This disc will ONLY work on a Super Audio Disc Player!
New Day Has Come isn't much of a departure from 1997's Let's Talk About Love; it's similarly an impeccable and immaculate record of potential big hits, shined to death by a veritable army of production giants like Walter Afanasieff. Dion, who hasn't released a full album of new material in five years, has got so many people working with her that she's barely missed a beat in catching up: the title track is breathy new-age stew of Enya and Sarah McLachlan; "Sorry for Love" keeps pace with Cher's recent techno diva exploits; the goofy "Rain, Tax (It's Inevitable)" is all grown-up teen pop.
The power ballads, as we've come to expect from Dion, aren't lacking in bombast, as "I Surrender" and "Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)" are Kleenex-ready, tailor-made for the broken hearts of collective millions.
Day's big charm, however, is the not so obvious one, something her previous records have lacked: subtlety. Perhaps the most vocally powerful pop diva, too often Dion's all-too-slick adult contemporary pop sound has proven that a multi-octave range does not equate to multi-talented music making. Here, on the sweeping "I'm Alive" and "When the Wrong One Loves You Right," the vocal histrionics take a backseat to sharper arrangements, tighter hooks and overall better delivery.
There's an ethereal quality in Dion's singing heretofore unheard, and Day's two covers, Etta James' "At Last" and Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy," come off as fresh and new -- even as they've been covered countless times -- because Dion, believe it or not, sounds fresh and new. Just don't call it a comeback. - Brad Cawn
"A New Day Has Come", Celine Dion's eighth English-language album on Sony Music, is now available in Multichannel SACD.
Selections:
1. I'm Alive
2. Right in Front of You
3. Have You Ever Been in Love
4. Rain
5. Tax (It's Inevitable)
6. A New Has Come (Radio Remix)
7. Ten Days, Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)
8. Prayer
9. I Surrender
10. At Last
11. Sorry For Love
12. Aun Existe Amor
13. The Greatest Reward
14. When The Wrong One Loves You Right
15. A New Day Has Come
16. Nature Boy
