# First Utterance

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***First Utterance*** is the first studio album by the English [progressive folk](/source/Progressive_folk) band [Comus](/source/Comus_(band)). It was released in 1971, with "Diana" being released as a single.

*First Utterance* was notable for its unique blend of [progressive rock](/source/Progressive_rock), folk, psychedelia, and themes of paganism and the macabre. The overall tone of the album is of vulnerable innocence facing abusive power,[1] with songs dealing with such themes as [necrophilia](/source/Necrophilia) ("Drip Drip"), rape ("Diana", "Song to Comus") and [shock therapy](/source/Electroconvulsive_therapy) ("The Prisoner").

References to Comus by other bands and artists include [Opeth](/source/Opeth), citing its lyrics in album and song titles and tattoos. [Current 93](/source/Current_93) 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 centerfold artwork was painted by guitarist Glenn Goring.

## Reception and legacy

Contemporary reception was positive, with *[NME](/source/NME)* praising the album's "highly unusual but fascinating sound" and *[Time Out](/source/Time_Out_(magazine))* calling it "unique". However, sales were limited and the band dissolved after the album's release. Early biographies of Comus stated 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.[2]

*[The Wire](/source/The_Wire_(magazine))* included it on their 1998 list of "100 Records That Set The World On Fire [When No One Was Listening]", calling it "[folk rock](/source/Folk_rock) at its most delirious, devilish, and dynamic."[3] In 2014, *[FACT Magazine](/source/Fact_(UK_magazine))* ranked it the 22nd best album of the 1970s, writing:[4]

Based in Kent, Comus specialised in ingenious hokum: squawking tales of torture, pagan worship, zephyrs and psychotics. Unsurprisingly, they barely made a commercial ripple [...], but from the twanging fiddles and eldritch voices of ‘Diana’ onwards, *First Utterance* is both unapologetically weird and commendably self-assured. It’s extremely – and sometimes off-puttingly – mannered, but if you’re looking for the square root of the mid-2000s [freak-folk](/source/Freak-folk) explosion, this is it.

## Personnel

- Roger Wootton – acoustic guitar, lead vocals, cover art
- Glenn Goring – 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars, electric guitar, slide guitar, hand drums, backing vocals
- Andy Hellaby – bass guitar, slide bass, backing vocals
- Colin Pearson – violin, viola
- Rob Young – flute, oboe, hand drums
- Bobbie Watson – lead and backing vocals, percussion

### Production

- Comus – [arrangements](/source/Arrangement)
- Barry Murray – producer
- Jeff Calver – recording, engineer

## References

1. [*A Million Fleshy Things: The Songs Of Comus*](http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~rneckmag/comus.html) – by Chris Blackford

1. Wells, David (2005). *Song to Comus; the Complete Collection*. Sanctuary Records Group.

1. ["100 Records That Set The World On Fire \[When No One Was Listening\]"](http://www.rtxarchive.com/archive/articles/wire175.html). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070613182618/http://www.rtxarchive.com/archive/articles/wire175.html) 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine.

1. ["The 100 best albums of the 1970s"](https://www.factmag.com/2014/07/14/the-100-best-albums-of-the-1970s/). *[FACT Magazine](/source/Fact_(UK_magazine))*. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

## External links

- [Hippy.com review](https://web.archive.org/web/20071022063826/http://hippy.com/review-468.html)
- [Psychedelicfolk.com review](http://www.psychedelicfolk.com/reissue2.html#anchor_121)
- ["First Utterance" at discogs](http://www.discogs.com/Comus-First-Utterance/release/2282473)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [First Utterance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Utterance) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Utterance?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.