Search This Blog
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Classic Download of the Day 7/22: "That's The Way It Is" by Celine Dion
In 1999, Celine Dion was riding high on the success of "My Heart Will Go On". She also made the shocking decision to retire from music while her husband Rene Angelil recovered from cancer. How was she going to put her career on hiatus?
With a bang, of course.
Celine also decided to kill two birds with one stone by enlisting super-producer Max Martin to help her on her record. Celine suffered from the "uncool" stigma because of her schmaltzy songs, and Max Martin was known for producing songs by Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. Just as he did for them, Max weaved his magic on Celine, crafting a great pop song that was also the perfect pseudo swan song.
"That's The Way It Is" sounds just like music from the late 90's, yet Celine doesn't sound desperate singing it. The song was something Celine would realistically perform. The lyrics are inspirational, yet carefree, showing off a more fun-loving side of the Canadian songbird than the balladeer singing about sinking ships. Wisely, she restrained her powerful voice throughout the verses and the chorus, allowing us to enjoy her wonderful tone, the words, and the awesome production by the Swedish team.
To date, this song tells us many things. One, that the Swedish can make a damn good record. Two, that the era of the diva is still viable (see Leona). Finally, this song shows that, with the right team, Celine Dion can be relevant to pop music. If she could do it during the teen pop era (she out charted the Backstreet Boys and Britney with this song), why can't she do it again?
Rating: 9/10
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment