as far as one could know, who knows what they're hiding from us?!). The first CD with the entirety of First Utterence, their single of 'Diana' that contained two other very nice tracks, 'In the Lost Queen's Eyes' and 'Winter is a Coloured Bird', and an unreleased track 'All the Colours of Darkness', also a very nice track. On disk 2, we have the entirety of their second (and generally unliked) album To Keep from Crying and two singles from Roger Wooton, 'Fiesta Fandango' and 'New Tide'. To tell you the truth, I've only ever listened to half this second disk once before turning it off and never trying it since. I really should try again because I doubt that it's that bad, I suppose it's just a let down after their amazing Debut. I still haven't listened to the Wooton tracks yet, but judging with pure superficiality by their track names alone, they're nothing special or alike the material from First Utterence.

So in a way, seeing as there's already 77 reviews of First Utterance and that I haven't heard the second disk, I'm making review of the three 'new' tracks at the end of the first disk. This trio are very much in theh style of First Utterence (I'm guessing that they were written at the same time but didn't fit on the album or whatever), but less that sort of 'insane' feel that most of First Utterence's tracks contain. By comparison, I would say that 'Winter is a Coloured Bird' and 'The Colours of Darkness' to be on par with 'The Herald'; haunting, chilly, yet warm in beauty. 'In the Lost Queen's Eyes' has a more sort of 'rolling' feel, melancholic and sad - very much alike First Utterence material, without the 'insanity'. These are three fantastic, essential Comus songs that any fan of Comus should get ahold of. This album is definitely worth getting for these tracks, and it's also a nice little shelf-filling item for people who like to collect. The inside of the CD sleeve is also very interesting as it gives tells the story of the bands history, it has cool pictures too!

If you love First Utterence and want a little more, this is absolutely worth getting for the three extra tracks off the first disk. For the second disk, I don't know, but it could be and probably is quite good! I will give 4 stars because Comus isn't for everyone, and it would feel wrong if they were considered an 'essential prog band' because any acid-folk should always remain an obscurity. If they weren't so well known, I'd give them five as that would then count them toward an essential in the acid-folk esotericity.

Comus are definitely one of my all time favourite bands.