Falling into You is the fourteenth studio album and fourth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 11 March 1996 by Sony Music. The follow-up to her blockbuster album The Colour of My Love (1993) and French-language D'eux (1995), Falling into You showed a further progression of Dion's music. Throughout the project she collaborated with Jim Steinman, who wrote and produced "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", among others. Several songs were produced by David Foster, including Diane Warren's "Because You Loved Me". In total, Dion worked on the album with fourteen producers and a variety of songwriters and musicians.
Falling into You won many awards around the world, including two Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Album at the 39th annual ceremony, during which Dion performed live. In April 1997, she also won three World Music Awards for World's Best Selling Artist of the Year, World's Best Selling Pop Artist of the Year and World's Best Selling Canadian Artist of the Year. The album is on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200 list.[1]
Falling into You became Dion's best-selling album and one of the best-selling albums in history, with sales of more than 32 million copies worldwide, including twelve million copies in the US, over two million in the United Kingdom, and over one million in Germany, France, Canada and Australia. In Europe, it has sold over nine million units. It topped the charts around the world, including number one in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and many more. It became one of the best-selling albums of 1996 and 1997 in various countries and also one of the top-selling albums of the decade. It was certified Diamond, Multi-Platinum, Platinum and Gold around the world.
Five singles were released from the album in Europe, four in Australia, and three in North America. The major success came with the release of "Because You Loved Me", theme from Up Close & Personal (number one in the United States, Canada and Australia), "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (number one in Canada, Belgium and number two in the US), and Eric Carmen's "All by Myself" (top ten in various countries, including number four in the US).
Falling into You presented Dion at the height of her popularity, and showed a further progression of her music. The album combines many elements: ornate orchestral frills and African chanting, and instruments like the violin, Spanish guitar, trombone, the cavaquinho, saxophone and supreme string arrangements, which created a new sound. The singles also encompassed a variety of musical styles. "Falling into You" (originally by Marie-Claire D'Ubaldo) and "River Deep, Mountain High" (Ike & Tina Turner cover) made prominent use of percussion instruments. "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (originally by Pandora's Box) and "All by Myself" (Eric Carmen cover) kept their soft-rock atmosphere, but were combined with the classical sound of the piano.
The ballad, "Because You Loved Me", written by Diane Warren, served as the theme to the 1996 film Up Close & Personal. The album also includes English adaptations of songs from D'eux: "If That's What It Takes" ("Pour que tu m'aimes encore"), "I Don't Know" ("Je sais pas") and "Fly" ("Vole"). Outside North America, Falling into You also features a cover of Carole King's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". In Asia, the Japanese hit "To Love You More" was added as well. Additionally, the non-US editions of the album include "Your Light", written and produced by Aldo Nova and the Spanish/Latin America editions feature "Sola Otra Vez", a Spanish-language version of "All by Myself". Dion worked on Falling into You with many producers, mainly with Jim Steinman, David Foster, Ric Wake, Jean-Jacques Goldman and Humberto Gatica.[2]
Falling into You divided music critics. Billboard editor Paul Verna gave it a positive review. He called it a deep album that will solidify Dion's reputation as one of the world's true pop divas. Verna highlighted the chart-topping "Because You Loved Me" and other hit-worthy moments on the album: a Meat Loaf-style epic "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", the laid back "Falling into You", bouncy pop "Make You Happy", sultry ballad "Seduces Me" (produced by Duran Duran producer, John Jones), and effervescent "Declaration of Love".[9] Another critic from Billboard spoke positively about "Because You Loved Me" and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", writing that "Because You Loved Me" is "rife with grand romance, larger-than-life production, and a climax that is best described as the musical equivalent to 4th of July fireworks".[10] The same critic called "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" a ballad that pits Dion against the bombastic production of Jim Steinman, adding that "lesser talents might have been gobbled up by this melodramatic arrangements, but Dion rises to the occasion with a performance that soars above the instrumentation with deliciously theatrical flair".[11]
