OCEANS OF ART

Rudy Perrone is no stanger to Prog fans.Having both a Classical and Jazz background, he was one of the leading forces of the US Symphonic Rock act Cathedral and his brilliant performance can be heard in the 78' ''Stained glass stories'' album.When Cathedral disbanded in 1979, he became a member of Industry, a New Wave US group, formed in 1978 by Cathedral's drummer Mercury Caronia.But at the same time he focused on writing his first solo album ''Oceans of art'', the recordings of which lasted over a year and took place at Paris Recording Studio.Practically Perrone plays everything on the album, but in a few pieces he received help from ex-Cathedral bandmates Mercury Caronia (drums), Thomas Doncourt (keyboards) and Fred Callan (bass).Six more guests appear also in separate occasions, handling the violin, sax, oboe, French horn and cello.The album was privately released in 1981.

Perrone focused on the acoustic side of Progressive Rock in ''Oceans of art'' and comes up with a work heavily reminding of Trespass-era GENESIS as well as the acoustic side of ANTHONY PHILLIPS with the classical guitar being the dominant instrument, creating an atmosphere somewhere between Orchestral and Folk Music.However the sound is far from minimalistic.Most pieces are driven by the virtuosic playing of Perrone on classical guitar and mandolin, but the background contains also great symphonic synthesizers and lots of alternative acoustic echoes with cellos, violin, oboe and sporadic electric guitars.The mood of the album is romantic with a positive vibe and then comes Perrone's excellent, sensitive singing parts, supported by sparse, instrument-like vocal harmonies.A few tracks, especially during the flipside, follow a more Neo/Symphonic Prog path, reminding a bit of compatriots HOLDING PATTERN and NORTH STAR.The keyboard come in evidence here, there is even some Mellotron colors in a couple of them, and Perrone catches his electric guitar for a more energetic style, which still retains the light and emotional approach of the acoustic cuts, although the aforementioned pieces are fairly more complex.

After Perrone ended his stint with Industry, he became involved in several projects, including Folk and New Age records as well as Film Soundtracks.He also released a few solo albums, led by his love for acoustic guitar music and, of course, he was part of Cathedral's reincarnation in 2007.

A nice surprise for all old-GENESIS fans.A mix of Folk and light Symphonic Rock aesthetics in an album full of beautiful melodies and pastoral atmospheres.Recommended.