Celine has had some massive hits. There was the note-for-note cover of Jennifer Rush's "The Power Of Love" that provided her breakthrough in early 94. There was "Think Twice," the record that took forever to climb to #1 and almost as long to vacate the throne. There was the power ballad "Falling Into You," the uplifting "Because You Loved Me" and the raucous rocker "It's All Coming Back To Me Now." There was the soppy "My Heart Will Goon" and the poppy "That's The Way It Is."
Then there was the hiatus. After her 1999 greatest hits album, Celine went into seclusion, had a baby, spent time with her husband, and generally relaxed. The rest is over, and the result is not that bad.
It's fair to say that Celine has a reputation for recording nothing but slushy ballads (not true - the power pop of 94's "Misled" and the fun of 97's "Tell Him" should nail that as an error.) That she is terminally naff (depends on one's definition of naff) and has never bettered her performance at Eurovision 88.
Perhaps subconsciously, Celine is aping Gloria Estefan's 1991 comeback single, "Coming Out Of The Dark." The theme is similar, a return after there was reason to suspect that the vocalist wouldn't be coming back. Unlike Gloria's torch ballad, Celine starts with a riff, then fades down to leave the vocals almost acapella. It's been a long journey, but Celine never doubted herself.
There are more bridges and false choruses than the song really knows how to handle, yet the apparent poor structure doesn't actually distract from the finished product. There is something of a mastermind at work here, bringing together the disparate elements into a rounded whole. We don't actually hear anything that would pass for a chorus proper until almost three minutes into the four-minute song. This is an incredibly difficult trick to pull off - the only other track I can think of that manages it is "The Emperor's New Clothes" from Sinead O'Connor's 1990 I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got
magnum opus.
When it finally arrives, therefore, the chorus can only be like the sun breaking a cloudless horizon and showering its light (etc etc etc). What's more, the chorus is only repeated as an ad lib, not an entirety. Whatever one might think of the singer, this is a first-class song. Look out for a Grammy nomination for the songwriting at least.
The album A New Day Has Come
has been #1 for the past few weeks, but will render you liable to arrest for handling a terrorist munition. Happy listening!