Customer Reviews

Keys to Imagination

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yanni was his most intimate and touching with "In My Time" with its focus on the piano and softer, more lush melodies. With "Keys to Imagination"'s (6 years the senior of "In My Time") focus on the synthesizers, you see Yanni at his most explosive and dynamic! The melodies are crisp and complex, the type that you just find yourself playing over and over again in your head. Each song is an adventure through.... well, the imagination! Tracks like the title track and "Forbidden Dreams" are passionately free spirited, and not to mention the first appearence of the Yanni classic "Nostalgia" which is jaw-droppingly amazing and powerful. Any Yanni experience should begin here.

This is Yanni at his best. Though most are familiar with Yanni's romantic piano melodies, Keys to Imagination is an album of dramatic synthesizer music. From the crashing intro of the opening track, to the sweet beauty of Port of Mystery, and Nostalgia. No piano is heard on this album. There is a slight romantic theme to the music, but it mostly focuses on imaginative electronic spaces. Heard are the original electronic versions of Santorini, Nostalgia, and Keys to Imagination; tracks most people are used to hearing on Yanni's Live At the Acropolis, with full symphony orchestra. I think this is Yanni's best album, though other's may not agree. If you like "dramatic synthesizer music," you'll love Keys To Imagination. This is classic Yanni!!

One listen to this CD and Yanni will become a household name for you, too! Keys To Imagination is great to listen to if you want to relax, concentrate, or escape into beautiful music. Some of the best and most versatile listening music there is.

This was my first Yanni album and my first purchase in the New Age Genre. When I purchased it, I was imagining something quite different and therefore wasn't hooked. But as I lived with it, I found that this music is deep and poignant. Yanni created a sound on this album that he never reproduced. It it thoroughly New Age, much more developed and seamless than the sound of his previous album, and much less "Pop" than the sounds of his subsequent albums. I would consider this album one of his top three. The other two would be "In My Time" and "Tribute." In fact, these three albums represent the zenith of each of his three 'styles.' "Keys to Imagination" is excessively electronic and primarily extroverted. "In My Time" is very intimate and the music revovles around luscious piano melodies. "Tribute" marks the beginning of Yanni's decline, although it is a superb album. It is heavily orchestrated and members of Yanni's troupe are given leniency to improvise heavily on the tunes. Their artistry shines brighter than Yanni's melodies and rhythms at times. Yanni has never recovered his stature after his enormously successful concert at the Acropolis, which basically summed up his entire career up to that point. It is unfortunate for us that his career has taken a downturn. He could craft a melody as heartbreaking as Mozart could.

Yanni, and in particular, 'Keys to Imagination', was the first music that I heard as a young child. I still believe that it is the most beautiful and uplifting collection of songs in existence. Listening to the song 'Nostalgia' fills me with that same feeling. Awesome stuff. I'm not a big fan of synth music in general, but give this one a chance, forget about any 'cheesy' sentiments you may have, and open your mind, like a child, to the beauty.

This album, which is one of Yanni's earliests, was created during Yanni's most productive and brilliant years, and in my opinion is the second best Yanni CD, next to "Live at the Acropolis." This is saying that it even beats "Reflections of Passion"!! Every composition is as pure as synthesizer music can get and unparalleled in its structure and melody. Yanni collection cannot be complete without this album.

I really enjoy this album. As a massage therapist I am always looking for good music to work by and Yanni is always good. My only complaint to this album would be that it is to short. I typically do 1 hour treatments and it is much shorter than that, but I burn it with some of his other stuff and it works fine.

On a side note who ever did the cover art did a great job!!!

If you like Yanni, synthesizers, and New Age music, this is definitely for you? Keys to Imagination is the best piece of modern music ever written (I only wish I gad written it instead on Yanni!). North Shore of Matsushima is a great way to start off a CD, conjuring up images of waves crashing on some distant coastline. With the exception of Forgotten Yesterdays, which seems to simply be a space-filler between Keys to Imagination and Forbidden Dream, these are some of the best pieces Yanni has ever written! BUY IT!

Of all Yanni's CD's I believe this is the one which may withstand the test of time far and above the rest. (not to include "Live At The Acropolis" since I consider it to be a "greatest hits") This is his only album that I still listen to on a regular basis. There's just something about "Keys" which makes it the very best CD I have for the listening to in the car, or at work, etc. I believe it's because the music is ambient, yet definitely lively enough to keep your attention. Very classical, but synthesized. And unlike most other new age music, the melodies are catchy enough to stick in your mind. If you're a fan of instrumentals or synths, chances are you'll really go for this album!

This is one of Yanni's best albums! In my opinion,it's second only to Out Of Silence,which I think IS his BEST album.Since I,Ed am your guide to many New Age albums, I feel it's my responsibility to give you my personal opinion if I own the album.Anyway, this album is still pretty good with tracks like The North Shore Of Matsushima,Santorini,Keys To Imagination[the title track],and Forbidden Dreams, which are all my personal favorite tracks.However, the other tracks are still not bad.Overall,this album is so approprietly titled.It truly is a KEY TO IMAGINATION.