"Unison" album - Official Topic

[comingback]

i mean: Lara came too late

[comingback]

Exactly. When Celine had her breaktrough in the 90s, Popdivas with big voices were popular (Whitney, Mariah etc.) and she had CBS Canada/later Sony Music US with Mottola (1992/1993) behind her. Do you guys remember the Grammy Award 1993 pic of Mottola and all big Sony Music stars (MJ, Mariah etc.)? That was a big moment for Celine! At that time, she had 3 Top 10 hits in the US and in 1994 TPOL was at No1. That was a huge step for a French Canadian singer . She and Rene worked hard from 1990 to 1993 to make Celine an international star, especially in the US, but she also had luck. Tina had also her breaktrough in the early 90s (Chains was a big hit in the UK), but she never got the stardom like Celine. At the end of the 90s, Sony tried to promote her as the "new Celine" in the US, but failed. There is only one Celine. And yes, Lara came too late in 2000. The music scene changed at that time.

Edited September 23, 2024 at 10:46 AM by comingback

[Celine Fan 77]

Exactly. When Celine had her breaktrough in the 90s, Popdivas with big voices were popular (Whitney, Mariah etc.) and she had CBS Canada/later Sony Music US with Mottola (1992/1993) behind her. Do you guys remember the Grammy Award 1993 pic of Mottola and all big Sony Music stars (MJ, Mariah etc.)? That was a big moment for Celine! At that time, she had 3 Top 10 hits in the US and in 1994 TPOL was at No1. That was a huge step for a French Canadian singer . She and Rene worked hard from 1990 to 1993 to make Celine an international star, especially in the US, but she also had luck. Tina had also her breaktrough in the early 90s (Chains was a big hit in the UK), but she never got the stardom like Celine. At the end of the 90s, Sony tried to promote her as the "new Celine" in the US, but failed. There is only one Celine. And yes, Lara came too late in 2000. The music scene changed at that time.

 

Very well explained. As I was reading your message I couldn’t help remembering what Elvis’ manager told René once in Vegas: don’t compare your singer to any other artist (as his answer to René describing Celine as the “new Barbra Streisand”). I guess Sony and Lara’s team should have thought of a radically different strategy in order to market her in the early-2000s music industry, which would have been difficult anyway.

 

And by the way, that photo you posted is simply legendary.

[isurrender]

the problem with Lara is the timing of her english debut... in the 2000s nobody wanted to hear big classic ballads anymore... Britney Spears and the look alikes where dominating everywhere... Laura Pausini is another example of bad timing... when she released her first (and only) english album in 2002 it didn't succeed... well, even Celine was having trouble after A New Day Has Come...

but Laura Pausini was already a stablished artist in the italian and spanish market, and even in Brazil where she is huge ultil today... and that didn't affected her carreer...

Lara Fabian made more success with the international market, and today I think she's more known in Europe and Russia... like said before, she had a big hit in Brazil with her song being in a TV show, but today almost nobody remember her anymore...

 

But neither Lara Fabian nor Laura Pausini were marketed as big ballads singers.

 

They both released dance songs as first single of their respective english albums. And they both experienced more success than Celine's Unison... I know that Laura refused to go on singing dance music and that's why she stopped recording in english ( one of the reasons at least).

 

Anyway, Lara wasn't even that successfull in french speaking countries as from 2004-2005... so let alone in the rest of the world. Lara's voice is "special", in the way that either you like it or not and might come across as "annoying". With Céline, it's more "Oh I don't like her music but she has a beautiful voice" while with Lara, people tends to say "I can't stand how she sings".

[CelinesDIVO5]

 

 

But neither Lara Fabian nor Laura Pausini were marketed as big ballads singers.

 

They both released dance songs as first single of their respective english albums. And they both experienced more success than Celine's Unison... I know that Laura refused to go on singing dance music and that's why she stopped recording in english ( one of the reasons at least).

 

Anyway, Lara wasn't even that successfull in french speaking countries as from 2004-2005... so let alone in the rest of the world. Lara's voice is "special", in the way that either you like it or not and might come across as "annoying". With Céline, it's more "Oh I don't like her music but she has a beautiful voice" while with Lara, people tends to say "I can't stand how she sings".

 

 

Lara has recorded 3 more English albums since the first one, among other one-off English songs.

Edited September 23, 2024 at 06:21 PM by CelinesDIVO5

[CelinesDIVO5]

 

 

To be honest, when it comes to Lara Fabian, I think it's not completely because of luck or management.

 

God knows I'm fed up of this comparison but Lara Fabian was very lucky when she started her international career.

 

Firstly, Celine paved the way. Her first english album has all the big names Céline has worked with too. I do really think a song like "Adagio" left a better footprint ( generally speaking, not only charts-wise) than WDMHBN. "I will love again" was more successfull than any of the up-tempo songs from "Unison". She also had a big hit in Brazil ("Love by grace" was the soundtrack of a famous tv show).

