Cerulean Blue is refreshingly unusual. Not so much in its music, but
in the storyline, the way it's told, the way it's distributed and
particularly, the impact it has on the listener.
It's a concept album that tells the story of an older man following in the
footsteps of a lost young friend in his trek across America. It is narrated in
vignettes telling interesting little tales of fascinating people and you
almost feel you're paging through a year's worth of National Geographics. Those
spoken vocals introduce each song, accompanied by strains of a string quartet,
and are recitations of postcards sent to his young friend. And each
postcard ends with a heartfelt "
wish you were here". It tugs at
the heartstrings, especially when you come to understand at the end of the
record who the young man really is.
Spoken vocals in progressive music aren't unique it's vaguely similar to
some 1970s LPs like Rick Wakeman's Journey... and Richard Harris's The
Prophet, and even recent Ayreon CDs use this technique. The narrator is Rob
Brown, known for his BBC presentation of the Cantebury Tales. His diction is
good and will sound like perfect Queen's English to international audiences. His
relaxed and husky delivery is pleasing, and although narrated vocals always get
old after a while, this one has far more staying power than you might
expect.
At first listen the music comes across as the filler between the spoken
sections, but it is on subsequent spins that the quality comes through. There
are no soaring lead guitar solos, no walls of sound, no rock, really.
Instead it is strong, ballsy progressive symphonic music, airy and almost spacey
in parts, somewhat orchestral sounding, dark and slow, with choir, strings,
piano and Hammond. One of the stronger components is the long sax contributions
from award-winning jazz saxophonist Iain Ballamy. There isn't much singing
it's in a soft upper mid-range and a bit off pitch in places, but pleasing.
The artist who created this album is just goes by "Rain". He lives in
Guildford, England, Genesis's home town. He's come to know several people
associated with the band over the years, and draws a few influences and a lot of
encouragement from that classic band. Dale Newman, manager of Genesis' Farm
Studio and long-time roadie makes a cameo appearance on the album; and their
manager Tony Smith has apparently been particularly helpful and supportive. Rain
also tells of a voice mail from Phil Collins: "I'm in the car, having just been
to the doctors and I'm on my way home via McDonalds and I've just been listening
to your track 'Jerusalem' and I've had to pull over, get out the mobile to phone
you and tell you how f***ing brilliant it is!" (Apparently he was a little more
eloquent afterward, and changed it to "beautiful".) So it comes highly
recommended.
Record label Telos Music was formed to support Cerulean Blue, and
takes a guerilla approach to its marketing. The entire CD can be legitimately
downloaded for free albeit at a modest 96kbps and you are encouraged
to distribute and copy it. The assumption is that if a large number of people
get hold of the free MP3s, and a certain percentage of those people buy the CD
for the high quality sound, the booklet, and the bonus DVD material, then sales
revenue will follow.
Cerulean Blue is refreshingly unusual. Not so much in its music, but
in its total audio/visual and emotional experience.
Track Listing:
The Lammas Lands
Parsifal #1
Parsifal #2
Starcrossed
Light And Magic #1
Light And Magic #2
Jerusalem
Bonus DVD
Ashes
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