This album came out from left field in early 2005. It garnered rare praise from key icons in the progressive rock field, got picked up for distribution by Steve Hackett's label Camino, and made many a reviewer's "best of" lists. There are three main reasons for this: Rain's very strong writing; Cerulean Blue's top-notch production, and Telos Music's low-price policy (including a general-public, full-album download for free). Cerulean Blue is a concept album, both story- and music-wise. Each of the seven tracks begin with Rob Brown reading a postcard from Rick, a young man in search of the meaning of life (although things are presented more subtly than that). Each track also starts with a string trio section that introduces the melodic and harmonic material of the song (except for the closing title track, a string trio by itself). Then the whole band comes in -- and the whole band is the enigmatic Rain, playing all guitars, keyboards, and drums, in addition to singing. Besides a few backing vocalists and the aforementioned narrator, the only guest on the album is Food saxophonist Iain Ballamy. But the music itself has nothing in common with Food. Rain's songs are purebred progressive rock of the symphonic, highly melodic kind. One can easily detect the influence of the Moody Blues (and not only because of the narrator), Genesis (both early and late), Steve Hackett, Fish, Pink Floyd, and Roger Waters, among others, and similarities with Pendragon, Brave-era Marillion, IQ, and the likes. Then again, the album doesn't really sound like any of them. These influences have been entirely digested and integrated into a personal sound that could downright define the softer, more easily accessible side of progressive rock. Add a good vocal presence, luxurious mixing (with plenty of keyboards, sound effects, and strings), and eye-catching packaging to get an album that noticeably grows on you and is arguably one of the best melodic prog releases of 2005. The CD also includes a video and an interview with the artist. ~ François Couture, Rovi

1		The Lammas Lands
2		Parsifal
3		Starcrossed
4		The Silver Apples of the Moon
5		Light and Magic
6		Jerusalem
7		Cerulean Blue

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