Falling Into You

iTunes Review

Celine Dion’s vocal grandeur has made her Barbra Streisand’s natural heir as the supreme female singer in pop. Her sky-high range and nearly-flawless delivery hasn’t always found material to match. Fortunately, Falling Into You (1996) provided her with songs worthy of her abilities. Emotionally-vulnerable lyrics wrapped in heroic melodies are Dion’s particularly forte – on this album, she’s given an outstanding pair of such tunes in “Because You Loved Me” (from the film Up Close And Personal) and “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” (written by rock bombast king Jim Steinman). Stepping further into pure pop melodrama, she fully connects with Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself” and takes a shot at matching Tina Turner’s fireworks on “River Deep, Mountain High.” Beyond these show-stoppers, Fall Into You is notable for its more restrained tunes, such as the balmy, gently-flowing title number and the subdued, slightly unearthly “Fly.” Dion’s intimate readings of these and similar tracks will surprise those who only think of her as a belter par excellence. Falling Into You fully solidified Celine’s stature as a worldwide megastar. Grand in design and impeccable in execution, it still captures the essential sweetness of the artist at its center.