Official Topic - Press & Media Reviews of Taking Chances

[salsacolin]

still pretty good going. Definitely so much more good than bad

[bronzey]

USA Today's review

 

'Chances' takes Celine to broader territory

 

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

 

Don't expect anything too rebellious when Celine Dion claims to be pushing the envelope. She's not rapping with 50 Cent, gyrating at a stripper's pole or shopping at T.J. Maxx, but she is stepping out of our discomfort zone.

On Taking Chances (* * * out of four), in stores Tuesday, the Canadian songbird relinquishes her throne as queen of the air-raid sirens. The album signals the end of her three-year, 700-show run at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where her elaborate A New Day production proved popular and lucrative but drew sneers for its sentimental theatrics.

 

 

MORE: Celine is 'Taking Chances' with latest show stopper

FAMILY FIRST: Stage fright for Dion? Only in front of her son

 

With Chances, the diva seems to be stretching artistic muscles, yoga-style not aerobically, and seeking an escape from expectations. She largely succeeds. Right Next to the Right One and other typically lovely ballads make the cut, but they're reined in, as Dion resists her tendency to over-sing. She dials back the bombast on the title track, a midtempo rocker, and shows admirable restraint and grace on My Love. Gleam remains, but grit finds a place in the formula, too, on songs written or produced by such unlikely collaborators as Dave Stewart, R. Kelly and Ben Moody.

 

By treading broader territory, cutting the wattage on power ballads and swapping sap for sincerity, Dion may be discovering the true power behind one of the most technically astonishing instruments in pop music.

 

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Celine Dion | TJ Maxx

>Download: Taking Chances, Heart cover Alone, Fade Away

 

>Consider: That's Just the Woman in Me, A Song for You

 

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews...e-chances_N.htm

[Céline's Blues]

Yet another reviewer that LOVED "Alone" sung by Céline. Way to go for a single!

[Dionesque]

I also LOOOOVE "Alone" sung by Céline BUT it shouldn't be a single.

[Céline's Blues]

Celine Dion

 

'Taking Chances'

Columbia

 

http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article_album.php?id=6462

 

Updating exercise from celebrated MOR chanteuse

Fresh from her five year live residency at Las Vegas’s Caesar’s Palace, bilingual MOR chanteuse Celine Dion has completed two albums for release this year - the French language D’Elles and this Anglophone set, Taking Chances.

 

 

The sixteen tracks don’t exactly gamble with a tried-and-tested formula, but there are some surprises here: amid the big production numbers from songwriters like Linda Perry and Billy Steinberg come subtler moments, like the Gentle piano & violin-led A Song For You, the Shakira-esque Eyes On Me with its middle-eastern seasonings and the charming little waltz Right Next To The Right One.

 

 

The title track (and lead-off single) is co-written by Eurythymics maestro Dave Stewart, and the cover of Heart’s Alone is a creditable reinvention.

 

 

The deluxe version also contains a bonus DVD which trails the release of her Las Vegas show DVD, A New Day. The four tracks here include a racy cover of Stevie Wonder’s I Wish and the Jennifer Rush anthem The Power Of Love and there’s everything you could wish for in terms of frantic chorus boys, ten-foot plumed showgirls and a stage the size of an ice rink.

 

 

It’s all the height of spectacle in terms of musical theatre, but maybe it says a lot about its production values that the most touching moments of all come in the sneak peeks of a meet-and-greet in which fans tell the diva exactly what she has meant to them. These glimpses of how music intersects with ordinary lives plainly touch the singer deeply.

 

 

By: Clare O'Brien

 

********************************

 

Proof no. 2399. Nuff said!

Edited November 12, 2007 at 01:22 PM by Céline's Blues

[dj4celine]

:mdr:

 

Seb, that may have been Proof no. 2399... but still No "Alone" puh-lease

[miracle_girl]

Lol can we settle this Alone/Single debate pleeeease??

 

Okay Alone is sung by celine brilliantly

However if she released it as a single

people would say that she cant even sing new materical and other stuff like that!!

So she should bring out a new song no one has heard before!!

 

 

Thanks for the reviews x x

Edited November 12, 2007 at 01:36 PM by miracle_girl

[Céline's Blues]

Well if we want it or not they want to release it and it's very apparent to me. Every single is planned in advance even if they say it's not. The sticker on TCH says it all and this time it seems like they do the right job.

