Unison (Celine Dion album)

Unison
Studio album by Celine Dion
Released	2 April 1990
Recorded	1988–90
Genre	Pop dance-pop
Length	43:02
Label	Columbia Epic
Producer	David Foster Andy Goldmark Tom Keane Christopher Neil
Celine Dion chronology
The Best of Celine Dion (1988) Unison (1990) Dion chante Plamondon (1991)
Singles from Unison
"(If There Was) Any Other Way" Released: 26 March 1990 "Unison" Released: 9 July 1990 "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" Released: 1 October 1990 "The Last to Know" Released: 11 March 1991 "Have a Heart" Released: 8 July 1991

Unison is the 15th studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion and her first studio album recorded in English. The album was originally released on 2 April 1990 by Columbia Records. Its music incorporates a range of contemporary genres with a mix of ballads and dance songs. Dion worked with a range of professional writers and producers, including Christopher Neil, David Foster, Tom Keane and Andy Goldmark.

Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Dion's voice and technique, as well as the album's content. On the commercial level, Unison reached top ten in Norway and top twenty in Canada. Eventually, it was certified seven-times Platinum in Canada, Platinum in the United States, and Gold in the United Kingdom and France. The album has sold over three million copies worldwide.

Up to five singles were released from Unison, depending on the country. "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number four. The next US single, "(If There Was) Any Other Way" peaked at number thirty-five. In 1991, Unison won Juno Award for Album of the Year and Dion won Juno Award for Female Vocalist of the Year.

Background

In the 1980s, Dion released eleven French-language albums in Canada and three in France. One compilation album was issued in Europe. In Canada, Incognito (1987) was certified two-times Platinum, Tellement j'ai d'amour... (1982) Platinum, and Les chemins de ma maison (1983) and Mélanie (1984) Gold. Dion topped the Quebec chart with hits like "D'amour ou d'amitié," "Mon ami m'a quittée," "Incognito," "Lolita (trop jeune pour aimer)," "Comme un cœur froid" and "D'abord, c'est quoi l'amour." "D'amour ou d'amitié" and "Une colombe" were certified Gold in Canada. In the 1980s, Dion won fifteen Félix Awards, including Newcomer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year (Melanie), Pop Album of the Year (Tellement j'ai d'amour...), Best Selling Album of the Year (Les chemins de ma maison, Melanie), Most Popular Song of the Year ("Une colombe," "Incognito"), Best Selling Single of the Year ("Une colombe"), Best Stage Performance of the Year (Incognito tournée) and Artist of the Year Achieving the Most Success Outside Quebec. In France, Dion became the first Canadian artist to receive a Gold record for her top ten single "D'amour ou d'amitié." Further success in Europe came when she represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi," which later won the contest.

CBS Records had originally offered $25,000 to make the album, which would allow Dion to record new vocals over the original musical tracks from Incognito. Three events would raise the ante. First, Dion performed a duet with Dan Hill on "Can't We Try" at the CBS Canada 1987 convention. The performance impressed the company's president Bernie DiMatteo enough for him to raise the budget to $100,000 so that some new songs could be commissioned. Next, at the Juno Awards of 1987 she sang "Have a Heart." After the performance the budget rose to $300,000. When David Foster later saw it on videotape, he told DiMatteo that $300,000 was not enough, so they were given an unlimited budget. The record ended up costing $600,000. Unison was recorded in London, New York and Los Angeles.

Before releasing Unison in 1990, "Can't Live With You, Can't Live Without You," a duet with Billy Newton-Davis was issued as a single in Canada in 1989 from his album, Spellbound. Dion also sang a duet with Warren Wiebe on "Listen to Me," taken from the American drama film of the same name. The third duet recorded in 1989 was with Dan Hill on "Wishful Thinking" from his album, Real Love. However, these duets were not included on Unison.

Content and release

Unison included four songs produced by British record producer, Christopher Neil who reviously worked with artists like Sheena Easton, Mike + The Mechanics and Shakin' Stevens. Neil produced three singles from the album, including the successful "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" and a cover of Sheena Easton song, "The Last to Know." Five songs were produced by Canadian record producer and composer, David Foster. His production work included "Have a Heart," which in French-language version was recorded for Dion's 1987 album, Incognito. Andy Goldmark produced a cover of Junior's song for the Tom Cruise movie All the Right Moves, "Unison."

The album, with ten tracks, was released on 2 April 1990 in Canada and on 11 September 1990 in the United States. In other parts of the world, Unison was issued on 21 February 1991 in Japan and on 4 March 1991 in Europe and Australia.