A positive review also came from senior editor of AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who gave Falling into You four stars out of five. Although he noted that the album is formulaic, Erlewine appreciated its well-executed, stylish, and catchy formula, accentuating Dion's natural vocal charm. He praised ballads like "Because You Loved Me" and mock epics like "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". He felt that Dion tackles dance-pop and love songs with grace and that effortless elegance saves the mediocre material on the album from being tedious. According to him, there are a couple of weak tracks on Falling into You but it is a remarkably well-crafted set of adult contemporary pop and Dion's best album.[3] Chuck Eddy from Entertainment Weekly gave it a B in his review. Eddy wrote: "There's something compellingly eccentric about even the mushiest ballads on Celine Dion's new set Falling into You, which features Spanish guitars, African chanting, and ornate orchestral frills. But only in her desolate cover of Eric Carmen's "All by Myself" and her brutal blues-mama dance "Declaration of Love" (which kicks like Bonnie Raitt and Wynonna only wish they could) does she truly crash through the glass ceiling of passion".[12]
Mixed or negative reviews came from Elysa Gardner of the Los Angeles Times, Stephen Holden of The New York Times and Dan Leroy of Yahoo! Music. Gardner gave the album two out of four stars and wrote that Dion "dabbles in more soulful and sophisticated textures, and at times her dilettantism pays off. But she often falls back on her characteristic platform of polite, predictable schmaltz".[13] Holden wrote that the album is "crammed with formulaic romantic bombast. The melodrama peaks with two overblown Jim Steinman productions: "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", a romantic flashback replete with thunderclaps, and "River Deep, Mountain High", an anemic remake of a classic Phil Spector production". However, he praised "Because You Loved Me" (calling it this year's "Wind Beneath My Wings") and a remake of Carmen's 1976 hit, "All by Myself".[14] Leroy said that "trying to out-emote Eric Carmen was almost crazy enough to work, and working with over-the-top Meat Loaf collaborator Jim Steinman seemed a sensible choice. But the results weren't much different than usual".[15] The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album one and a half stars out of five.[16]
Elle Canada discussed how Falling into You changed pop music forever saying: "the album helped shape genre trends of the era and cemented the enduring relevance of the heartfelt power ballad in a cynical musical landscape that still sneered at sentimentality. Dion, especially with Falling into You, helped usher power ballads into the '90s. And her influence set the stage for the next generation of big vocalists such as Adele, Jennifer Hudson, Lady Gaga, and Ariana Grande".[17]
Reader's Digest Canada included Falling into You as one of the 25 Greatest Canadian Albums of all time, placing it at number 22, calling it the "most complete summation of her gifts as an entertainer: stylish, catchy and unabashedly emotional".[18]
In 2014, Richard Dunn recorded a video on his iPhone when he was trapped alone in the Las Vegas airport overnight which utilized one of the biggest songs from the album, the 1996 cover of Eric Carmen's "All by Myself" that immediately became a viral hit across the internet.[19]
Shock listed Cline Dion as one of the most memorable music acts in the history of Olympic games.[20] USA Today also listed The Power of the Dream at the Atlanta Olympic Games as the second best Olympic themesong ever.[21] On 19 July 1996, for a TV audience of 3.5 billion viewers, Celine Dion sang "The Power of the Dream" during the Opening Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympic Games. It was the ultimate triumph that made her arguably the most famous singer on the planet at that time.[22]
In early 2022, the classic hit "Its All Coming Back To Me Now" saw a resurgence on TikTok.[23] Superstars like Michael Buble,[24] Mandy Moore,[25] Amanda Holden,[26] Jordin Sparks[27] and Viola Davis[28] among many others jumped on the trend.
Falling into You remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, with sales of more than 32 million copies worldwide,[29] became the best-selling album of 1996 globally[30] and the fourth best-selling album by a woman in history.
In Canada, Falling into You became Dion's second number-one album, after The Colour of My Love. It was certified Diamond in November 1996 and has sold 1.6 million copies. Falling into You was her second album awarded Diamond in Canada, after The Colour of My Love. Dion's 1992 eponymous album was also certified Diamond but in 1998. Falling into You also topped the Quebec chart for fourteen weeks.[31]
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