Having heard good things about this dude, I picked up this album for 2.50 at my favorite record store.
Been a fan of piano and keyboardists for a while, whether it's more traditional stuff like Chopin compositions or newer stuff like Ayreon and Rick Wakeman.
I've always thought Yanni had a badass name. Plus, he has one of the coolest mustaches I've ever seen. I wish my name was Yanni, it just sounds so cool.
Anyways, to what matters, the music!
Well, Winter Light is like a greatest hits type album. Starts out with Only A Memory. A real beautiful piece. More traditional, straight-forward piano work. Not sure what the term for it it, but as the way guitarists use cool riffs, this guy uses a really good sounding piano pattern in this song. It's one of my favorites on the album. It's so smooth and calm sounding. The soft instrumentals in the background help to keep it interesting as well as adding atmosphere to the track.
Point of origin begins in a more exotic fashion. Really wild sound to the keyboard, but it's controlled. Then around 40 seconds we hear the first drumming on the album. It's a really powerful effect, with keyboard strokes falling as beautifully as the rain on an april morning. Nice progression with the instruments midway through the song. It does a good job of building up, getting more exciting, then going to a slower pace later on. This one starts to almost sound like techno is a way, it's pretty fast sounding, but it's not rough and ugly like techno, it's soft and beautiful.
Marching Season, one of the standout tracks on the album, begins with a sound that reminds me of Final Fantasy games, then some traditional piano type sounds lapping over the first sound. Really soft and melodic opening, the Final Fantasy sounding stuff fades out prettymuch early on, then we hear a snare roll, which brings us into a new styled section of the song. This gets really upbeat and has a real cheery feel to it, with sparse drum beats that eventually pick up, as do the other instruments, in a very intruiging climax of sounds. The piano really speeds up in certain spots, almost like a guitar solo, which makes it even more fun to listen to. I even found myself headbanging to this, although it's a fucking new age piano piece. Go figure.
After The Sunrise is a lighter, synth filled track. Pretty light and upbeat, but paced a little slower than some of the songs. Creative melodies unfold one after another. Solid track but nothing outstanding.
Until The Last Moment is a very traditional sounding piece, something like a Beethoven piano composition. Straight-forward piano playing with some back string sounding instruments to add atmosphere. Not the most exciting thing, but well executed. Yanni shows off his strong piano skills very well.
Twilight! Ahh, what a wonderful song. Starts off slow and basic, then he delivers some bold synth sounds and eventually some really cool sounds start coming in the background. This one makes me think of water for some reason. It's really smoothly executed and flows very well. A variety of synth sounds are displayed and again we get a drum beat, but much later in the song. One of the better tracks on the album. It offers very innovative playing that will warrant this particular song being replayed many, many times.
Keys to the imagination starts of heavy and dark. Slow moving, ambient sounding. Then he plays some slow, basic synth sounds with backign string sounding instruments, before he breaks into a slightly faster, Castlevania sounding keyboard piece. Gets more and more upbeat, sort of in a climatic fashion. Then the keyboards and backing instruments play the 'riff' or whatever it's called together, giving it a very interesting sound, before they break back into their usual patterns. The same sound is repeated very much in different pitches and tones in this song. I like the sound of it and the progression is good. Excellent climax at the end.
A Word In Private is much slower and moodier, as well as shorter than most of the songs, clocking in at 3:45. Traditional piano playing with basic strings in the background. Very light feel to this song, excellent to fall asleep to, not that I'm implying it to be a boring song or anything. It's just a very relaxing track, which shows you how well the music is written.
True Nature features a drum beat in the whole song. It doesn't offer too much variation, but in this album the emphasis isn't placed on drumming at all, it's just a backing tool. A slower and more ambient piece that follows a simple structure. One of my least favorites really, I just don't think the synth sound he used fit as well as other sounds could of, but thankfully those synth sounds are used sparingly in the track.
The magus begins with really spiffy deep keyboard sounds, then another slightly higher pitched one layers on top of it a few beats in the song. Goes off into some really cool notes, again like a guitar solo. Pretty fast. Then right before we hit the first minute mark the deeper piano sounds drop out, a little bit of higher pitched stuff, then some drums. We get the first drum beat of the album going as some weird sounding synthesizer stuff plays, ala Rick Wakeman. Around 2 minutes into the song he uses this odd sound that first made me think it was a voice. Very cool. The drums carry out through the majority of the track and the keys remain interesting and cheerful.
We close with Forgotten Yesterdays. Begins really soft and extremely simple, then 40 seconds into it some very slow, alien sounding synths play. The background noiss get a little lighter and in some spots the synth goes faster, but it remains rather slow the whole song. Little variation, it remains prettymuch the same during the whole song. A slightly weaker song than ones Like Twilight or Marching Seasons, but nothing terrible. Decent close to the album.
Overall I give this compilation a 9/10. If you liked Opeth's Damnation and can appreciate a softer, instrumental album such as this, then Yanni is for you. A very beautiful album that should satisfy anyone who enjoys this style of music.