[dj4celine]

Seb, so u WANT "Alone" to be the next single?? What in the world happened to "Shadow of Love" ??

[Céline's Blues]

I'm fine with every single. Literally any, including I Knew I Loved You. Cuzz either of them will be promoted by her and it will do ok.

[Céline's Blues]

Celine takes a chance TheStar.com - Music - Celine takes a chance the Star, November 13, 2007

 

Pop & Rock

 

Céline Dion

Taking Chances (Columbia/Sony BMG)

http://www.thestar.com/images/misc/sb_star10.gifhttp://www.thestar.com/images/misc/sb_star10.gifhttp://www.thestar.com/images/misc/sb_star10.gif

 

Taking Chances, Dion's 10th album, finds her doing just that. Sure, there are several of the sentimental, cringe-worthy diva tracks – "My Love," "Alone" – that have made it acceptable sport to scoff at the biggest-selling female artist of all time (180 million records).

 

But the 17-track disc also finds the Quebec native tempering her five octaves, exuding a darker, grittier vibe ("That's Just the Woman in Me"), gospel inflection ("New Dawn") and urban pop bounce ("Eyes On Me"), channelling her inner Janis Joplin, Patti LaBelle and Shakira, respectively.

 

With an obvious reach for contemporary radio, Dion padded the efforts of longtime collaborators with in-the-now hitmakers: Ne-Yo, Linda Perry and Ben Moody, who co-wrote the self-empowering anthem "This Time" about an abused woman breaking free. The result is an edgier rock sound that won't alienate loyal fans, but may engage some new ones. Top track: With a lovely melody and simple folk instrumentation, "Right Next to the Right One" showcases Dion's flawless pipes. Ashante Infantry

[Céline's Blues]

Céline Dion doesn't have to gamble - the odds are in her favour T'CHA DUNLEVYThe Gazette

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

 

3 out of 5

 

One has to wonder what exactly is meant by Taking Chances, the title of Céline Dion's new CD, out today. Is this some shrewd example of post-millennial irony?

 

Dion is doing many things here, but taking chances is not one of them. This is a characteristically safe and calculated album from the international pop superstar.

 

Fresh off her five-year stint at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, she is ready to re-enter the pop world, both with the album and the year-long world tour (coming to the Bell Centre Aug. 15 and 16) she launches in February. Perhaps that could be considered taking a chance; but when you've got a multimillion-dollar hit-making machine behind you, the odds are stacked comfortably in your favour.

 

A team of savvy songwriters and producers crafts the slick backdrop for Dion to show off her singing chops. The opening title track, a soaring acoustic rocker, was co-written by former Eurythmics member David Stewart (who inserts the wink "So talk to me, talk to me like lovers do," a line from the Eurythmics song Here Comes the Rain Again).

 

Linda Perry, a name normally associated with teen-pop stars such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, takes the reins on two tracks - the piano ballad My Love and the gospel-tinged hymn New Dawn. And long-time Quebec collaborator Aldo Nova has a hand in no fewer than five songs.

 

One could argue Dion is taking chances in the amount of ground she covers - from an appropriately overwrought reworking of Heart's '80s power ballad Alone, to the Middle Eastern twist of Eyes on Me; the tempered dance-pop of Shadow of Love and Surprise Surprise; the creepy Eartha Kitt-style rocker Can't Fight the Feelin'; and the raspy soul send-up That's Just the Woman in Me - or one could say she is simply covering her bases.

 

Either way, it is a relatively varied album in which she carries herself quite well. Her clobbering vocal outbursts are kept to a minimum, and the production is a smidgen more restrained than usual, leaving room for something resembling genuine emotion and even personality in her voice.

 

There is also pervasive melodrama in these tales of love, torment and heartbreak. Dion doesn't write a single lyric or note, and she makes up for it with prefab passion. She is all too ready, willing and able to sing like her life hangs on every line, however tried or trite.

 

Led by Dion's blinding star power, Taking Chances is a carefully streamlined pop album that leaves little room for the unexpected, and offers little to offend - unless you find radio-swarming hit machines offensive.

 

Which, of course, you don't.

 

Taking Chances is in stores today.

