Date Relesed On Worldwide:13th november
2007:
Rate:9/10
Product Description
Brand new 14-song studio album featuring such songwriters and
producers as John Shanks, Ben Moody (formerly of Evanescence),
Linda Perry, and Ne-Yo.
Track Listing
1. "Taking Chances"
2. "Alone"
3. "Eyes On Me"
4. "My Love"
5. "Shadow of Love"
6. "Surprise Surprise"
7. "This Time"
8. "New Dawn"
9. "A Song for You"
10. "A World to Believe In"
11. "Can't Fight the Feelin'"
12. "I Got Nothin' Left"
13. "Right Next to the Right One"
14. "Fade Away"
15. "That's Just the Woman in Me"
16. "Skies of L.A."
Album Information
Céline Dion worked with many different producers for this album,
mainly on pop, rock and R&B songs. The tracks were recorded
mostly during Dion's summer holiday, between July 2 and August 15,
2007.[2]
* "Taking Chances" was written by Kara DioGuardi and David A.
Stewart from Eurythmics, and produced by John Shanks.[3] It was
released as the first single from the album.
* "Alone" is a power ballad written by Billy Steinberg and Tom
Kelly, and originally recorded by American band Heart in 1987.
Dion's cover was produced by Ben Moody, ex-member of
Evanescence.
* "Eyes On Me" is a Middle Eastern-flavored song written by Delta
Goodrem, Kristian Lundin and Savan Kotecha, and produced by Lundin.
It was originally recorded for Delta Goodrem's third self-titled
album but did not make the cut so producers sent it to Dion
instead.[4]
* "My Love" was written and produced by Linda Perry.
* "Shadow of Love" was written by Aldo Nova, Anders Bagge and Peter
Sjöström, and produced by John Shanks.
* "Surprise Surprise" is the second track written by Kara
DioGuardi. It was co-produced by her and Emanuel "Eman"
Kiriakou.[5]
* "This Time" was written by Ben Moody, David Hodges and Steven
McMorran, and produced by Moody and Hodges.[6] [7]
* "New Dawn" is another track written and produced by Linda Perry.
It was originally recorded by Perry on her After Hours album in
1999.
* "A Song for You" is a piano-heavy ballad written by Aldo Nova,
Anders Bagge and Robert Wells, and produced by Bagge.[8]
* "A World to Believe In" is another track produced by John Shanks,
written by Rosanna Ciciola and Tino Izzo.
* "Can't Fight the Feelin'" is one of five tracks written by Aldo
Nova. It was produced by John Shanks.
* "I Got Nothin' Left" was co-written by Ne-Yo and Chuck Harmony,
and produced by the latter.
* "Right Next to the Right One" is a song originally written and
recorded by Tim Christensen in 2002. It was produced by Christopher
Neil.
* "Fade Away" was written by Aldo Nova, Peer Astrom and David
Stenmarck, and produced by Astrom.
* "That's Just the Woman in Me" is a blues-flavoured track written
by Kimberly Rew, and recorded by Katrina and the Waves in the 80s,
which remained unreleased until 2003. Dion's version was produced
by John Shanks.
* "Skies of L.A." was co-written by Christopher 'Tricky' Stewart
and The-Dream, and produced by 'Tricky'. Both are responsible for
Rihanna's 2007 hit "Umbrella" among others.[9]
* "Map to My Heart" was written by Guy Roche and Shelly Peiken, and
produced by Roche. It was featured on the "Taking Chances" CD
single and the Japanese version of the album.
* "The Reason I Go On" was included on the Japanese version of
Taking Chances. It was produced by Ben Moody and David
Hodges.
* "Let Me Be Your Soldier" is a leftover from the recording
sessions.
* There was also another Ben Moody track recorded, this time
co-written by him, Scott "Skippy" Chapman and Michael Tait that was
a slower piano-driven ballad.[10]
* According to an article in Elle magazine dated July 2007, R.
Kelly wrote two songs for Dion's upcoming album.[11] But they
didn't make the final cut.
Editional Reviews
Amazon.com
Taking Chances is not without its daring moments--we'll get to
those--but the first order of business in any review of this
much-hyped record, on which Celine Dion is said to have slunk away
from her songbird instincts in favor of embracing her inner rock
& roll wild child, should be fan reassurance. Therefore: fear
not. Taking Chances has its share of poignant, pretty ballads (both
"A Song for You" and "Right Next to the Right One" are
goosebump-raisers) and love songs (the hopeful, heartfelt title
track, which unfolds into an anthemic power ballad midway through,
may be the best one). As far as standard Celine fare goes, in fact,
Chances is likely her strongest non-French outing since 2002's A
New Day Has Come; nobody unfolds a lyric with more care or nuance.
And, as the subtle "My Love" deftly proves, any early-career
instincts to over-sing have gone poof along with her '90s-era,
sweet-natured-kook persona. Because it's a generous 16 songs long,
it may even be possible to ignore the non-Celine-like moments on
Taking Chances and just enjoy the more fan-faithful tracks. But
that wouldn't be any fun, would it? There are songs here--"Can't
Fight the Feelin'," "Fade Away," "That's Just the Woman In
Me"--that will astound diehards and make fans of those who've
dissed her for more than a decade. If you didn't think the diva
behind Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" had it in her to screech
from the bottom of her soul, a la Janis Joplin, flip to track 15
and guess again. --Tammy La Gorce