The Rare '70s Album That Became A Holy Grail For Psychedelic Rock Collectors

Psychedelic rock was a wildly popular genre throughout the 1960s. By the '70s, however, that popularity had started to wane. The genre had a minor resurgence in the '90s, but it never saw the same level of popularity as the psychedelic age of old. One thing holds true, however: Psychedelic rock continues to live on through cult followings and legendary albums. One of the nearly lost pieces of the psychedelic rock age is Comus' "First Utterance," a rare '70s album that has become a holy grail for specialty collectors.

The fans of psychedelic rock didn't fall off the face of the Earth just because other genres took the top spots on mainstream radio stations, but as time drifted on, the relics of an era when psychedelic rock was at its peak became fewer and fewer. The memorabilia and collector's albums grew rarer and harder to find. But, that's kind of how the whole rarity thing works — physical items degrade, accidents happen, things get lost, etc. Over time, something as rare as a 1971 copy of' "First Utterance" gets even more difficult to come by. It's an album that now stands at the pinnacle for many psychedelic rock collectors, and it's like nothing you've ever heard before.

The British progressive and psychedelic rock band Comus wasn't exactly popular when they released their debut album "First Utterance" in 1971. That said, the legendary David Bowie, who defined glam rock in 1972, was a fan of their music, and they even played a show alongside him, but delays in the production of "First Utterance" left any momentum they'd gained from the show to fizzle out. When the album finally did release, the label didn't put much effort into marketing it, and critics were beyond harsh. Basically, the band's debut album was a flop.

It was clear from reviews that Comus had a unique sound, but not one that caught critics' attention in a good way. It was just too out-there for the mainstream, which is exactly the sort of thing psychedelic fans are into. The songs are almost excessively dark at times in subject matter while the music itself moves between upbeat, almost joyous, ethereal, and absolutely weird. In total, the label only pressed around 5,000 copies of "First Utterance."

Comus split up shortly after "First Utterance," only to reemerge, release another failed album in 1974, and split up all over again. Some high-profile fans, including Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, kept singing the praises of "First Utterance" over the years, and by 2006, the album had gained enough of a cult following that the label rereleased it and Comus came together for a reunion. Today, only a fraction of the original press run exists, making one of those records a cherished find for psychedelic rock collectors. This isn't one of the most expensive albums out there, but for a cult piece of psychedelia, it's not exactly cheap, with some copies being sold for nearly $4,000.