 

At the end of the day, Lara was more lucky with her international debut album than Céline was.

 

I don't know exactly what happened afterwards but I think Lara was doomed not to go mainstream/turn into a big superstar, simply because of her voice.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think she is super talented ( and in a way, her technique is better than Céline's because Lara has a classical background) but her voice is very "elitist" and meant to please only fans of big voices.

What Céline has is the the talent of being versatile.

Lara has the same singing tics in french and english ,etc..

Sure management is part of the success, but there are factors somehow unexplainable within the artist that prevent to go superstar. There are a lot of good singers but their voices simply don't click with a large audience on the long run. And I think Lara and Tina are among those. It doesn't take away their talent but their talent lacks something.

 

Also, and that's a big turn off, but I think Lara's english accent is thicker ( and I mean in songs). And to be honest, I don't know anyone - whatever the language is - who became a superstar singing with an accent. Tina Arena had a few hits in french but that's it and god knows her singing didn't please everyone...

 

Lara’s voice had nothing to do with her English career not taking off. It’s been said that she was romantically involved with Walter Afanasieff. When the romance ended, so did any support from the label. Promotion for her first album came to a screeching halt. One minute, she was all over the place in the US. Radio was playing “I Will Love Again” (it topped the dance charts), she was on a ton of morning and late night shows. Even had a PBS television special. And then she disappeared into thin air. She recorded her second English album, the label did not promote the first singles and then the release in the US was canceled entirely. It’s a shame, because she had a very strong debut album. It had a few uptempo songs and ballads. She’s a great writer as well. But it had nothing to do with people not wanting to listen to her, or because her voice was too big.

[comingback]

The strange thing is that people say Celine and Lara have similiar voices. For me, Celine's voice is more beautiful and melodic. Lara is more theatralic and deep like Streisand. It's a matter of taste.

[CelinesDIVO5]

The strange thing is that people say Celine and Lara have similiar voices. For me, Celine's voice is more beautiful and melodic. Lara is more theatralic and deep like Streisand. It's a matter of taste.

 

Agreed. However, she does have similar power to Celine. In the US, she was marketed as the love child of Celine and Barbra.

[MaiconSC]

But neither Lara Fabian nor Laura Pausini were marketed as big ballads singers.

 

They both released dance songs as first single of their respective english albums. And they both experienced more success than Celine's Unison... I know that Laura refused to go on singing dance music and that's why she stopped recording in english ( one of the reasons at least).

 

Anyway, Lara wasn't even that successfull in french speaking countries as from 2004-2005... so let alone in the rest of the world. Lara's voice is "special", in the way that either you like it or not and might come across as "annoying". With Céline, it's more "Oh I don't like her music but she has a beautiful voice" while with Lara, people tends to say "I can't stand how she sings".

 

Laura Pausini didn't wanted to be a "dance" singer... the record company released the first single as a dance song, but the original intention was to be a ballad... years later she released the ballad version of that song... they wanted to promote her that way, and she was not happy, and the album didn't succeed...

 

in my vision Lara was marketed as a big ballad singer... because she was being called the "new Celine Dion", and Adagio is the definition of big ballad and power voice... also her performance is full of drama and theatricality... actually when she sings uptempo I think she's not at her best...

 

anyways, her fans always come up with the boring story that René and Celine sabotaged her carreer because they knew she was "best"

[comingback]

Laura Pausini didn't wanted to be a "dance" singer... the record company released the first single as a dance song, but the original intention was to be a ballad... years later she released the ballad version of that song... they wanted to promote her that way, and she was not happy, and the album didn't succeed...

 

in my vision Lara was marketed as a big ballad singer... because she was being called the "new Celine Dion", and Adagio is the definition of big ballad and power voice... also her performance is full of drama and theatricality... actually when she sings uptempo I think she's not at her best...

 

anyways, her fans always come up with the boring story that René and Celine sabotaged her carreer because they knew she was "best"

 

Didn't Lara say in an interview that she wasn't satisfied how Sony promoted her? In my memory, Sony promoted the Dance Pop single I Will Love Again, but Lara wanted to promoted the single Adagio in the US. So she did't promote the album in the US, only in Europe, because the album was already successful there.

[comingback]

Didn't Lara say in an interview that she wasn't satisfied how Sony promoted her? In my memory, Sony promoted the Dance Pop single I Will Love Again, but Lara wanted to promoted the single Adagio in the US. So she did't promote the album in the US, only in Europe, because the album was already successful there.

 

+ The second and last English album under Sony A Wonderful Life wasn't even promoted by Sony in 2004 and Lara changed the record label (Universal).

