CD Review: Celine Dion - My Love Essential Collection

Celine Dion is back with My Love Essential Collection a career spanning 17 track album consisting of her biggest hits, rarities, and crowd-pleasers including "I'm Alive", "Power of the Dream" from the 1996 Olympics, the brand-new "There Comes A Time," and a showstopping live version of "My Love".

For me this album is a no brainer. It has pretty much every one of the songs of Celine's that I like best so that is automatically a check in the plus column. It really is a great collection. The new track "There Comes A Time" is classic Celine and sounds great. She is one of the greatest vocalists recording today and this album really brings some of her best work together in one set.

The songs sound as great as they ever did and even her older tunes hold up to the years.

Any fan of Celine's will love this collection and anyone who isn't familiar, if that is even possible anymore, can get a great taste of her vast career with this album.

That said, if you have all of her albums then this really isn't going to offer much to you besides the live version of "My Love", "The Power of the Dream", and "There Comes A Time." But if you haven't grabbed her discography than this is definetely a purchase well worth making.

Here is the track list for My Love Essential Collection:

1. Where Does My Heart Beat Now
2. Beauty And The Beast (Duet with Peabo Bryson)
3. If You Asked Me To
4. The Power Of Love
5. My Love (Live Version)
6. Because You Loved Me (Theme from ‘Up Close and Personal’)
7. The Power Of The Dream (As performed at the Opening Ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games)
8. It's All Coming Back To Me Now
9. All By Myself
10. My Heart Will Go On (Love theme from ‘Titanic’)
11. I'm Your Angel (Duet with R Kelly)
12. That's The Way It Is
13. A New Day Has Come
14. I'm Alive
15. I Drove All Night
16. Taking Chances
17. There Comes A Time

But wait...there's more. There is also an expanded 2-disc set: My Love Ultimate Essential Collection which features 26 tracks including "(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman", "The Prayer" (a Duet with Andrea Bocelli), and "Por Que Tu M'aimes Encore" which is the biggest song of Celine's French career. You'll also find her duet with Barbara Streisand, "Tell Him". This set also features the studio version of "My Love" as well as the live cut featured on the 1-disc release.

Here are the tracks for My Love Ultimate Essential Collection:

Disc 1:
1. Where Does My Heart Beat Now
2. Beauty And The Beast (Duet with Peabo Bryson)
3. If You Asked Me To
4. Love Can Move Mountains
5. My Love (Live Version)
6. The Power Of Love
7. (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman
8. Because You Loved Me (Theme from ‘Up Close and Personal’)
9. The Power Of The Dream (As performed at the Opening Ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games)
10. It's All Coming Back To Me Now
11. All By Myself
12. Pour que tu m'aimes encore
13. Tell Him (Duet with Barbra Streisand)

Disc 2:
1. My Heart Will Go On (Love theme from ‘Titanic’)
2. To Love You More
3. River Deep, Mountain High
4. I'm Your Angel (Duet with R Kelly)
5. The Prayer (Duet with Andrea Bocelli)
6. That's The Way It Is
7. A New Day Has Come
8. I'm Alive
9. I Drove All Night
10. Taking Chances
11. There Comes A Time
12. Dance With My Father
13. I Knew I Loved You

I really don't think it's necessary to release two versions of this set. They'd really be better off just releasing the 2-disc version. It's going to sell regardless.

That said both sets collect some of the best examples of a stellar career from an amazing artist. Celine Dion's music strikes a chord in so many people's lives and these collections are a perfect example of why. The songs are gorgeous, emotional, and really show off just what a remarkable artist Celine truly is.

Whether you choose the 1-disc or 2-disc set, you can't really go wrong with these songs.

My Love Essential Collection and My Love Ultimate Essential Collection hit stores tomorrow, October 28.