What era or year is Celine's prime vocally?

[Abodi2002]

I think her peak was which ever year she recorded These Special Times album. So i’d say 1998? Or did she record it before that, 1997?

 

IMO her most fully matured, powerful, crystal clear voice she ever had. Before the pregnancy/retirement changed everything.

Sometimes I think she never wanted to record a follow up christmas album, because she knew it could never be as good.

That album was released in 1998. One of my favorite Christmas albums of all time!

[ryba]

Her best voice period was definitely 1997-1999. Her live performances from 1999 are out of this world Edited November 24, 2023 at 03:39 PM by ryba

[Abodi2002]

Her best voice period was definitely 1997-1999. Her live performances from 1999 are out of this world

Several tour performances of My Heart Will Go On, especially Columbus and Providence are better than many TV performances. 4 of 6 attempts of the ABM note are better than most from 1996/97. Wish she attempted full TPOL in that era at least once. Many amazing midbelts in that era! I think LCMM would’ve sounded good if she actually tried lol. I wish she would have sung more songs from These Are Special Times. Edited November 24, 2023 at 03:56 PM by Abodi2002

[comingback]

1998 SISDA and TAST Edited November 24, 2023 at 04:47 PM by comingback

[ryba]

It’s probably because she was training as intense as never before and then also continuesly performed and toured, so she was in top shape and on top of her game. She was singing the most difficult notes effortlessly.

[comingback]

It’s probably because she was training as intense as never before and then also continuesly performed and toured, so she was in top shape and on top of her game. She was singing the most difficult notes effortlessly.

 

Yep, she was at her vocal peak in 1998. Especially on TAST, she was on fire.❤️ No other female singer could match her at that time.

 

 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 at 06:40 PM by comingback

[LukeD]

1989-1992 for the belting

1998-1999 for the tone

2010s for the head voice - the MHWGO intro during the Pandora Concert in 2013 was out of this world. I also think her low notes improved as she aged.

Edited November 24, 2023 at 06:57 PM by LukeD

[DCCeline]

Its too hard to pick between 1992/93 and 1998. They are both peaks for different reasons.

 

 

[smw]

Yep, she was at her vocal peak in 1998. Especially on TAST, she was on fire.❤️ No other female singer could match her at that time.

 

Her vocals on that album are amazing. I'm so glad she recorded it when she did. She really was the best and most popular pop singer on the planet at that time.

 

I also think she was in her prime when she recorded D'eux and Falling Into You. So late 94 - 95.

 

She had amazing moments in every era.

[Abodi2002]

1989-1992 for the belting

1998-1999 for the tone

2010s for the head voice - the MHWGO intro during the Pandora Concert in 2013 was out of this world. I also think her low notes improved as she aged.

Absolutely agree with this! Her lows definitely improved throughout her career!

[queenofvegas]

Her voice definitely peaked in 1998. I know many people say the early 90s, but she had a lot of technique issues (mainly with her breathing and phrasing) that were causing her voice problems over the years. It is part of why she lost her voice multiple times on tour between 1987-1990.

[PuraVida]

I mean her 1992 performances on the Arsenio Hall Show showed a complete freedom and ease with her voice.

 

It’s hard to choose because I think she had multiple ‘golden phases’ of her voice, each offering something different.

 

It would be a more informed debate if we had more bootlegs but alas

[Chantemoi]

I mean her 1992 performances on the Arsenio Hall Show showed a complete freedom and ease with her voice.

 

It’s hard to choose because I think she had multiple ‘golden phases’ of her voice, each offering something different.

 

Also the same period she sang Je danse dans ma tête and J’ai besoin d’un chum with a similar dexterity that amazes me. Would love to see those in HD!

[PuraVida]

 

Also the same period she sang Je danse dans ma tête and Jai besoin dun chum with a similar dexterity that amazes me. Would love to see those in HD!

 

Was JDDMT live? I remember a couple performances, wish we had more of that song

[Abodi2002]

 

 

Was JDDMT live? I remember a couple performances, wish we had more of that song

only 2 of them were live. It was confirmed to be lipped for TCOML tour.

[Chantemoi]

 

 

Was JDDMT live? I remember a couple performances, wish we had more of that song

 

I dunno… This *seems* very live:

 

As well as this one:

 

Compared to this:

[PuraVida]

Yeah she sounded great. Often forgotten gem of a song

[jpatdeleon09]

I like her 1992, 1994 vocals. Her voice was so strong/powerful and so clear during this era.

 

1992

 

 

 

 

1994

 

https://youtu.be/xutiOwIv4As?si=XKY9SAJi_zVkpJUZ

 

 

[Abodi2002]

So as promised here's my analysis of Celine's vocals after 1999. Probably going to be a long read.

2002, very similar to her 1998 and 1999 voice but slightly better lows. Her belting was a bit less consistent I'd say.

2003, worse than 2002, her belts were weaker and probably because of the residency she began mixing even more. her tone became very nasal and whiny, listen to the A New Day CD.

early 2004, terrible, same whiny and nasal tone of 2003 times 5.

later 2004 was much better. Her one night with light concert had good vocals, the only time she attempted the bridge of BYLM after 1999 until 2007. MHWGO at one night with light is certainly one to mention.

