TO KEEP FROM CRYING

I've been a big fan of Comus' masterpiece called "First Utterance" for a long time. "First Utterance" is a dark journey through a sick mind. What really attracts me is the crazy groove and disharmony they're having at times, like the second half of "Drip Drip". The use of acoustic guitar on the whole album is one of my biggest inspirations when I play the guitar. My weird chamber of inspiration for playing the guitar includes Roy Harper, Comus, even Radiohead. When Comus surprisingly released a new album in this year, I thought I should listen to their second album from back 1974, which is, for the most people, lost in the shadow of its predecessor.

Apparently, in 1974, after two years of hiatus they had, there have been some big changes in the band. Keyboards and drums came in. The sound and the feeling is in a very different place than their first album. That's why it's hard to get into. It sounds like a folk rock album with Comus essence here and there. It's like "First Utterance" and The Beatles had some passionate love and "To Keep From Crying" is their bastard child. But not every bastard has a miserable life. I sat down and listened to the bastard. He told me what he had to say. He pured himself down for hours. And I really enjoyed the journey of the bastard. The bastard has spoken to me and he has spoken good. God, just, finish the paragraph already!

I've spined the album for like five times and I thought it was a good album. After a month of other awesome music, I came back to this. The reason I'm writing this review is that I loved every second of this album and I think it deserves much more attention than it got. It's normal that at first a listener would think Comus has lost some very important qualities they had when they recorded "First Utterance". But if you listen to "To Keep From Crying" close enough, you'll understand that they still had those wonderful qualities, but they built new qualities onto that. It's hidden in the melodies. Of course it's not the second "First Utterance" but it really has this wonderful unique personality that is very hard to hear at the first impression. It has so much to say, yet I don't hear any Comus fans listening to it so much. And I thought, what the hell, maybe I'll make a person or two enjoy this album. Give it time, there's a good chance that he'll give you so much.

The new album of Comus is a come back to their true style. And I believe most of the people just miss the chance of even meeting this bastard we have here. I'm here to say "I think you should meet him".