Comus

The Album starts of with a bang, a sharp repetitive and overall memorable riff kicks it off, reminiscent of Black Sabbath's debut sped up a few measures. Freelance Fiend set the album up to be a true great. The solos cut a harsh rift through the music that perfectly complements Peter French's vocals that rock, roll and soar throughout the album while still remaining gritty and unpolished. This grittyness is reflected throughout the album with the exception of the drums that place a nice juxtaposition to the rest of the album. The twin guitar work of Mick Halls and Derek Brooks can sometimes be reminiscent of Wishbone Ash, if a bit more edgy and quite a bit less technical. Nevertheless the guitars lack no soul and this truly makes the album a must have for any aspiring guitarist.

The albums first three songs reflect a Zeppelin-esque hard to soft rock transitions with Sad Road to the Sea being far more reflective and sombre, without losing any of it's harsh guitar solos providing a huge basis for the whole album. Growers of Mushroom starts to reach it's full potential as it approaches an early climax with the incredible psychedelic/stoner track Work My Body which lends a very progressive feel to the album. The eight minute epic is short in comparison to a lot of epic tracks from other albums, but it nevertheless has all the hallmarks of a progressive great. Work My Body builds on a guitar solo that progresses throughout the song increasing and decreasing the tempo, sending even the sober mind into a mild stupor. Paralells can be drawn between this and Dazed and Confused but that can be misinterpreted so it's worth only a small mention. The lyrics are some of the strongest on the album while cliche heavy it still works incredibly well with the song. The guitar work simply can't be overlooked and neither can the recurring themes and psychedelic riffs throughout. The song quickly changes in a very progressive manner, synths/hammond taking over from the guitars as they blister through a solo that's simply faded out.

As the fift track Stray begins some of the weaknesses of the album become apparent, all the songs do tend to sound very similar, harsh critics would see this as a huge let down, however there is some variation and as they say, why fix something that aint broken. As an album it does have a very distinctive sound that can be quite easily identified however it is very of its time, of course that's not to say it hasn't aged well, I wouldn't be reviewing it if it hadn't. However, an album like this would simply not be made today, not even by a band of the era, the sound is unmistakably 70's and everything about it is set in the era. What Leaf Hound has done is take something done before, alter it with great effect and perfect it; the result is something entirely different but still very similar.

The ballad With a Minute to Go is an obvious attempt at commercialism however I find it well recieved and quite effective with it's placement in the album, set quite rightfully in between two climaxes. The solo seems the most appropriate to the song, being a lot more in tune with the song, again very Zeppelin-esque vocal style (not pitch), the song draws huge paralells with Ramble On at times. This brings the album to what I believe is the finest moment in the 48 minute long journey, with very spaced out lyrics, the title track simply embodies the drug addled imagry the album conveys. With lyrics such as "nothing was out of places except the floor" and "my life was a beetle that ran down the wall". The song can become uncomfortably intense if listened to twice in a row within the album setting, yet it's not very musically intense. Stagnant pool provides some more excelent guitar passages and a return to the harsh hard rock vocals absent in the title track, providing a highly effective contrast. As the album progresses towards the end four songs we get the reissue songs, with the exception of Hip shaker which was on the original album, however appears nearer the end here.

This is not to say the final few songs are no brilliant, however they may seem a bit out of place in the album setting, the same principle sound is apparant however there are some slight changes in production and guitar work. Sawdust Ceasar provides one of the most psychedelic pieces with a very simple short recurring riff mesmerizing the listener while a drawn out guitar solo distracts you from your slipping mental state. If you truly listen to this album you'll find it as unsettling as music can get without building huge soundscapes and haunting lyrics. The psychedelia is achieved in an incredibly simple way, and that underlines the effectiveness of it. It's Going to Get Better is the second song of the album to feature a far more clean style of vocals in a ballad setting. The song has a sad yet uplifting undertone, it's very layered and ambient which provides yet another contrast to the harsh style of the rest of the songs, if there ever was one for the girls, this is it.

Hip Shaker is unmistakenly from the original recordings, and would fit in better earlier in the album, however poor production really does harm this song and probably led to it's placement at the back. I'm very pleased it's not the last song of the album, because an album of such quality should end on a high, and if there ever was a high, Too Many Rock'n'Roll Times perfectly embodies it. An incredibly sharp 70's riff suprisingly released in 2005 provides a hard rocking, brilliant end to the album.

Unmistakenly set in the 70's this album has aged incredibly well throughout the years and interest in the album throughout reflects this. Noted as one of the most collectible Vinyl LP's ever, it's no wonder considering the quality and excelence of musicianship throughout and newer tracks certainly don't fail to shine either.

If this was a perfect world and I could rate based on pure personal preference I would give this a 10/10 however it's not, and some obvious weaknesses means I can't give this anything more than 8.5/10, nevertheless a brilliant score for a brilliant album. This is a must have for any hard rock/70's fan or guitar player. Fans of Led Zeppelin, Captain Beyond, Free, Foghat, Atomic Rooster and Iron Butterfly will love this.

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