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You Only Live Once -+ Flight of Fantasy -+To the One Who Knows -+ Keys to Imagination -+ Butterfly Dance -+ Nice to Meet You -+ Santorini -+ Nostalgia -+ Aria -+ Point of Origin -+ Nightbird -+ Chasing Shadows -+ Paths of Water -+ Marching Season -+ Reflections of Passion -+ Looking Glass -+ A Word in Private -+ One Man's Dream -+ Felista -+ In the Mirror -+ Desire -+ The Rain Must Fall -+ Running Time -+ Forbidden Dreams .com ---- Fact: Yanni released just eight original s while under contract to record conglomerate BMG between 1986 and 1994. Ultimate Yanni is, incredibly, the 12th compilation/best-of project BMG has issued since Yanni switched to another label. Yet Ultimate Yanni manages to elevate itself as one of the best of the bunch: a value-priced two-CD package of pre-Tribute ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000WF7/%24%7B0%7D ) material (126 minutes' worth) that, remarkably, includes eight tracks (out of 24) that appear on no previous sampler. Most selections (compiled by radio host and .com contributor John Diliberto) emphasize Yanni's bolder colors and more muscular instincts, a reminder of his early-career talent for blending progressive-rock drama with a Renaissance man's romantic flair. Three tracks ("Santorini," "Nostalgia" and "The Rain Must Fall") are lifted from Live at the Acropolis ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000000LI/%24%7B0%7D ) and only the latter bogs down under the weight of excessive soloing. "Marching Season" is presented as a piano solo, taken from a long-extinct Private Music sampler. Combine this with Reflections of Passion ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000000JS/%24%7B0%7D ), his first best-of release (only three tracks overlap), and newcomers to Yanni essentially have his early years covered. --Terry Wood