 

Céline Dion performs Aug. 15 and 16 at the Bell Centre. Tickets cost $65 to $195 and go on sale Saturday at noon. Call Admission at 514-790-1245 or go to www.ticketmaster.ca for online orders.

 

tdunlevy@thegazette.canwest.com

 

Céline Dion

 

Taking Chances

 

Sony BMG

 

Rating 3 out of Rating 5 Take a Chance on This: For more on Céline Dion, including a look at her past lyrical highlights and a roundup of what critics think of her new disc, go to montrealgazette.com/artslife

[Céline's Blues]

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/from_provider_globe.gif CD REVIEW <h1 class="mainHead">Dion takes few risks on 'Chances'</h1> By Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff | November 13, 2007

 

As the title "Taking Chances" implies, the new 18-song collection from Celine Dion finds the "Titanic" songbird breaking free from her Vegas show and venturing a little further from her adult contemporary nest with help from current hitmakers.

 

But fear not, Dion's heart still goes on - and on and on - in the power ballads with which she built her name. Fans who like to emulate their heroine's breastbone-thumping better figure out a way to build up some muscle over their sternums quick. The Canadian diva today unleashes a disc that will certainly lead to bruising in mere mortals.

 

Are chances taken? Not many, but there are rewards if you're willing to enjoy Dion's precise vocalizing and the hooky songs, including two sky-scraping ballads written by Linda Perry (Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful").

 

Along with the schmaltz, Dion has always included uptempo pop, rock, and dance ditties in her album mixes. (Think "I Drove All Night" and "River Deep, Mountain High.") So even though she may get a little more zippy here, "Taking Chances" doesn't represent any sort of bold new direction. Truly bold decisions aren't generally made by a lineup of hired guns with a proven track record of success, like Perry and the album's other writer-producers, many of whom Dion has worked with before.

 

Take, for example, Dion's cover of Heart's pop-rock anthem "Alone." Enlisting former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody adds little; in fact, the carbon-copy arrangement doesn't pack as much windswept melodramatic punch as Dion's own "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." Great vocal, terrific melody, a fine rendition, but "Alone" is already indelibly stamped by Heart's Ann Wilson.

 

The scrappy "Fade Away" nabs the peppy snare sound of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," and "Eyes On Me" colors a bit outside the lines with an irresistibly wiggly, Eastern-flavored groove. (Shakira will kick herself for not getting it first.) The title number builds from an acoustic strum into the kind of pleasant radio-ready crunch that Michelle Branch would recognize, thanks to the work of Branch producer John Shanks.

 

Shanks is also responsible for two of the album's true left turns, "That's Just the Woman in Me" and "Can't Fight the Feelin'." And they are doozies, marvels of shocking inappropriateness.

 

The former is an insanely overwrought "blues" in the Janis Joplin vein that is impressive for the amount of grain Dion manages to put in her vocal, but falls short of convincing grittiness.

 

Despite fuzzy effects, electric guitars that chug and squeal, and threads of Southern boogie in the bass line, Dion's essentially angelic voice vigorously resists all attempts at being sullied in "Feelin'." As usual, her pristine technique persuades us that Dion believes that she's evil - and it's kind of cute - we're just not buying it.

 

Nor are we feeling the vulnerability of "I Got Nothin' Left." Co-produced by Ne-Yo (Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable") the lyrics call for bone-deep romantic weariness but our plucky narrator just sounds too resilient.

 

Among the album's successes is "Right Next to the Right One." Dion sings this quiet little waltz-time jaunt in a refreshingly dainty fashion. This momentary sense of restraint perfectly matches the winsome tune and vintage Beatles-inspired instrumental flourishes.

 

It's one of the rare moments on "Taking Chances" when Dion dials back the drama. That's the kind of chance she needs to take more of.

 

Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com. http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/dingbat_story_end_icon.gif

[Céline's Blues]

From the Washington Post:

 

Aretha & Celine: Stepping Ahead?

By Allison Stewart

Special to The Washington Post

Tuesday, November 13, 2007; C05

 

Aretha Franklin never seemed comfortable during her '80s comeback, the one that produced a series of ill-fitting, synth-heavy pop hits that sounded more like "Footloose" soundtrack castoffs than material fit for a queen. Celine Dion came to power in the '90s but never seemed comfortable there, such a natural creature of the '80s that she might have born in a red Adolfo suit, with "Dynasty" hair and a cassette copy of "Yentl" clutched in her hand. Both artists have released painstakingly modern new discs -- Franklin, the duets compilation "Jewels in the Crown"; and Dion, the perky, almost-edgy "Taking Chances" -- in which they are dragged into the uncomfortable present, with varying levels of success.

