Devotion: The Best of Yanni

• Artist: Yanni
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 26, 1997
• Total Time: 66:25
• Type: Compilation (best of), Instrumental
• Genre: New Age

Review

For a time in the mid-'90s, Private Music was issuing Yanni samplers on a regular basis, prompting the casual fan to wonder if the love-him-or-hate-him new age phenomenon had ever indeed released a real studio album before. This collection is pretty much the definitive one with 15 tracks, including his most recognizable hits: the lush, percussive "Once Upon a Time," the sweeping, global-minded "Song for Antartica," the exotic, chant-enhanced "Aria," and the impossibly melodic "A Love for Life." Most of the tunes follow a similar pattern of pretty melody over just slightly bombastic electronic percussion and orchestra, but others, like "Reflections of Passion," have a softer classical mood focused more on the acoustic piano. "The End of August" from Live at the Acropolis adds to that flavor a beautiful violin line, to which Yanni's piano serves as a harmonic accompaniment. "Marching Season" from that same release displays an aggressive musicianship that Yanni's other material rarely approaches. A lot of the anti-Yanni sentiment comes not from people who've heard the bulk of his material, but those who simply reject the idea of simply stated, pretty, top-down music as bad for some reason. It never gets too deep, but the same could be said of a lot of pop music. For those new to the Yanni experience, this disc is a good place to start. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Once Upon a Time	Yanni	Yanni	(3:50)
Within Attraction	Yanni	Yanni	(4:10)
Song for Antarctica	Yanni	Yanni	(4:23)
Aria	Yanni	Yanni	(4:00)
A Love for Life	Yanni	Yanni	(5:06)
Reflections of Passion	Yanni	Yanni	(4:31)
To Take... to Hold	Yanni	Yanni	(3:59)
Only a Memory	Yanni	Yanni	(4:16)
Flight of Fantasy	Yanni	Yanni	(5:40)
To the One Who Knows	Yanni	Yanni	(5:37)
The End of August	Yanni	Yanni	(3:46)
Marching Season	Yanni	Yanni	(2:39)
Santorini	Yanni	Yanni	(4:35)
Nice to Meet You [Special Radio Edit]	Yanni	Yanni	(3:20)
A Night to Remember	Yanni	Yanni	(5:49)

Credits

Peter Baumann (Producer), Yanni (Producer), Yanni (Main Performer), Yanni (Concept), Lynn Goldsmith (Photography), Malcolm McLaren (Concept), Sonny Mediana (Art Direction), Jackie Salway (Design)