Fact: Yanni released just eight original recordings 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 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 Amazon.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 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, his first best-of release (only three tracks overlap), and newcomers to Yanni essentially have his early years covered. --Terry Wood

Fact: Yanni released just eight original recordings 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 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 Amazon.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 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, his first best-of release (only three tracks overlap), and newcomers to Yanni essentially have his early years covered. --Terry Wood

The album's title is Tribute, but it just as easily could be called Spectacle. Everything here is done on a grand scale, from its ambitious staging areas (the Taj Mahal and China's Forbidden City re-creations) to its large gathering of instrumentalists (more than two dozen) to the histrionics of two impassioned vocalists on a pair of the album's 11 tracks. The only thing missing seems to be the maestro himself--so submerged is the visionary-keyboardist in the mix. The musician showcased most often on Tribute turns out to be energetic violinist Karen Briggs, a familiar figure by now to all who have watched Yanni's global ramblings on television. The compositions and arrangements, it seems, are intended to be the stars as Yanni lives out his Beethoven-like dream sequence. Stylistically, the music ranges from urban smooth jazz to earnest orchestral sweeps. A grand concept, but not an entirely great result.