Unison (album)

Infobox Album | Name = Unison
Type = Studio album
Artist = Céline Dion


Released = Start date|1990|3|26
Recorded = 1989-1990
Genre = Pop
Length = 43:02
Label = Columbia, Epic
Producer = David Foster, Andy Goldmark, Tom Keane, Christopher Neil
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:sudsyl4jxpzb link]
| Last album = "The Best Of"
(1988)
This album = "Unison"
(1990)
Next album = "Dion chante Plamondon"
(1991)| |
Misc = Singles
Name = Unison
Type = studio
Single 1 = (If There Was) Any Other Way
Single 1 date = March 19 1990
Single 2 = Unison
Single 2 date = August 6 1990
Single 3 = Where Does My Heart Beat Now
Single 3 date = November 19 1990
Single 4 = The Last to Know
Single 4 date = May 6 1991

"Unison" is the English-language debut album of Canadian singer Céline Dion, released in 1990 in North America and the next year in the rest of the world. Counting her previous French-language releases, it is her 15th album.

Prologue

Before "Unison", Céline Dion already had a solid music career in Francophone markets. She had released 14 albums in her native language: 11 in Canada and 3 in France. She had won numerous music awards including 15 Félix Awards, 2 Yamaha Music Festival Awards, Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix or MetroStar Award. Dion received gold and platinum certifications for several of her albums (4 gold, 3 platinum awards) and singles (3 gold awards). She was very successful as a French artist but still unknown in the English-speaking world.

In 1985 Dion recorded her first English single called "Listen to the Magic Man" for the movie "The Peanut Butter Solution". The soundtrack also contained "Michael's Song." The same year she released a live album, "Céline Dion en concert" which contained a few English songs: "Up Where We Belong," "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Feeling."

In 1989, she released her second English single in Canada "Can't Live With You, Can't Live Without You," a duet with Billy Newton-Davis. She also recorded "Listen to Me" with Warren Wiebe. This was the title song for the movie starring Kirk Cameron. Also in 1989, she recorded her third duet with Dan Hill, called "Wishful Thinking."

After all those duets and movie songs, it was time for Dion's solo effort, an entire album in English that would introduce her to the world. For the release, CBS Records had originally offered $25,000, which would allow Dion to record new vocals over the original musical tracks from the French album "Incognito". Three events would raise the ante. First, Dion performed a duet in English with Dan Hill at CBS Canada's 1987 convention. The performance impressed the company's president Bernie DiMatteo enough for him to raise the budget to $100,000 so that some new songs could be commissioned. Next, at the Juno Awards she sang "Have a Heart" - the English version of "Partout je te vois" from "Incognito". After the performance the budget rose to $300,000. When David Foster later saw it on videotape, he told DiMatteo that $300,000 wasn't enough, so they were given an unlimited budget. The record ended up costing $600,000. Dion worked with three well-known producers: David Foster, Christopher Neil and Andy Goldmark.

Album information

"Unison" was recorded in London, New York and Los Angeles. Hits from the album include: "(If There Was) Any Other Way," "Unison" (a cover of Junior's song for the Tom Cruise movie "All the Right Moves"), "Where Does My Heart Beat Now," "The Last to Know" (previously recorded by Sheena Easton) and a radio single "Have a Heart" (the English version of Dion's 1987 song "Partout je te vois" from "Incognito"). "Unison" earned Dion two Juno Awards for the Album of the Year and the Female Vocalist of the Year.

Céline Dion did the Unison Tour in Canada to support the album. There was also a "Unison" home video released. During the tour, Céline Dion took part in the recording of "Voices That Care," a charity single released in March 1991. The song was written by David Foster, Linda Thompson and Peter Cetera, and recorded by a group of popular musicians, entertainers and athletes to help boost the morale of U.S. troops involved in the Gulf War, and also support the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The song reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified gold in the United States for selling over 500,000 copies.

Critical response

"Unison" was largely influenced by the 1980s soft rock sound that was a fit for the adult contemporary radio format. "Unison" hit all the right notes with critics: Jim Faber of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that Dion's vocals were "tastefully unadorned," and that she never attempted to "bring off styles that are beyond her." Stephen Erlwine of Allmusic declared it as "a fine, sophisticated American debut."

Chart success

"Where Does My Heart Beat Now" is considered the single that broke Céline Dion into the English world of music (reaching number 4 in the United States). Worldwide sales of "Unison" have reached 3.5 million copies. The albums' biggest success was in Canada and the United States where it charted at numbers 18 and 74 respectively, going 7x platinum in Canada (by selling over 700,000 copies), and platinum in the United States (with sales of 1.3 million). The album achieved top 10 status in Norway, charting at number 8, its highest position around the world. Five years after its initial release, in 1996, "Unison" peaked at number 55 in the United Kingdom. Although the album did not chart in France, it was nevertheless certified gold in 1997 for selling over 100,000 copies.

Controversy

While Dion was enjoying her rising success in the English-speaking world, her French and Quebec fans criticized her for neglecting them. After she won the English-speaking Artist of the Year at the Félix Awards show, she attempted to reconnect with her French-speaking fans by refusing to accept the award. She stated she was and would always be, a French, and not an English artist.

Track listing

#"(If There Was) Any Other Way" (Paul Bliss) – 4:00
#"If Love Is Out the Question" (Bliss, Phil Palmer) – 3:53
#"Where Does My Heart Beat Now" (Robert White Johnson, Taylor Rhodes) – 4:33
#"The Last to Know" (Brock Walsh, Phil Galdston) – 4:35
#"I'm Loving Every Moment With You" (Tom Keane, Eric Pressley, Tyler Collins) – 4:08
#"Love by Another Name" (David Foster, Cliff Magnes, Glen Ballard) – 4:51
#"Unison" (Andy Goldmark, Bruce Roberts) – 4:13
#"I Feel Too Much" (Keane, Pressley) – 4:09
#"If We Could Start Over" (Stan Meissner) – 4:22
#"Have a Heart" (Aldo Nova, Billy Steinberg, Ralph McCarthy) – 4:14

Chart performance

References