 

"Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen" features chestnuts from Franklin's Reagan-era resurgence and tracks newly recorded with such artists as John Legend and Mary J. Blige. Everybody involved seems to be enjoying themselves except Aretha. She appears unengaged ("What Now My Love," her collaboration with Frank Sinatra, is one of those celebrity duets where the artists seem to be singing at each other); irritated by her dorkier partners (George Michael, on the great guilty pleasure "I Knew You Were Waiting [for Me]"); and only at ease singing her own songs (such as a crackling live version of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" with assists from Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Estefan).

 

The newly recorded tracks fare better than the old ones, maybe because the younger stars wisely leave the showboating to Franklin. Blige shows up for a nicely understated "Never Gonna Break My Faith," a gospel-y number that's as close to Motown bedrock as Franklin is likely to get these days. And while the Queen of Soul sounds as if she's seconds away from reaching over and tearing Fantasia's fool head off during the snappy "Put You Up on Game," it's still one of the best tracks here.

 

Franklin survives her latest comeback with her dignity mostly intact, which is more than you can say about Dion, who has always seemed refreshingly dignity-free. After spending the past few years making bank with her own Vegas show, Dion has emerged from her desert exile in search of a younger demographic. The helpfully named, artfully mussed "Taking Chances" is her attempt to put the contemporary in adult contemporary.

 

Dion has enlisted the same courtiers responsible for hits by Ashlee, Britney and Gwen, including songwriter Kara DioGuardi, ex-Evanescence brooder-in-chief Ben Moody and R&B singer Ne-Yo, and fed their tracks through some kind of Dion-ification machine, rendering them at once instantly familiar and slightly more rocking than her usual fare.

 

Surely no reasonable person has ever wondered what Dion would sound like plugging her way through a topical ballad about a battered woman so grim it makes Ingmar Bergman seem like Dane Cook, but the Moody co-penned "This Time" is actually kind of decent, as is a reverent karaoke copy of Heart's "Alone."

 

Dion's producers do a respectable job of ensuring that she never sounds ridiculous, though with few distinctive, iron-melting ballads , she often doesn't sound like herself, either. But unlike Franklin, who essays several of her duets with the enthusiasm of someone being held hostage, Dion makes her journey from cheesy MOR to cheesy pop-rock sound positively liberating. A little change, it turns out, can be a beautiful thing.

 

DOWNLOAD THESE: Franklin: "I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)," "Never Gonna Break My Faith"; Dion: "Alone," "Taking Chances"

[Bruno Dion]

wow thanks for the info

[Macaronie]

It seems that RNTTRO is an all time favourite

 

It's mine as well!

[Céline's Blues]

It seems that RNTTRO is an all time favourite

 

It's mine as well!

And Alone. Show me one review where this song isn't mentioned.

[Davey84]

Dion set to make triumphant return to mainstream

 

Singer Céline Dion Email story

 

Listen to sample of 'This Time' CD review: Taking Chances As her five-year engagement in Vegas nears its end, the record industry looks to her new CD with hope, while her fans circle concert dates on calendars

 

Nov 13, 2007 04:30 AM

Bruce DeMara

Entertainment Reporter

 

With her five-year stint performing exclusively in Las Vegas almost complete, Quebec songbird Céline Dion launches a new album today that, combined with an international tour, is set to reacquaint her with a legion of fans worldwide.

 

And with CD sales slumping, the industry is happy to have her back, especially since Dion's fans are more likely to actually buy her CD than download it from the Internet.

 

She's such a commercial force that other artists with new CDs – such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Spice Girls – for one reason or another all found other days to release their latest works.

 

Veteran music biz journalist Larry LeBlanc, who has heard an advance copy of Dion's new studio album, Taking Chances – her first major release since 2004 – said he expects it will propel her back into the public consciousness.

 

"It's a really, really good album. It's a much more aggressive album. I wouldn't say it's a rock album, but it certainly has rock rhythms, whereas before she was purely a pop artist," LeBlanc said.

 

"Each album has been a little bit different. She takes chances and not a lot of artists do. Look at the timing of this record ... six weeks before Christmas. I think you'll see very good first-week sales."

 

Details of Dion's 45-date North American concert tour have just been released, kicking off in Boston on Aug. 12 next year. Two concert dates at Toronto's Air Canada Centre are slated for Aug. 27 and 28. A huge outdoor concert is scheduled for Halifax on Aug. 23, as well as a free outdoor show Aug. 22 on the historic Plains of Abraham in Quebec, part of Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations next year.

 

The publicity machine is already cranking up for Dion, who got the full Oprah treatment yesterday, complete with film clips of her son and husband and duets with teary-eyed audience members.

 

With her five years of performing at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas set to end next month, there's a genuine curiosity among Dion's fans about the live tour to see "how much of Vegas is coming with her in terms of the show and how it's going to look," LeBlanc said.

 

With record sales industry-wide relatively flat in recent years – in part due to Internet downloading – LeBlanc said Dion is among the few artists who can buck the trend.

 

"What people forget is (Dion) is a world artist and there aren't many that are actually world artists. There are actually only a handful. She sells in every country of the world, she has a huge Asian base, a huge South American base, Europe of course," LeBlanc said.

 

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/275848

 

The star tries a touch more grit

CARL WILSON

 

November 13, 2007

 

TAKING CHANCES

 

Celine Dion

 

(Sony BMG)

 

***

 

 

I was talking a few months ago to a Las Vegas performer whose popular drag act includes a turn as Celine Dion. Besides admiring the gawky passion she brings, he thought of Dion as a kind of colleague - essentially an imitator too.

 

He saw her as a colleague, not in the sense that she looks like a drag queen, a frequent joke not discouraged by the cover photo on the Quebec-born diva's first album in three years, Taking Chances, where her hair is blown out and her skin tone so pale that she looks straight out of a comedy-horror movie about celebrity zombies. No, he meant that her persona is a pastiche of her own idols, from Elvis's cocked hip to Tina Turner's stomp to Barbra Streisand's hand flutters.

 

Musically, while she is best loved and loathed for overdriven pop ballads, Dion's albums (of which she's sold nearly 200 million) are designed to show that her pipes are capable of carrying virtually any stylistic cargo. She has tackled disco, techno, Broadway ballads, light opera, R & B, gospel, country-folk and even dancehall reggae - an old-time variety singer in a high-tech studio frock. Since at least the 1960s, pop stars have been expected to impose some robust personal identity on their material, but that has seldom seemed to interest Dion.

 

After her 1990s overexposure, especially with My Heart Will Go On, many people took her for a soulless singing machine, an artistic zombie under her husband, René Angélil, and Sony BMG's command. She had sense enough to bow out for a couple of years and then set up in Las Vegas, where for five years she has almost nightly sold out her dance-and-song revue, A New Day, whose triumphal run ends next month to be followed by a world tour.

 

Still, her cultural currency has been deflating, and her last few English records have been tepid - less annoying but also duller. From the title down, Taking Chances is clearly meant to give the Dion market a speculative jolt. Rumours circulated that it would include production by R & B superstar Timbaland and reflect Dion's supposed secret love of hard rock via the contribution of Ben Moody, ex-guitarist for Goth-rock band Evanescence. Was she about to release a bizarre hodgepodge of Rihanna-style club bangers and snarling feedback symphonies?

 

It's with mixed disappointment and relief that I report no. Timbaland is a no-show and Moody doesn't turn it up to 11. Rather, Dion has updated her repertoire of impersonations to compete with new challengers such as Kelly Clarkson and Shakira. At the same time, at 39, the former child star is finally able to assert a touch more grown-up grit.

 

She pumps out Heart's Alone and braves Bollywood beats in Eyes on Me. Her blues-rock keening on That's Just the Woman in Me has been compared to Janis Joplin (I would downgrade the hurricane alert to a Bonnie Raitt level). Her first attempt at a topical song in English arrives with Moody's domestic-violence scenario This Time, though it suffers from Evanescence-like po'faced dourness.

 

The title tune has a barrage of electric guitars, but ultimately it's just an enjoyable update of Dion's standard love-empowerment fare: You can hear the fun she has singing the lines the song's co-writer, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, swipes from his band's 1980s hit Here Comes the Rain Again.