Edited September 24, 2024 at 09:49 AM by comingback

[comingback]

Sorry, she didn't promote

[CelinesDIVO5]

 

 

Didn't Lara say in an interview that she wasn't satisfied how Sony promoted her? In my memory, Sony promoted the Dance Pop single I Will Love Again, but Lara wanted to promoted the single Adagio in the US. So she did't promote the album in the US, only in Europe, because the album was already successful there.

 

She did quite a bit of promo and then it all of a sudden just stopped.

[comingback]

Didn't Lara say in an interview that she wasn't satisfied with Sony's promotion? In my memory, Sony promoted the Dance Pop single I Will Love Again, but Lara wanted to promote the single Adagio in the US. So she didn't promote the album in the US, only in Europe, because the album was already successful there.

She did quite a bit of promo and then it all of a sudden just stopped.

 

 

Yes, she promoted the album and the single I Will Love Again in the US, but only for a short time.

[isurrender]

Lara's voice had nothing to do with her English career not taking off. It's been said that she was romantically involved with Walter Afanasieff. When the romance ended, so did any support from the label. Promotion for her first album came to a screeching halt. One minute, she was all over the place in the US. Radio was playing "I Will Love Again" (it topped the dance charts), she was on a ton of morning and late night shows. Even had a PBS television special. And then she disappeared into thin air. She recorded her second English album, the label did not promote the first singles and then the release in the US was canceled entirely. It's a shame, because she had a very strong debut album. It had a few uptempo songs and ballads. She's a great writer as well. But it had nothing to do with people not wanting to listen to her, or because her voice was too big.

 

You are telling me that Sony ( I mean the same Sony that has been cashing in without spending a dime on Céline's career for the last 20 years? ) would have let go a potential money maker because of a break up? lol

Sure.

I don't know what happened ... I just said my opinion.

 

Here are the facts :

 

- In 2003 ( so 3 years after Lara's debut), when Céline's success was slowly fading, Sony cancelled the release of "I drove all night" in the UK because the song was not successfull on radio. So if they did it ( and without talking about Mariah's story with Sony... who let her go after a flop), I guess they wouldn't have had any hesitation to scrap a singer who didn't bring them as much.

- Lara herself has explained some times what happened... but TBH, I don't believe someone who changes accent according to the country she's in ( she has the Quebec accent in Quebec.. ).

- Lara has come across as unfriendly in french-speaking countries before being ignored by the general audience. She has talked a lot about people not liking her voice and being "bullied" about it.

 

I knew it was a bad idea talking about Lara...

 

But sorry you dismissing my point of view in the name of a gossip is not any better. And it's even worse because if everything stopped because her romance ended..then the other way around could also be possible ( and I let you imagine what it is...but maybe that's why she never mentions it as one of the reasons why her US career ended... ).

 

 

Jesus, my worst nightmare has happened: I came here to praise Unison, and ended up talking about Lara Fabian..

 

Edited September 24, 2024 at 05:40 PM by isurrender

[Chantemoi]

 

Jesus, my worst nightmare has happened: I came here to praise Unison, and ended up talking about Lara Fabian..

 

 

Maybe we should rename the topic to “Lara vs. Céline”

[Jeanette]

I can’t speak for anyone else from the UK but I can honestly say I wouldn’t know of Lara Fabian if not for this forum. In fact having just googled her, I’ve just realised she was born in Belgium, absolutely no clue about her at all it seems as I just assumed she was Quebec born.

 

Anyway, I have never heard any of her songs or her sing for that matter but all I will say is that having heard her name mentioned on here many times and knowing that she seems quite big in Quebec, I’ve often wondered why she’s never appeared on any of the same French Canadian shows as Celine has. In the same way that Celine’s appeared, many times, on the same bill as a whole host of other well known Quebec singers. I just wonder if it’s down to a bit of competitive rivalry because to me Celine has, throughout her career, championed a lot of Quebec talent in a way but not with someone else who’s of a similar (ish) singing style and age etc, just makes me think she’s distanced herself tactically but I may be totally inaccurate in saying this.

 

[pat200]

 

- Lara herself has explained some times what happened... but TBH, I don't believe someone who changes accent according to the country she's in ( she has the Quebec accent in Quebec.. ).

 

 

You do realize Celine does the same right? Her accent in France is parisian french.

 

The real reason her career stalled is that she was presented as the new Celine in a way and 1- the public wasn't ready to replace Celine, and 2- Rene did put pressure on Sony.

[CelinesDIVO5]

 

 

You are telling me that Sony ( I mean the same Sony that has been cashing in without spending a dime on Céline's career for the last 20 years? ) would have let go a potential money maker because of a break up? lol

Sure.

I don't know what happened ... I just said my opinion.

