Music Review: Celine Dion - My Love: Essential Collection

My Love: Essential Collection is a seventeen song compilation album of Celine Dion’s greatest hits. Please note that this single disc CD should not be confused with the double disc, My Love: Ultimate Essential Collection which has also been released.

Celine Dion has been an international star for about twenty years now and her label states that she has sold about 200 million albums worldwide. While she has been criticized at times, there can be no doubt that she possesses one of the purist and most powerful voices in music today. She combines her vocal prowess with superb technical ability. She may not be rock ‘n’ roll but she remains one of the most popular concert draws in the world. Last year she concluded an almost five year stay at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The music on this CD has been released in various forms previously; including their albums of origin, soundtracks, and other compilation albums. However, when these songs are gathered together in one place they provide a testament to one of the great pop artists today and give a representative sample of some of her best and most enduring work.

Such songs as her “Beauty and The Beast” duet with Peabo Bryson, the haunting “My Heart Will Go On” from the movie Titanic, and the powerful vocals of “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” and “The Power Of Love” are all reminders of her talent and ability to produce hit songs.

Some pleasant inclusions were “The Power Of The Dream” from the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics, a live version of “My Love” which shows that she does not need studio trickery to produce her sound, and her duet with R. Kelly, “I’m Your Angel.”

As with any compilation album there are tracks I would have liked to have seen added. I would have deleted some of her newer songs in favor of her 1997 duet with Barbra Streisand “Tell Him” and her brilliant duet “When I Fall In Love.”

My Love: Essential Collection may not break any new ground but it covers the old very well. It is an excellent gathering of some of her best tracks and as such is a pleasurable listening experience for devoted fans or new admirers who just want a taste of her best work.