Singles

Five singles from Unison were released in Canada: "(If There Was) Any Other Way" in March 1990, "Unison" in July 1990, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" in September 1990, "The Last to Know" in March 1991 and "Have a Heart" in July 1991. All singles reached top forty in Canada, and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" peaked at number six. They were also successful on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. Four of them reached top ten and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" topped the Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks. In the United States, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" was released as the lead single in September 1990. It was followed by "(If There Was) Any Other Way" in March 1991 and "The Last to Know" in June 1991. "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" became Dion's first US top ten hit. The song reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. "(If There Was) Any Other Way" peaked at number thirty-five there. All three songs also charted on the US Adult Contemporary chart where the most successful "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" peaked at number two. In early 1991, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" was released as the first single from Unison outside North America. It was successful in Norway, reaching number four. "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" peaked inside top forty in Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands and New Zealand. It also charted in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Promotion

On 6 May 1989, Dion opened the Eurovision Song Contest with a performance of her previous year winning song, "Ne partez pas sans moi" and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now," a track from her upcoming English-language album, Unison. In 1990 and 1991, Dion promoted Unison on various television shows. Her first American television appearance was on The Tonight Show, where she performed "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" on 21 September 1990. Dion sang the same song on The Tonight Show again on 15 November 1990. Other US performances included: "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" on Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and Into the Night with Rick Dees, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" and "(If There Was) Any Other Way" on Super Dave, and "The Last to Know" on The Tonight Show. In Canada, Dion performed "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" during the Juno Awards of 1991. She also sang "(If There Was) Any Other Way," "Unison" and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" on various Canadian television shows. Dion promoted Unison with her sold-out Unison Tour in Canada as well. Performances on television shows in other countries included "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" in the Netherlands in 1990, in France on TV show Le Monde Est À Vous on 7 April 1991 and "(If There Was) Any Other Way" and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" in Norway in 1991.

Critical reception

It was largely influenced by the 1980s soft rock sound that was a fit for the adult contemporary radio format. Unison hit all the right notes with critics: Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Dion's vocals were "tastefully unadorned," and that she never attempted to "bring off styles that are beyond her."^[1] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic declared it as "a fine, sophisticated American debut."^[2] Jan De Knock of Chicago Tribune said that "though Dion's big voice invites comparisons to the power-pop stylings of Taylor Dayne and Laura Branigan... she also has a deft touch with an R&B groove.^[3]

Commercial performance

In Canada, Unison reached number fifteen and was certified seven-times Platinum.^[4] In the United States, it peaked at number seventy-four and has sold over 1.2 million copies achieving Platinum certification.^[5][6] Unison reached number eight in Norway, number fifty-five in the United Kingdom and also charted in Belgium. It was certified Gold in the United Kingdom and France.^[7] In Australia, it charted as a combo with Celine Dion in 1992 and peaked at number fifteen.^[8] Unison has sold over three million copies worldwide.^[9][10]

Awards

At the Juno Awards of 1991, Dion won awards for Album of the Year (Unison) and Female Vocalist of the Year. It was the first time in Juno Awards history that a French-Canadian artist had taken top honors in these categories. "Unison" (Mainstream Mix) was also nominated for Best Dance Recording and David Foster was nominated in category Producer of the Year for producing "Have a Heart" and "Love by Another Name."^[11] At the Juno Awards of 1992, Dion won again Female Vocalist of the Year and was nominated for Canadian Entertainer of the Year.^[11] In 1990, she received Félix Award for Anglophone Artist of the Year but publicly refused it not considering herself an Anglophone artist.^[12] In 1991, Dion won Félix Award for Artist of the Year Achieving the Most Success in a Language Other Than French and was nominated for the Félix Award for the Artist of the Year Achieving the Most Success Outside Quebec. Unison Tour won Félix Award for Stage Director of the Year and was nominated for Lighting Designer of the Year.^[13] Unison Tour also received Platinum Ticket Award for selling over 100,000 tickets in Quebec alone.^[14] In 1992, Dion was nominated for the Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Variety Program or Series for her performance of "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" at the Juno Awards of 1991.^[15] "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" also won ASCAP Pop Award for Most Performed Song in the United States.^[16] Additionally, Céline Dion - Unison and Céline Dion: 10 ans déjà television specials were nominated for various Gémeaux Awards in 1990 and 1992, respectively. Céline Dion - Unison won Gémeaux Award for Best Variety Special.^[17][18]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"(If There Was) Any Other Way"	Paul Bliss	Christopher Neil	4:00
2.	"If Love Is Out of the Question"	Bliss Phil Palmer	Neil	3:53
3.	"Where Does My Heart Beat Now"	Robert White Johnson Taylor Rhodes	Neil	4:32
4.	"The Last to Know"	Brock Walsh Phil Galdston	Neil	4:35
5.	"I'm Loving Every Moment with You"	Tom Keane Eric Pressly Tyler Collins	David Foster Keane	4:08
6.	"Love by Another Name"	Foster Clif Magness Glen Ballard	Foster	4:51
7.	"Unison"	Andy Goldmark Bruce Roberts	Goldmark	4:12
8.	"I Feel Too Much"	Keane Pressly	Foster Keane	4:08
9.	"If We Could Start Over"	Stan Meissner	Foster	4:21
10.	"Have a Heart"	Aldo Nova Billy Steinberg Ralph McCarthy	Foster	4:12

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (1990–91) Peak position Canadian Albums (RPM)[19] 15 Canadian Albums (The Record)[20] 17 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21] 8 US Billboard 200[22] 74 Chart (1992) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 15 Chart (1995) Peak position Scottish Albums (OCC)[23] 68 UK Albums (OCC)[24] 55 Chart (1997) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 80 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[25] 56