 

Still, old fans can be assured that these stretches are surrounded by fluffy ballads nearer Dion's home base. That's also going to be the barrier for anyone who still holds a grudge over My Heart Will Go On. But perhaps, iPods ready, we each can just patch together the Chances we prefer.

 

My attempts to get past my bias against Dion are often stymied by the huge arrangements producers wrap around her voice, as if not trusting her to muffle its force herself. So my favourites are the stripped-down tracks: A Song for You is a cocktail-piano crooner that plays creatively with the motif of "I had to say I love you in a song," and Dion finds its subtleties. Right Next to the Right One, a recent hit for Danish folk-rock artist Tim Christensen, has a lilting cabaret-band swing that startlingly calls to mind Sam Phillips or even a more-gauzy Feist.

 

(Unfortunately, the better moments are still marred by overdone vocal processing - digital smoothing applied to one voice that surely doesn't need it.) Is this "edgier" Dion going to win over hordes of new young fans? Not likely. In fact, it would be sad if she wholly modernized; being a bit out of step makes her more endearing. Still, this album does bring her English music nearer the more nuanced style long familiar to her French fans. Despite the corpse-makeup cover, Taking Chances takes some positive steps in the dezombification of Celine Dion.

 

Carl Wilson's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste (in part about Celine Dion) will be published next month.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...tainment/Music/

Edited November 13, 2007 at 06:28 PM by Davey84

[mirage]

She waits - and waits - for the right moment to let all hell break loose.

 

Once she does, batten down the hatches. Man, can this chick blow.

 

[boyblackuk]

The Canadian Press

 

Celine Dion reins herself in for largely satisfying urban, rock-tinged CD: review

 

 

TORONTO - She's known for belting out powerhouse ballads with the subtlety of an air siren, and that was before she took up a five-year residency in that mecca of glitz and extravagance known as Las Vegas.

 

Now, Celine Dion is making another run at the charts with her first English album in years and is promising a new direction for her instantly recognizable five-octave vocals with the aptly named, "Taking Chances."

 

This time around, she collaborates with some of today's hottest hitmakers to produce admirable stabs at Latin, blues, urban and rock-tinged grooves, to largely satisfying effect.

 

But the biggest leap she takes is by reining in her oft-overwrought vocal delivery, pulling back just enough in most songs to allow their textured flavours to come through and for her own singing power to resonate with depth.

 

Sharp sonic turns include a country-rock growl for the anthemic "Can't Fight the Feelin'," and a raspy take on the bluesy number, "That's Just the Woman in Me."

 

The Quebec diva invokes the musical style and warble of Shakira on "Eyes on Me," and later accords a touch of tenderness, even vulnerability, on the ballad "I Got Nothing Left," and the folky, Beatle-esque "Right Next To the Right One."

 

Big-name help comes by way of the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, who co-wrote the urban-tinged title track, "Taking Chances," and songwriter Linda Perry (behind hits for Pink, Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera) for the piano-based ballad, "My Love."

 

R&B star Ne-Yo provides background vocals on "I Got Nothin' Left."

 

"I think this album represents a positive evolution in my career," Dion says in promotional material accompanying the disc.

 

"These days, I'm feeling strong.... maybe a little gutsier than in the past...and just as passionate about music and life as I ever was."

 

Also notable is a significantly muted Quebec accent, with Dion adopting a hoarse, southern drawl akin to Melissa Etheridge on "That's Just the Woman In Me."

 

But it's not a total reinvention for the performer, who completes her longstanding run at Caesars Palace in a little more than a month. .

 

More familiar Dion fare is represented by the gospel-tinged "New Dawn," and the inspirational, "A World To Believe In," both easy-listening showstoppers with soaring vocals that approach the heights of such signature screechers as, "The Power of Love," and "My Heart Will Go On."

 

Dion takes her new sound around the world with a global tour in February, stopping in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe before returning to the United States and Canada in August.

 

Canadian stops include Montreal, Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Tickets go on sale Friday.

[linah4]

Céline Dion, Taking Chances (Sony BMG)

 

Rating: 3 1/2

 

 

Taking Chances is the wrong title for Céline Dion's new English album.