 

Here are the facts :

 

- In 2003 ( so 3 years after Lara's debut), when Céline's success was slowly fading, Sony cancelled the release of "I drove all night" in the UK because the song was not successfull on radio. So if they did it ( and without talking about Mariah's story with Sony... who let her go after a flop), I guess they wouldn't have had any hesitation to scrap a singer who didn't bring them as much.

- Lara herself has explained some times what happened... but TBH, I don't believe someone who changes accent according to the country she's in ( she has the Quebec accent in Quebec.. ).

- Lara has come across as unfriendly in french-speaking countries before being ignored by the general audience. She has talked a lot about people not liking her voice and being "bullied" about it.

 

I knew it was a bad idea talking about Lara...

 

But sorry you dismissing my point of view in the name of a gossip is not any better. And it's even worse because if everything stopped because her romance ended..then the other way around could also be possible ( and I let you imagine what it is...but maybe that's why she never mentions it as one of the reasons why her US career ended... ).

 

 

Jesus, my worst nightmare has happened: I came here to praise Unison, and ended up talking about Lara Fabian..

 

 

They didn’t let Lara go at that point, they just halted promotion on her first album, which ended up tanking her career in the US. If you don’t think that a powerful man like Walter wouldn’t retaliate on an artist that he was no longer romantically involved with, then you may have to question your naïveté in the matter. Powerful men, retaliating against women in the entertainment industry is a tale as old as time. She had a second English album come out, and when the 2 singles they released internationally didn’t do well in the countries that Lara normally did well in, they canceled the US release altogether. They didn’t even give her a chance.

 

As far as Mariah, Tommy Mottola had been retaliating on her since the “Butterfly” album after their divorce. She actually left Sony on her own. The process started in 1998. She still owed them an album as per her contract, and she released Rainbow in 1999…which was not even close to a flop. She then signed with Virgin records for an unprecedented amount of money at the time, and then released “Glitter” which didn’t do well for a number of reasons, and led to Virgin dropping her.

[Céline RO]

I can't speak for anyone else from the UK but I can honestly say I wouldn't know of Lara Fabian if not for this forum. In fact having just googled her, I've just realised she was born in Belgium, absolutely no clue about her at all it seems as I just assumed she was Quebec born.

 

Anyway, I have never heard any of her songs or her sing for that matter but all I will say is that having heard her name mentioned on here many times and knowing that she seems quite big in Quebec, I've often wondered why she's never appeared on any of the same French Canadian shows as Celine has. In the same way that Celine's appeared, many times, on the same bill as a whole host of other well known Quebec singers. I just wonder if it's down to a bit of competitive rivalry because to me Celine has, throughout her career, championed a lot of Quebec talent in a way but not with someone else who's of a similar (ish) singing style and age etc, just makes me think she's distanced herself tactically but I may be totally inaccurate in saying this.

 

Yeah there’s definitely animosity from Céline’s side, and has been from the beginning.

[Céline RO]

You do realize Celine does the same right? Her accent in France is parisian french.

 

Well she tries for the first few minutes and then usually gives in lol.

[comingback]

back to Celine

 

Celine and Lara were on the ESC 1988. And who won : Celine - better stage presence and voice

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXLWfXmlXPc

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHikWD-RY2Y

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsZebZk2Sg8

 

Celine was lucky that she had her breaktrough in the 90s, I don't think that she would have had an international career 10 years later. The music business in the 00s was so different (digital music age etc.). We discussed that so many times.

Edited September 25, 2024 at 07:45 AM by comingback

[Davey84]

 

Hmmm very interesting! It would be great if there's a special 35th anniversary edition with a booklet full of the Unison shot, and unreleased songs like Dreams to Dream, and remixes like Unison Mix with RAP and without RAP!

 

However... I would rather want 2 gatefold for ANDHC than a Unison re-release. Because if it's just a repress of the original LP, then it won't be as exciting...

 

Thanks to John!

[comingback]

WOW could it be? Fingers crossed ...

[george_matei]

It will be released in March, it says.

 

https://imusic.co/music/0198028900119/celine-dion-2025-unison-lp

[comingback]

Maybe they will release Unison on Vinyl?

Edited January 21, 2025 at 02:15 PM by comingback

[Alex_Incognito]

Maybe it'll have a special colored vinyl! Who needs anything digital or any bonus tracks? We want colors on old technology!

[Davey84]

Maybe it'll have a special colored vinyl! Who needs anything digital or any bonus tracks? We want colors on old technology!

 

And the original cover and back cover scanned!!

[comingback]

Let's wait...

But yes, it will be a Remastered Vinyl edition, like Mariah's album in 2020

 

https://imusic.de/mu...mariah-carey-lp

 

Edited January 21, 2025 at 03:19 PM by comingback

[Celine Fan 77]

Yeah I wouldn’t hold my hopes up about a special deluxe anniversary edition. It’s probably gonna be just the standard album on vinyl, which is already great as the original vinyl is quite difficult to get!