Miracle (Celine Dion album)

Miracle
Studio album by Céline Dion
Released October 11, 2004 (2004-10-11)
(see release history)
Recorded 2004
Genre Soft rock, Adult Contemporary, Pop
Length CD 52:31, DVD 20:00
Label Epic
Producer David Foster
Céline Dion chronology
A New Day... Live in Las Vegas
(2004)
Miracle
(2004)
On ne change pas
(2005)
Singles from Miracle
  1. "Beautiful Boy"
    Released: October 11, 2004
  2. "Miracle"
    Released: October 11, 2004
  3. "Je lui dirai"
    Released: October 11, 2004
  4. "In Some Small Way"
    Released: March 7, 2005

Miracle is a concept album credited to Canadian singer Céline Dion and Australian photographer Anne Geddes, released on October 11, 2004. It's Dion's 12th English album and 33rd in total.[1] According to Billboard, Miracle is the 11th Best Selling Kids Album of the 2000s.[2]

Contents

Album information

Miracle is a part of a CD-and-book multimedia collection, with Dion's music providing the soundtrack to Geddes' pictorial book celebrating the joy of babies. The songs were produced by David Foster, who hadn't worked with Dion since 1999.

Among tracks on the album are remakes of John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy," Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," Johannes Brahms' "Brahms' Lullaby," Nancy Wilson's "If I Could," Henri Salvador's "Le loup, la biche et le chevalier (une chanson douce)," and Carol Welsman's "Baby Close Your Eyes."

All other tracks are original songs such as the title track, which was written in 2001 for A New Day Has Come to celebrate the birth of Dion's son René-Charles, but the song was never published on that album.

Some tracks were previously released on Dion's albums, including "Brahms' Lullaby" on These Are Special Times and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" on All the Way... A Decade of Song. Live performances of "If I Could" and "What a Wonderful World" were available on A New Day... Live in Las Vegas. "A Mother's Prayer" is a solo version of "The Prayer," a duet with Andrea Bocelli from These Are Special Times. "Le loup, la biche et le chevalier (une chanson douce)" was performed live by Dion and Henri Salvador in October 2003, during the taping of 1 fille & 4 types TV special. However, this duet version wasn't included on any album.

Miracle was released in three different formats: CD; CD/DVD plus 60-page booklet; and 180-page hardcover book plus CD/DVD. "Je lui dirai," available previously on 1 fille & 4 types, was included as a bonus track in Francophone countries.

"Beautiful Boy" was released as the first single in North America and some parts of Europe. It was followed by "In Some Small Way" in the United States and Canada. "Je lui dirai" was released as a single in Francophone countries, while the title track was issued as a single in the United Kingdom and parts of Asia. All these songs were released as radio singles without accompaying music videos.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [3]

Miracle met with positive reviews. Allmusic said that "it's the quietest record Dion has recorded in a while, an unabashed adult contemporary album that keeps its gentle mood from start to finish, as if it were a prolonged lullaby. Dion tempers her vocal histrionics considerably — she still soars to the high notes, but there are no pyrotechnics, no showboating here — which serves this collection of standards and new songs quite well."[4]

Chart success

Miracle debuted inside top 10 in many countries, reaching number 1 in Canada and Belgium Wallonia, number 4 in the United States, France and the Netherlands, number 5 in the United Kingdom, number 6 in Switzerland and number 9 in Greece. Miracle set a record in the United States, spending 18 consecutive weeks at the top position on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart.

The album sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide in just three months after its release.[5] It was certified platinum in the United States[6] and gold in the United Kingdom,[7] France,[8] Switzerland,[9] Italy,[10] and Belgium.[11]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Miracle"   Steve Dorff, Linda Thompson 3:38
2. "Brahms' Lullaby"   Johannes Brahms 3:32
3. "If I Could"   Ken Hirsch, Marti Sharron, Ron Miller 4:47
4. "Sleep Tight"   Richard Page, Jon Lind, John Lahng 4:40
5. "What a Wonderful World"   George David Weiss, Bob Thiele 3:48
6. "My Precious One"   Peer Åström, Stephanie Bentley 3:52
7. "A Mother's Prayer"   David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager 3:43
8. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"   Ewan MacColl 4:09
9. "Baby Close Your Eyes"   Carol Welsman, Romano Musumarra 3:25
10. "Come to Me"   Beverley Mahood, Thomas Wade 4:36
11. "Le loup, la biche et le chevalier (une chanson douce)"   Maurice Pon, Henri Salvador 3:14
12. "Je lui dirai" (French bonus track) Jean-Jacques Goldman 3:57
13. "Beautiful Boy"   John Lennon 3:53
14. "In Some Small Way"   Page, David Tyson 5:06
Limited edition bonus DVD
No. Title Length
1. "The Making of Miracle"   20:00

