Celine Dion went experimental on this album – and she did not disappoint. Her latest album, “Courage” her first English album in six years, features sounds that may not typically come from the artist who is most known for her Academy Award winning “My Heart Will Go On” and the beauty that is “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” Dion’s angelic and soft voice is surprisingly perfect for all the genres she dabbles into on this album – pop, dance, electronic, all of the attempts made by Dion and her writers are a success, I did not expect to love this album as much as I did.
I now recommend that everyone takes some time to dedicate a listen to this album because it will make you think of Dion through a completely new lens, absolutely beautiful. While being an album absent of any features, Dion has worked with some pretty familiar faces on this album for the songwriting elements. “Lying Down,” a song that I put a mark down next to, is completely written entirely by Skylar Grey, Sam Smith gets credited on this album with his compositions on “For the Lover That I Lost,” and Sia writes three songs on this album, and has her backup vocals featured on “Lying Down” – also produced by David Guetta, a collaboration that I would have never thought would work so well together, but is a track that can be replayed so many times without losing the spark it has upon the initial listen.
The timing that Dion and her team released this album is impeccable, a lot of people during the fall season look for things that are more focused upon a softer sound, focusing on strings and piano, and it would not be a Celine Dion album without her piano ballads where she lets to have her voice resonate.
The album cuts shine brighter than the singles that were picked for it. I think that her promotion team was trying to push the fact that Dion has been able to adapt to the music that is popular now, but that is definitely not what the whole album represents. Dion represents herself in a soul-baring way through these songs, most that are likely inspired by the passing of her husband and the toll that took on her emotions and songwriters were able to wrap around writing these songs about, and throughout this album, I feel as if Dion is singing directly to me and I think the music industry needed a complete emotion album, and that is exactly Dion gives after almost 40 years of albums and performances. Rating: 5/5
-By: Gio Battaglia