2005, she regained some consistancy here in her Vegas concerts. I love the runs she did at the end of a couple If I Could performances in the bootlegs we have. a lot of the On Ne Change Pas promotion was bad vocally though.

2006, seems she began using her voice more, the A4s on the "forsake" in TPOL were very resonant and she didn't seem to hesitate as much. BYLM saw some improvement.

2007, worse than 2006 but not without amazing moments as well, RDMH for example.

early 2008, amazing vocals here, her more chesty notes in Alone and It's a Man's World are noteworthy, same with the one live performance of Taking Chances from that year. Fade Away Pretoria probably has her best F5s after 1999.

I cannot say May 2008 and after has the consistancy mentioned above, and it's quite sad to know and understand the likely cause of that now.

2011 through 2013 had a lot of great vocals when she tried, that 2011 Vegas setlist is one of my least favorites. the 2013 minitour has better vocals than Paris 1999. She actually belted the E5s in JSP for the first time since the 90's and they sounded good more often than not.

2014, it's somewhat obvious Renaes cancer had an effect on her voice, a couple nice headvoice runs in BYLM but nothing else too noteworthy.

2015, her first concerts in august gave us great MHWGO performances, the ABM attempt though not her best is still appreciated.

2016, following the death of Renae and her brother this year was inconsistent, some parts were amazing while others were the worst of her career. the 2016 tour was one of her best setlists, only thing to beat it is 2017 tour English setlist.

2017, she improved as the year went on. Earlier on any belts above B4 were very thin and. She improved some for the tour. September through December gave us a lot of good Think Twice performances. Some good Wdmhbn endings too.

2018, her first shows after the ear operation weren't very good, would love to hear Think Twice May 22 though so if anyone has it please share. She improved for the tour though as per usual struggled with belts above C #5.

2019, her worst year. She sounded tired mostly but January through April had some good moments. When she mostly recovered from throat problems in October she had a lot of great moments but lots of bad ones too. 2020 was overall a lot better and we got quite a few decent D5s. The Prayer was usually very good, same with Courage. Probably left out a lot so feel free to add to what I’ve missed.

[Céline RO]

2011. Period.

[Abodi2002]

2011. Period.

we did get some good Because You Loved Me E5s and some good endings to All By Myself. I’d argue that Beauty And The Beast was better in 2011 than quite a few 1996. The “and it gets higher” in RDMH was extremely heady quite often though.

[Gicedi]

In my opinion, the full period of Celine's good / top voice is from 1992 to 2002.

[emiliejolie]

To me it’s from 1989 to 1998

[smw]

To me it’s from 1989 to 1998

 

Why’d you exclude 1999?

[stone]

Sonia Benezra(?) where she looked like Cher with the belly shirt, Arsenio Hall, tribute to Anne Murray while hosting the Juno’s, it was her hot girl era…her voice was amazing 1991-1993…it got lighter and higher towards D’eux and then the nasal quality became more obvious into FIY and LTAL. She kind of got her groove back 1998, but her voice lost the base that it had in the earlier years. I felt like it really matured 2002 once she had a baby. Then A New Day became its own thing and I’ll end it there. She had a lot of vocal eras for sure.

[DCCeline]

I never understood if the loss of power post 1993 was because of singing lessons to teach her not to use her throat or her voice literally just changed overnight.

[Lolo88]

To me, her BEST vocals are from 1991 to 2003 (1 fille & 4 types has some AMAZING vocals 🎶)

 

Then, I'd say that for the "Taking Chances" album, her voice really was on FIRE 🔥)

[Abodi2002]

I never understood if the loss of power post 1993 was because of singing lessons to teach her not to use her throat or her voice literally just changed overnight.

probably lessons, her technique really began changing around 1997. Open vowels like the ones in TPOL became easier for her too, shame we don’t have more attempts from 1998/99. Her vowel choices in that song were odd at times in some of the 1993 and 1994 performances. If she didn’t sound so tired in American music awards performance, they could have been nearly as open as the rehearsal.

[Céline RO]

I never understood if the loss of power post 1993 was because of singing lessons to teach her not to use her throat or her voice literally just changed overnight.

 

I think most of the changes heard in Céline’s voice over her career were intentional. Someone who trains and protects their voice for decades like Céline has won’t lose much even with age and constant performing, if anything she will have gotten better. As an example, we now know that that was the case with whatever changes we heard in Céline’s voice over the past ten years. It was her consciously and willingly altering her sound to “compensate” for the difficulty caused by SPS. When she returned and sang again this year, she removed that altering filter from her voice and sounded just like her old self at full power. Of course, habit plays a part and when you do something a certain way for a longer period, it’s going to become natural for you. But the underlying instrument that is her voice will not have been lost over the years, only strengthened and expanded, and used in different ways.

[DCCeline]

I get what you guys are saying but imo she lost the ability to sing the way she did in 1991-1993 and that wasnt intentional. Maybe a side effect of lessons.