Dare to Dream (stylised as DARE to dream) is the eighth studio album by Greek keyboardist and composer Yanni, released in March 1992 on Private Music. The album peaked at number 2 on Billboard's Top New Age Albums chart and at number 32 on the Billboard 200 chart in the same year.[1] It went gold within two months of its release and was nominated for a Grammy.
Background
Yanni says that the title of the album, Dare to Dream, "comes from the realization that, people not only don't go after their dreams but they're actually afraid to dream at all. If you're afraid to dream, nothing will ever come to you".[2][3]
The album was followed by the sell-out, 65-city Dare to Dream concert tour which challenged audiences "not to be afraid to dream".[4] On the concert tour, Yanni also advised the fans not to let their worries rob them of the joy of life, and encourages them to "dare to dream" - which is, of course, the theme of the album.[5]
In a review by Johnny Loftus, "Dare to Dream is Yanni's first new material in three years and finds the new age composer fitting his unflinchingly romantic arrangements into tighter song structures. The surging synth backgrounds, insistent piano lines and general grandiosity that mark Yanni's sound are still intact. But tracks like "A Love for Life" or "Nice to Meet You" harness that famously epic energy in smaller stables. This tactic works especially well on the latter track, which is led by the wail of an electric fiddle. Elsewhere, Yanni plucks the heartstrings with "In the Mirror" and "So Long My Friend" – two weepy ballads that cascade like sheets of rain on a lonely city street. The seven-minute "You Only Live Once" becomes the only really epic piece on Dare to Dream, and it's pleasant enough. However, it illustrates the main drawback to Dream, which is Yanni's reliance on the shifting sands of synthesizers to do his bidding."[7]
Track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Once Upon a Time"
3:51
2.
"A Love for Life"
5:07
3.
"Nice to Meet You"
5:35
4.
"So Long My Friend"
3:47
5.
"You Only Live Once"
7:19
6.
"To the One Who Knows"
5:37
7.
"Face in the Photograph"
3:47
8.
"Felitsa"
4:45
9.
"Desire"
5:00
10.
"Aria"
3:58
11.
"A Night to Remember"
5:47
12.
"In the Mirror (first released on Romantic Moments, one month earlier)"
4:07
Personnel
All music composed by Yanni except "Aria" [Note: "Aria" is based around a short part of the 19th century French opera, Lakmé, by Léo Delibes. Concept for "Aria" by Malcolm McLaren and Yanni.]
Recorded at Yanni's private studios
Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Los Angeles
Acoustic, electronic drums and percussion by Charlie Adams
Acoustic violin on "So Long My Friend" and "Nice to Meet You" by Charlie Bisharat
Booking Agent: Fred Bohlander, Monterey Peninsula Artists
Tour Manager: Vincent Corry
Prod. Mgr/Designer: David "Gurn" Kaniski
House Sound Mixer: Tommy Sterling
Stage Monitor Mixer: Paul Serault
Stage Manager: Peter Feldman
Drum/Bass Tech: Jeff Buswell
Keyboard Tech: Peter Maher
Vari-lite Operator: Bryan Faris
Sound Tech: Tracy Kuntsmann
Lighting Crew Chief: Gus Thomson
Lighting Tech: Tod Metz
Tour Accountant: Diane Kramer, Numbers, Inc.
Set Construction: George & Goldberg
Wardrobe: Lynn Bugai
Yanni's Assistant: Susan Smela
Tour Publicity: Dione Dirito
Special Thanks
Yanni thanks E-mu Systems for providing the state-of-the-art sound generating equipment, including 4 Emulator IIIs, Proteus 1 and 2s, and 2 Procussion units used in the performance.[10]