Been a fan of piano and keyboardists for a while, whether it's more traditional stuff like Chopin compositions or newer stuff like Ayreon and Rick Wakeman.
I've always thought Yanni had a badass name. Plus, he has one of the coolest mustaches I've ever seen. I wish my name was Yanni, it just sounds so cool.
Anyways, to what matters, the music!
Well, Winter Light is like a greatest hits type album. Starts out with Only A Memory. A real beautiful piece. More traditional, straight-forward piano work. Not sure what the term for it it, but as the way guitarists use cool riffs, this guy uses a really good sounding piano pattern in this song. It's one of my favorites on the album. It's so smooth and calm sounding. The soft instrumentals in the background help to keep it interesting as well as adding atmosphere to the track.
Point of origin begins in a more exotic fashion. Really wild sound to the keyboard, but it's controlled. Then around 40 seconds we hear the first drumming on the album. It's a really powerful effect, with keyboard strokes falling as beautifully as the rain on an april morning. Nice progression with the instruments midway through the song. It does a good job of building up, getting more exciting, then going to a slower pace later on. This one starts to almost sound like techno is a way, it's pretty fast sounding, but it's not rough and ugly like techno, it's soft and beautiful.
Marching Season, one of the standout tracks on the album, begins with a sound that reminds me of Final Fantasy games, then some traditional piano type sounds lapping over the first sound. Really soft and melodic opening, the Final Fantasy sounding stuff fades out prettymuch early on, then we hear a snare roll, which brings us into a new styled section of the song. This gets really upbeat and has a real cheery feel to it, with sparse drum beats that eventually pick up, as do the other instruments, in a very intruiging climax of sounds. The piano really speeds up in certain spots, almost like a guitar solo, which makes it even more fun to listen to. I even found myself headbanging to this, although it's a fucking new age piano piece. Go figure.
After The Sunrise is a lighter, synth filled track. Pretty light and upbeat, but paced a little slower than some of the songs. Creative melodies unfold one after another. Solid track but nothing outstanding.
Until The Last Moment is a very traditional sounding piece, something like a Beethoven piano composition. Straight-forward piano playing with some back string sounding instruments to add atmosphere. Not the most exciting thing, but well executed. Yanni shows off his strong piano skills very well.
Twilight! Ahh, what a wonderful song. Starts off slow and basic, then he delivers some bold synth sounds and eventually some really cool sounds start coming in the background. This one makes me think of water for some reason. It's really smoothly executed and flows very well. A variety of synth sounds are displayed and again we get a drum beat, but much later in the song. One of the better tracks on the album. It offers very innovative playing that will warrant this particular song being replayed many, many times.
Keys to the imagination starts of heavy and dark. Slow moving, ambient sounding. Then he plays some slow, basic synth sounds with backign string sounding instruments, before he breaks into a slightly faster, Castlevania sounding keyboard piece. Gets more and more upbeat, sort of in a climatic fashion. Then the keyboards and backing instruments play the 'riff' or whatever it's called together, giving it a very interesting sound, before they break back into their usual patterns. The same sound is repeated very much in different pitches and tones in this song. I like the sound of it and the progression is good. Excellent climax at the end.
A Word In Private is much slower and moodier, as well as shorter than most of the songs, clocking in at 3:45. Traditional piano playing with basic strings in the background. Very light feel to this song, excellent to fall asleep to, not that I'm implying it to be a boring song or anything. It's just a very relaxing track, which shows you how well the music is written.
True Nature features a drum beat in the whole song. It doesn't offer too much variation, but in this album the emphasis isn't placed on drumming at all, it's just a backing tool. A slower and more ambient piece that follows a simple structure. One of my least favorites really, I just don't think the synth sound he used fit as well as other sounds could of, but thankfully those synth sounds are used sparingly in the track.
The magus begins with really spiffy deep keyboard sounds, then another slightly higher pitched one layers on top of it a few beats in the song. Goes off into some really cool notes, again like a guitar solo. Pretty fast. Then right before we hit the first minute mark the deeper piano sounds drop out, a little bit of higher pitched stuff, then some drums. We get the first drum beat of the album going as some weird sounding synthesizer stuff plays, ala Rick Wakeman. Around 2 minutes into the song he uses this odd sound that first made me think it was a voice. Very cool. The drums carry out through the majority of the track and the keys remain interesting and cheerful.
We close with Forgotten Yesterdays. Begins really soft and extremely simple, then 40 seconds into it some very slow, alien sounding synths play. The background noiss get a little lighter and in some spots the synth goes faster, but it remains rather slow the whole song. Little variation, it remains prettymuch the same during the whole song. A slightly weaker song than ones Like Twilight or Marching Seasons, but nothing terrible. Decent close to the album.
Overall I give this compilation a 9/10. If you liked Opeth's Damnation and can appreciate a softer, instrumental album such as this, then Yanni is for you. A very beautiful album that should satisfy anyone who enjoys this style of music.
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