Handful of Rain was the only time that Savatage had recorded together as a three-piece, their only release with guitarist Alex Skolnick (who had replaced Oliva), and their only one without Johnny Lee Middleton (who is credited on the insert, but did not perform) since 1985's Power of the Night.

[2] Jon Oliva and producer Paul O'Neill decided to keep Savatage going to honour the memory of Criss, and went to Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida, to work on the next album.

"Chance" is about Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania during World War II who defied government orders by signing exit visas for thousands of Jewish refugees.

Oliva could not appear as a band member for contractual problems and so the sleeve and booklet included photos of both Wacholz and Middleton to maintain a more "classic" Savatage line-up feeling to the release.

Some editions of the album (for instance, the "Rock Masters" version released on the iTunes Store) include the omitted piece, referred to by the band and fans alike as "The Barmaid Verse".

In a contemporary review for Rock Hard magazine, Matthias Breusch was disappointed for not being able to elect Handful of Rain among the best records of the month, like he did with Edge of Thorns.

[5] Martin Popoff instead wrote that the album was "upsetting and confusing" for older fans, confirming the band's "fascination for power pomp, accomplished, progressive light/heavy balladry", with less focus on fast heavy metal.