Year-end charts Chart (1990) Position Canadian Albums (RPM)[26] 100 Chart (1991) Position Canadian Albums (RPM)[27] 63 Certifications and sales Region Certification Sales/shipments Canada (Music Canada)[28] 7× Platinum 700,000 France (SNEP)[29] Gold 100,000 United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Gold 100,000 United States (RIAA)[31] Platinum 1,227,000[5] Summaries Worldwide 3,000,000[9][10] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Production and personnel

• Tracks 1-4 produced by Christopher Neil. Engineered & mixed By Simon Hurrell at West Side Studios, (London).
  • Paul Bliss: drum & keyboard programming, vocal backing; Phil Palmer: guitars; Paul "Wix" Wickens: bass & keyboards (track 3 only); Andy Duncan: drums & percussion (track 3 only); Steve Piggott: keyboards, bass & drums on track 4; Christopher Neil, Celine Dion, Alan Carvell, Linda Taylor: vocal backing
• Tracks 5 & 8 arranged & produced by David Foster. Track 5 arranged by David Foster & Tom Keane; Track 8 arranged by Tom Keane. Engineered by Jeffrey "Woody" Woodruff at Chartmaker Studios; assisted by Dave Reitzas. Mixed by Keith Cohen at Larrabee Studios; assisted by Andy Batwinas.
  • David Foster: keyboards; Tom Keane: keyboards & synthesizer programming; Michael Landau: guitars; Randy Jackson: bass on track 5.
• Tracks 6, 9 & 10 produced By David Foster. Track 6 arranged By David Foster & Clif Magness. Track 9 arranged by David Foster, Randy Kerber & Tom Keane. Track 10 arranged by David Foster & Aldo Nova. Tracks 6 & 9 engineered By Jeffrey "Woody" Woodruff; assisted by Dave Reitzas. Track 10 engineered by Humberto Gatica & Jeffrey Woodruff. Track 6 mixed by Keith Cohen. Tracks 9 & 10 mixed by Humberto Gatica; assisted by Laura Livingstone.
  • David Foster, Robbie Buchanan: keyboards; Randy Kerber, Clif Magness: keyboards, synthesizer programming; Michael Boddicker, Rick Bowen: synthesizer programming; Paul Jackson Jr., Michael Landau: guitars (Jackson on track 6 only); John Barnes: synclavier & vocoder on track 6; Jeff Porcaro: drums & percussion on track 10
• Track 7 arranged & produced By Andy Goldmark. Engineered by Dave Dachinger, Mike Brooks & Jack Rouben. Mixed by Bob Ross at Science Lab.
  • Andy Goldmark: drum programming, synth bass, keyboards; John Barnes: keyboards; Fran Manzella & Dave Dachinger: additional programming; Paul Pesco & Charles Fearing: guitars; Freddie "Ready Freddie" Washington: electric bass; Fonzi Thornton: oral percussion

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Canada	2 April 1990	Sony Music, Columbia	CD, LP, cassette	80150
United States	11 September 1990	Epic		46983
Japan	21 February 1991	Sony Music Japan, Epic		ESCA-5184
Australia, United Kingdom, France	4 March 1991	Sony Music, Epic, CBS, Columbia		467203 2

See also

• Juno Award for Album of the Year

References

1. Entertainment Weekly review
2. AllMusic review
3. Chicago Tribune review
4. "Gold & platinum certification searchable database". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
5. Gary Trust (10 December 2010). "Ask Billboard: Celine Dion Celebrates Chart Anniversary". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
6. "Gold & platinum searchable database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
7. "SNEP: Notre Base de Données" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
8. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 10 October 1992. p. 47. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
9. David Ball. "This Week in History: December 12 to 18". Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
10. "On This Day". Five Star Feeling Inc. 5 April 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
11. "Awards: Artist Summary". CARAS. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
12. "Gala de l'ADISQ - 1990". ADISQ. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
13. "Gala de l'ADISQ - 1991". ADISQ. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
14. "The Journey So Far: Awards". Five Star Feeling Inc. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
15. "Canada's Awards Database: Best Performance in a Variety Program or Series, 1992". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
16. "Billboard 30 May 1992". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media LLC. 30 May 1992. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
17. "Canada's Awards Database: Céline Dion - Unison" (in French). Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
18. "Canada's Awards Database: Dion, 1992" (in French). Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
19. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 53, No. 25, May 25, 1991". RPM. 25 May 1991. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
20. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 20 April 1991. p. 66. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
21. "Céline Dion - Unison (Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
22. "Celine Dion – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Celine Dion. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
23. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
24. "Celine Dion | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 28 July 2014.
25. Jaspers, Sam (2006). Ultratop 1995-2005. Book & Media Publishing. ISBN 90-5720-232-8.
26. Top 100 Albums of 1990. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
27. Albums (CDs & Cassettes) of 1991. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
28. "Canadian album certifications – Celine Dion – Unison". Music Canada.
29. "French album certifications – Celine Dion – Unisson" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
30. "British album certifications – Celine Dion – Unison". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Unison in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
31. "American album certifications – Celine Dion – Unison". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH