[5] The tour's schedule left Yanni exhausted and marked a period of decline in his life and career, stemmed by his separation from a decade-long relationship with actress Linda Evans and the depression that followed.

Yanni then put his career on hold for two years, during which he avoided interviews, lived with his parents for three months in his native Greece, and travelled.

"[5] In a review by Zac Johnson of Allmusic, Greek composer/musician Yanni has scaled back his grand musical architecture for If I Could Tell You, a sharp contrast to 1997's grandiose Tribute.

Unfortunately, this release may not be sweeping enough for those who fell in love with his romance novel soundtracks, and conversely it doesn't get dreamy enough to attract fans of ambient electronic musicians like Vangelis and Brian Eno.

While it is somewhat surprising for Yanni to back away from the richly orchestrated works on Tribute and 1993's In My Time, the move shows a real sense of direction and growth that few give him credit for.