First Utterance

First Utterance
Studio album by Comus
Released 1971
Recorded November–December 1970 at Pye Studios, London
Genre Psychedelic folk, progressive rock
Length 49:17
Label Dawn DNLS 3019
Producer Barry Murray
Comus chronology
First Utterance
(1971)		 To Keep from Crying
(1974)

First Utterance is the debut album of the progressive folk band Comus. It was released in 1971, with the opening song "Diana" being released as a single.

First Utterance was notable for its unique blend of progressive rock, folk, psychedelia, and elements of paganism and the macabre. The overall thematic tone of the album is of vulnerable innocence facing abusive power,[1] the songs dealing with violence ("Drip Drip"), rape ("Diana", "Song to Comus"), and insulin shock therapy ("The Prisoner"). These themes contrast starkly with the acoustic sound of the record, featuring acoustic guitar, violin, flute, and lyrical, almost Arcadian, female harmonies.

References to Comus by other bands and artists include Opeth, citing its lyrics in album and song titles and tattoos. Experimental outfit Current 93 also covered "Diana" as the opening song on their 1997 LP Horsey.

Artwork

The cover artwork was drawn in ball point pen by Roger Wootton, lead singer and songwriter of the band. The centrefold artwork was painted by guitarist Glenn Goring.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
Crawdaddy!(very favorable) [3]
Tiny Mix Tapes [4]

Reviews were favourable (the NME praised the album's "highly unusual but fascinating sound" and Time Out said "the overall effect is unique"), but sales were small and the band dissolved after the album's release.

Early biographies of Comus said that a postal strike was one of the reasons that the album did poorly; however, none have provided an explanation for how a postal strike would have affected one particular album's sales.[5]

Track listing

  1. "Diana" – 4:37 (Colin Pearson)
  2. "The Herald" – 12:15 (Andy Hellaby, Glen Goring, Roger Wootton)
  3. "Drip Drip" – 10:56 (Wootton)
  4. "Song to Comus" – 7:31 (Wootton)
  5. "The Bite" – 5:27 (Wootton)
  6. "Bitten" – 2:16 (Hellaby, Pearson)
  7. "The Prisoner" – 6:15 (Wootton)

Personnel

Production

References

  1. ↑ A Million Fleshy Things: The Songs Of Comus – by Chris Blackford
  2. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. First Utterance at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
  3. ↑ Album Review, Crawdaddy!.
  4. ↑ Comus - First Utterance | Music Review | Tiny Mix Tapes
  5. ↑ Wells, David (2005). Song to Comus; the Complete Collection. Sanctuary Records Group.

External links

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