Customer Reviews

These Are Special Times

5 star:		(224)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Celine Dion's These Are Special Times is one of the better Christmas album out from a pop singer thanks to the choice of songs.There's traditional favorites O Holy Night,The Magic Of Christmas Day,Ave Maria and O Come All Ye Faithful.As always Celine does an excellent job on vocals and makes these worthwhile remakes.She also covers Blue Christmas,The Christmas Song and Happy X'mas(War Is Over) and with her family singing with her Feliz Navidad and the French song Les Cloches Du Hameau.There's also new songs Another Year Has Gone By,Don't Save It All For Christmas Day,Theres Are The Special Times and the upbeat Christmas Eve.Celine also does two duets I'm your Angel with R. Kelly and The Prayer with Andrea Bocelli.For some reason theres the song Brahms Lullaby which doesn't have a Christmas theme.The best songs are O Come All Ye Faithful,Happy X'mas (War Is Over)and The Prayer Andrea and Celine's singing make this a beautiful and moving song.These Are Special Times is nothing new or different but compared to most pop Christmas albums this one is worth listening to.

"Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" is truly a brilliant song.I couldn't believe Celine co-wrote this song including the music which came to her while having dinner. She called Ric Wake a producer of hers and sang the tune and first verse and chorus into his answering machine. Later he added the last verse and - voila! the song was ready the next day. Every song is a treasure. It's an all time favorite C.D. Brahm's Lullaby has Celine barely whispering throughout the song and is so sensuous and pleasing to the ear. I'm your Angel holds the record according to Billboard Magazine for the fastest rise to number 1 spot, leaping from 47 to number 1 in one week. It stayed number 1 for 8 weeks. The huge "The Prayer" is magnificent and larger than life. The list goes on and on..

I received "These Are Special Times" as a holiday gift last year, and I haven't been able to take it out of my CD changer since. I admit, upon ripping open the wrapping paper, I was a little worried that I had opened a gift for my mother, but this CD has made me a genuine Celine fan. (And thanks to Amazon.com, I have the CD collection to prove it!) Some of my favorite tracks are perfect for the whole year 'round, including "Another Year Has Gone By," which talks about love enduring and growing throughout every season, "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day," which Celine co-wrote, "The Prayer," with Andrea Bocelli, which brings tears to my eyes after only a few lines, and, of course, "I'm Your Angel," with R. Kelly, which spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100! My favorite track, though, "These Are The Special Times," was played at my graduation last June. Simply beautiful. Diane Warren and Celine are a match made in musical Heaven. So, even though the holidays are a good month away, get in the mood with this awesome CD! And once January rolls around, you won't be able to put it away. Hey, "don't save it all for christmas day!"

This is one of my personal favorite seasonal CD's. Celine sings these songs with her usual power and emotion, so that anyone can enjoy them. It's a beautiful collection. I find the greatest song on the album to be "Christmas Eve." The rest of it is a fine combination of classic favorites and newer ones that may become classics as well. "Feliz Navidad" is a fun and refreshing track too. Thumbs up to Celine's contribution to holiday music.

From traditional songs to new, like "Don't Save it All for Christmas Day" which was co-written by Celine, this is a diverse selection of Christmas music that will appeal to those who appreciate Celine's talent and the many colorations of her agile voice.
Starting with my favorite Christmas song, "O Holy Night", which is here given a lovely rendition, my other top choices would be:
Track # 3, "Blue Christmas", with a superb jazzy interpretation, Celine using her smooth, smoky voice, and Diana Krall adding a lot with her piano magic. I would love to hear Celine record an entire album in this quiet style; though it does not have the powerful top notes many expect from her, it is the "Celine voice" I enjoy the most.

Track # 6, the "Ave Maria" by Charles Gounod (adapted from a prelude by J.S. Bach), is heavenly. Exquisitely gentle and tender, this familiar and beautiful melody is always a pleasure to listen to, and is sung in English and Latin.
# 9, "The Prayer", by Carol Bayer Sager and David Foster has meaningful and moving lyrics, and makes an ideal duet for Andrea Bocelli and Celine, and the pianissimo ending is perfection.
# 13, the John Lennon/Yoko Ono "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" is poignant and marvelous, and the final track, sung by the Dion family, is a joyous Brahms waltz, "Les Cloches du Hameau".

Though everyone will have tracks they will like more than others, the overall production and musicianship is top-notch, making this a very satisfying CD, and one I do not mind hearing any time of the year. The enclosed booklet has most of the lyrics, extensive recording info (many different arrangers and musicians are involved in this CD), the sound excellent, and total time is 68'28.