 

Adding watered-down Bollywood rhythms, using a few computer-generated vocal effects, referencing The Beatles, and covering one of Heart's hits is about as risky as sitting at your desk.

 

If Dion were truly taking chances, she'd record an album of polka ditties with Winnipeg's Walter Ostanek or try rapping.

 

Apparently, the Quebec pop diva wanted to work with producer du jour Timbaland, but his name doesn't appear in the credits of her 16-track pop extravaganza.

 

Dozens of other names do -- from '80s Canuck rocker Aldo Nova to R&B star Ne-Yo (a.ka. Shaffer Smith) to Linda Perry to ex-Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody.

 

With so many different contributors --writing, recording and mixing in studios across North America and England -- Taking Chances could've easily turned into a mess, but it sounds remarkably smooth.

 

Dion dabbles in a smattering of styles -- soul, R&B, world, classical -- but they're all heavily rooted in pop, so they flow together effortlessly.

 

Eyes On Me undulates with a tangy Mumbai melody -- but loses all of its spiciness when Dion unleashes her pipes. As is often the case with the 39-year-old singer, her vocals are often so powerful and ruthless, they crush most of the sexiness or vulnerability out of her songs.

 

At least one of her producers tries to tone down the bombast, but ends up morphing Dion into a jarring Minnie Mouse on I Got Nothing Left, an otherwise wrenching R&B lullaby co-written by Ne-Yo. Her vocals sound like they were pitched higher -- thanks to computer software -- so she comes across as heliumized and, well, wrong.

 

She fares better on That's Just The Woman In Me, a bluesy, smoky, almost sultry, number. Ditto goes for New Dawn, a gospel song; Skies of L.A., which laments the state of the world; and My Love, a piano ballad with hushed vocals. It could very well be one of her most understated yet passionate performances.

 

Alone, a string-laden cover of Heart's 1987 hit, is one of her most bombastic. Yes, Dion sings the heck out of the song, but she doesn't come close to matching the raw emotion of Heart's astounding Ann Wilson, one of the most overlooked female vocalists in rock.

 

The title track borrows lyrics from The Eurythmics' Here Comes The Rain Again -- "So talk to me like lovers do" -- while Nova's Can't Fight The Feelin' isn't an homage to R.E.O. Speedwagon, but a bad-girl rocker with nods to John Lennon and All You Need Is Love.

 

Nothing on Taking Chances compares to the Beatles classic -- or even Dion's Oscar- and Grammy-winning international smash hit, My Heart Will Go On. The lyrics to most of her songs are glossy generalities about love, taking chances, and loneliness, so they won't really grab your attention. You'll find yourself tuning out her words and simply listening to her voice.

 

There's no denying Dion's prowess as a singer or the talents of her songwriters and producers. They've given her another collection of poised and polished songs, but ultimately, she doesn't take enough chances with her emotions or arrangements.

http://www.canada.com/globaltv/globalshows...14-8b478814ee09

 

Thought this was interesting... and disagree with what she says. what do you think?

 

ps- sorry modes if this was already posted.

[KimboCosmo]

Oh my goodness...that's all I can say! I absolutely LOVE this album, and I might like it by far the best so far out of all her albums! I totally disagree with everything they said...

[peo]

Thanks for sharing But this article was REALLY mean at the beginning. Edited November 14, 2007 at 12:29 AM by peo

[Tal]

I agree with most of what this person said, especially about Eyes On Me , I Got Nothin Left and Alone.

 

But I don't think they give enough credit to some of the lyrics.

[celinerific]

That's such a negative article. It looks like they were trying to be neutral, but did so unsuccessfully. Edited November 14, 2007 at 12:43 AM by celinerific

[DuonganhCDF]

That's such a negative article. It looks like they were trying to be neutral, but did so unsuccessfully.

 

oh man, i'm so in love with your winter sig ^^

[triniguy]

i not the usual celine but i love her new take on things

[amelie]

i totally agree but i still LOOOOOVE the album and i think Celine needed one record like this one at this time.wrong she should have released this instead of one heart but we can't change history so maybe this makes up for past mistakes. still its also high time she evolved, hope i live long enough to see it Edited November 14, 2007 at 03:02 AM by amelie

[Frankoy]

Thank you

[Frankoy]

Merci pour ce cadeau