First Utterance
| First Utterance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Comus | ||||
| Released | 1971 | |||
| Recorded | November–December 1970 | |||
| Genre | Psych folk, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 49:17 | |||
| Label | Dawn DNLS 3019 | |||
| Producer | Barry Murray | |||
| Comus chronology | ||||
| ||||
First Utterance is the debut album of the British progressive rock 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.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Crawdaddy! | (very favorable) [3] |
Unfavourable reviews resulted in low sales, and the band quickly 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.[4]
Track listing
- All songs copyright Our Music Ltd.
- "Diana" – 4:37 (Colin Pearson)
- "The Herald" – 12:15 (Andy Hellaby, Glen Goring, Roger Wootton)
- "Drip Drip" – 10:56 (Wootton)
- "Song to Comus" – 7:31 (Wootton)
- "The Bite" – 5:27 (Wootton)
- "Bitten" – 2:16 (Hellaby, Pearson)
- "The Prisoner" – 6:15 (Wootton)
Personnel
- Roger Wootton – acoustic guitar, lead vocals
- Glenn Goring – 6-12-string acoustic guitars, electric guitar, slide, hand drums, backing vocals
- Andy Hellaby – fender bass, slide bass, backing vocals
- Colin Pearson – violin, viola
- Rob Young – flute, oboe, hand drums
- Bobbie Watson – lead and backing vocals, percussion
Production
- Arranged By Comus
- Produced By Barry Murray
- Recorded & Engineered By Jeff Calver
References
- ↑ A Million Fleshy Things: The Songs Of Comus – by Chris Blackford
- ↑ Unterberger, Richie. First Utterance at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ↑ Album Review, Crawdaddy!.
- ↑ Wells, David (2005). Song to Comus; the Complete Collection. Sanctuary Records Group.