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[12] 15
Austrian Albums Chart[13] 34
Belgian Flanders Albums Chart[14] 13
Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart[15] 1
Canadian Albums Chart[16] 1
Czech Republic Albums Chart[17] 51
Danish Albums Chart[18] 12
Dutch Albums Chart[19] 4
European Albums Chart[20] 6
French Albums Chart[21] 4
German Albums Chart[22] 34
Greek Albums Chart[23] 9
Hungarian Albums Chart[24] 84
Italian Albums Chart[25] 15
Japanese Albums Chart[26] 168
New Zealand Albums Chart[27] 26
Polish Albums Chart[28] 15
Portuguese Albums Chart[29] 19
Spanish Albums Chart[30] 77
Swedish Albums Chart[31] 30
Swiss Albums Chart[32] 6
UK Albums Chart[33] 5
US Billboard 200[34] 4
US Billboard Top Kid Audio[35] 1
US Billboard Top Internet Albums[36] 3
US Billboard Top Music Video[37] 4

Certifications

Country Certifications
Belgium Gold[11]
France Gold[8]
Switzerland Gold[9]
United Kingdom Gold[7]
United States Platinum[6]

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
Europe October 11, 2004 Sony BMG, Columbia CD 5187482
CD/DVD 5187487
United States October 12, 2004 Epic CD 5187482
CD/DVD 5187487
Canada Sony BMG, Columbia CD 5187482
CD/DVD 5187487
Australia October 15, 2004 Sony BMG, Epic CD 5187482
CD/DVD 5187487
South Korea November 16, 2004 Sony BMG, Columbia CD CPK-3337
Japan December 22, 2004 Sony Music Japan, Epic 5187482

References

  1. ^ Glatzer, Jenna (2005). Céline Dion: For Keeps. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0-7407-5559-5. 
  2. ^ Kids Albums
  3. ^ Allmusic review
  4. ^ Miracle review
  5. ^ "'Miracle': A Best Seller". celinedion.com. http://www.celinedion.com/celinedion/english/whatsgoinon_archive.cgi?page=104. Retrieved January 26, 2005. 
  6. ^ a b "Gold & platinum searchable database". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 2009-06-11. 
  7. ^ a b "Certified awards search". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved 2008-12-31. 
  8. ^ a b "Certifications albums or - année 2004". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. http://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/page-259165.xml?year=2004&type=8. Retrieved 2004-12-22. 
  9. ^ a b "Edelmetall 2006". Swiss Music Charts. http://www.hitparade.ch/awards.asp?year=2006. Retrieved 2006-12-31. 
  10. ^ "FIMI". Federation of the Italian Music Industry. http://www.fimi.it. Retrieved 2004-12-31. 
  11. ^ a b "Les disques d'or/de platine - 2004". Ultratop. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/certifications.asp?year=2004. Retrieved 2005-01-01. 
  12. ^ Australian Albums Chart
  13. ^ Austrian Albums Chart
  14. ^ Belgian Flanders Albums Chart
  15. ^ Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart
  16. ^ Canadian Albums Chart
  17. ^ Czech Albums Chart
  18. ^ Danish Albums Chart
  19. ^ Dutch Albums Chart
  20. ^ European Albums Chart
  21. ^ French Albums Chart
  22. ^ IFPI Germany
  23. ^ Greek Albums Chart
  24. ^ Hungarian Albums Chart
  25. ^ Italian Albums Chart
  26. ^ "Celine Dion album sales ranking" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/98172/ranking/cd_album/. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  27. ^ New Zealand Albums Chart
  28. ^ Polish Albums Chart
  29. ^ Portuguese Albums Chart
  30. ^ Spanish Albums Chart
  31. ^ Swedish Albums Chart
  32. ^ Swiss Albums Chart
  33. ^ UK Albums Chart
  34. ^ Billboard 200
  35. ^ Top Kid Audio
  36. ^ Top Internet Albums
  37. ^ Top Music Video