Comus - Song to Comus: The Complete Collection
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CD Details
Artist: ComusEdition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2005-06-20
Music Label: Castle Music UK
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Diana
- The Herald
- Drip Drip
- Song to Comus
- The Bite
- Bitten
- The Prisoner
- Diana
- In the Lost Queen's Eyes
- Winter Is a Coloured Bird
- All the Colours of Darkness
- Down (Like a Movie Star)
- Touch Down
- Waves and Caves
- Figure in Your Dreams
- Children of the Universe
- So Long Supernova
- Perpetual Motion
- Panophany
- Get Yourself a Man
- To Keep from Crying
- After the Dream
- Fiesta Fandango
- New Tide
Music reviews of Song to Comus: The Complete Collection
Music Review: An Opposing View
Rating: 2 Stars
Judging by the torrent of fulsome praise showered here on Song To Comus: The Complete Collection, one who had heard the legend of Comus but had not actually heard Comus might be forgiven for thinking that they were about to hear one of the greatest paleo-prog records ever made. I am here to offer an opposing view and to give anyone considering acquiring this CD set a more balanced assessment.
For years, the music press has sung the praises of this band which few had actually ever heard during its brief period of existence. Since I like progressive rock and progressive folk, I was eventually drawn in and succumbed to the insistent urging to buy it. But imagine my dismay when I first put it on! I could not believe that anyone saw fit to reissue what is decidedly a very uneven and mediocre piece of work.
First of all, the two discs comprising the set are so different that they often don't sound like the same band! If I had to say which is the better of the two, I'd pick the first one. My first impression is that Comus sounds like a cross between a bunch of drunken, chanting savages cavorting around a fire during some Satanic ritual and a soundtrack for a Halloween haunted house. If there is anything to enjoy, it is the evil-sounding violin that evokes some of the wilder work of Daryl Way. Fans of Can may like the hypnotic and percussive scatting on Drip Drip. To me, the few "songs" that keep this from being a complete throwaway are the title cut, All The Colors of Darkness, and the one I think is best, In the Lost Queen's Eyes.
Disc two is a different story. It starts out very poppy but swiftly degenerates into a cacophony that is often nearly unlistenable. Figure In Your Dreams, Perpetual Motion, and the utterly lame and out of place Fiesta Fandango share the dubious honor of being the worst songs.
A blurb on the back of the jewel case describes this music as acid folk. Well, it is my opinion that one certainly has to be suffering from an acid-addled brain or experiencing a wave of flashbacks to say they truly find much pleasure in this. In the nearly two hours of often hideous din, there is precious little to enjoy. The first disc has often been described as "chilling". It may well be if you could understand what is being sung. A booklet of lyrics would certainly have been more helpful than the admittedly attractive folded booklet containing album info and the history of the band that is provided instead.
In summary, those who like progressive rock, progressive folk, or even psychedelia may not necessarily be attracted to this. If you have been bombarded with recommendations to buy Song To Comus, my best advice is to try to hear it before you buy it. Don't say you weren't warned.
Description of Song to Comus: The Complete Collection
Taking their name from a character in a John Milton poem, Comus was a short-lived but powerful folk-rock band that mixed elements of King Crimson with the influences of Pentangle, Fairport Convention and other more traditional folk outfits. This 2 disc Complete Collection contains the band's debut, First Utterance (1971) plus the Dawn EP and To Keep From Crying (1974). Castle Music. 2005.British Folk CDs
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