Close out the last Xmas of the millennium with this touching,impassioned, beautiful c.d. The two duets Celine performs with Andrea Bocelli and R. Kelly alone are worth buying this c.d. Blue Christmas exemplifies the smokey,soulful abilities of this talented, French performer. Perfect gift for anyone listening for beautiful works of art.

Christmas for along time has been my favorite time of year, and there is nothing like hearing the magical Christmas songs of the season. On this CD, Celine not only gives you those classics, but she delivers new classics with same ferocity as the old.

The album begins with the beautiful traditional classic 'O Holy Night' which in my opinion is one of the hardest songs to sing 'cause I've done it and it ain't the easiest thing to sing! She executes it with such power and grace that anything that I've heard pales in comparison. The only version of worthisness is Mariah Carey's on her 1994 opus, 'Merry Christmas.' Pure vocal beauty and gift. Not only is her voice exceptionaly strong, back that up with a full choir and you've got something special. This song alone is worth purchasing this album!

'Don't Save It All For Christmas Day' Celine in fact wrote part of this song, one of the vary few that she's ever helped co-write on. Here she displays the fine vocal control she has over every word, every note. A POPPY Christmas song, but what can you expect, she is a POP singer.

'Blue Christimas' A great rendintion of this bluesy Christmas tune. Her voice suits the style of this piece perfectly. The viloins work well with this piece, another great song.

Bryan Adams wrote No.4 on this CD, 'Another Year Has Gone By', which is instantly recognizable as comming from his pen. Subtle and compasionate, it shines.

A new tune writtin' for this album, well maybe not this album, but a new tune nevertheless. 'The Magic Of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)' has the holiday feel through-out. Tubular bells at the beinning open this song, triangles and angel choirs fill the rest of it with Celine's voice filling in the spaces that need it. The Magic is in the package of this song. Classic.

'Ave Maria' I could use one word to describe this song. Gorgeous. I have never heard it done like this. Another extremly hard song to sing, the voice has to be in top shape to pull it off. And she pulls this off effortlessly, as she does with everything else. Schubert would be proud, I'm sure. She does justice to this gorgeous classic.

'Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)' Another great version of a Christmas classic.

I'm not going to talk about every song on this album, there are 16 in total so it would take forever, but the songs I have mentioned above are reason enough to buy this wonderful Christmas album. Five out Five

Known for her chest-thumping excess, Celine Dion was a Vegas act waiting to happen. I always thought: If she could reign it in, if she could be more adult and sophisticated and less little-girl, she could make a masterpiece. It never happened. Her string of best-selling albums is marred by schmaltz and distracting vocal pyrotechnics.

Her "At Last" lacks soul. Her "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" tries too hard to impress. But here's her masterpiece: a freakin' Christmas album! The newly penned songs, by heavyweights like Diane Warren and David Foster, stand up to the more traditional material better than expected.

As for her takes on well-worn traditional favorites: "O Holy Night" is dazzling. A carol which calls for feathery lushness in its verses and belt-out power in its chorus plays to Celine's strengths. Dion's version of "Blue Christmas" might have had Elvis churning in his grave, but she gives a restrained jazz-smoke performance. "God Bless Us Everyone" is majestic without becoming excessive. And her rendition of Gounod's haunting "Ave Maria" is staggeringly beautiful; it makes me wonder if an album of classical or sacred music wouldn't be a fine idea for the Canook soprano.

All in all, a classic for the holidays or anytime. Up there with the Carpenters' and Streisand's classic holiday albums, yes. But don't pigeonhole too much; pull it out in July as well to hear Celine Dion blow her other albums away.

This version of Oh Holy Night will go down in history as the best and most intense and beautiful version of this song ever done. Its arrangement is incredible. The orchestra's strings together with her voice's heart-felt inflections of the songs climaxes, at the spots where the words mean the most, will bring you to cry. Destined to be the song that all others are judged by, this CD is definatly worth the price for this song alone. If I could rate the song I'd give it 10 stars. Perfection.

I first purchased this CD in Dec. 1998 upon release, it has become a family favorite. Truly this is the best Christmas album in a long time- it is touching, upbeat, traditional, world music mix all at the same time. Her absolutely clear voice sounds like that of angels. 'The Prayer' with Andrea Bocelli is pure brilliance, 'Another Year Has Gone By' is another favorite cut, 'I'm Your Angel' Duet is awesome! If you are looking for the beauty of Christmas, it is right here. A beautiful gift for family and friends. Thank You Celine, the holidays would not be the same without this!