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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 "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. As his rousing 1990 live collaboration with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra proved, live instruments only accentuate the humanity of Yanni's music instead of deadening it like his fleets of keyboards have a tendency to do. This is a minor issue, though. Since artificial instrumentation has always been part of Yanni's highly successful sound, fans of the composer likely won't be put off by their prominence here. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
Injury deals blow to TV rockers
Bassist Jason Newsted suffers major shoulder injury, forcing bandmates Tommy Lee and Gilby Clarke to hunt for a bassist for their upcoming tour.
Rock Star Supernova, the supergroup formed by CBS for the reality show Rock Star, has been dealt yet another setback. Bassist Jason Newsted has suffered a major shoulder injury, according to a statement from the band.
Supernova
The injury, which will sideline the former Metallica bassist for up to nine months, comes less than a month before the band is set to release its debut album.
Newsted will require immediate surgery after tearing his left bicep and rotator cuff while trying to catch a bass that had fallen off an amplifier, the band said.
"I'm freaking out," Newsted said in a statement. "My heart was set on finally getting on the road with these guys, but my main focus now is to build myself back to 100 percent. The stage is set for the band, I wish them the best of luck."
The band, which also featured drummer Tommy Lee, guitarist Gilby Clarke, and vocalist Lukas Rossi, who won the Rock Star show, still plans to release its debut album November 21. The band will kick off its first tour December 31 in Las Vegas; the search for a replacement for Newsted is already under way.
"When we started this project, I was handed a list of names--guys who could potentially anchor our rhythm section," Lee said in a statement. "I responded by crumpling up the paper and asking, 'Where's Newsted?' Jason was always the right guy for this band and we'll miss having him with us as we kick off our album and tour, but we know he'll be back as soon as he can pick up and play."
Rock Star Supernova was initially called Supernova but chaged the name because a Southern California band of the same name sued the band and CBS for trademark infringement, and a judge issued an injunction forcing the band to change its name.
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