Loved Me Back to Life

地球一のセールスを誇る、2億2千万枚の歌姫セリーヌ・ディオン。2007年に発表した大ヒットアルバム『Taking Chances』以来、実に6年ぶりとなるファン待望の英語詞ニュー・アルバム『Loved Me Back To Life』が遂に完成!なんと言っても圧倒的な歌唱力と、その美しい歌声によるバラードの楽曲パワーが最大の魅力のセリーヌ。今作も前作に負けない超強力な制作陣が結集!ベイビーフェイス、アデルを手掛けたことでも知られているエグ・ホワイト、前作『Taking Chances』でも素晴らしいコラボレーション・ワークを見せたNe-Yo、そしてダイアン・ウォーレン等々、敏腕プロデューサー/スター・ソングライター陣を布陣して制作された豪華アルバムとなっており、歌・楽曲ともに100%セリーヌ・ディオンらしいアルバムに仕上がっていることは間違いない!

The inimitable Celine Dion returns with her 11th English-language studio album, the follow-up to 2007's Taking Chances. As usual, it sees Dion working with a host of songwriters and producers, and tastefully incorporating contemporary pop styles -- in this case hip-hop and dubstep. The album features duets with Ne-Yo and Stevie Wonder alongside a cover of Daniel Merriweather's "Water and a Flame," and includes the title track single.|

Loved Me Back to Life is Celine Dion's first English-language album in seven years, but even that long gap of time doesn't tell the whole story. The last time Dion placed in the Billboard Top 40 was in 2002, when "A New Day Has Come" reached 22, and the last time she saw the Top 10 was in 1999, when "That's the Way It Is" reached number six. That's a roundabout way of saying that Dion's days as a formidable hitmaker are long gone, but the interesting thing about Loved Me Back to Life is how the French-Canadian diva has seized this opportunity to try a little bit everything, ranging from duets with neo-R&B stalwart Ne-Yo to covers of Janis Ian's "At Seventeen." Some of this piecemeal feel is due to the album's convoluted creation, growing from a simple studio re-creation of her on-going Vegas revue Celine, but then expanding to something a little more modern and something with a subtle but palpable R&B undercurrent. This soulful streak surfaces on the duets -- the aforementioned Ne-Yo collaboration "Incredible," plus Stevie Wonder sings his "Overjoyed" on a Tricky Stewart production -- but also in the stuttering rhythms of "Somebody Loves Somebody," the slow-burning "Didn't Know Love," and the lively, new jack swing of "Save Your Soul" (strangely, the two Babyface productions -- "At Seventeen" and "Always Be Your Girl" -- are thoroughly colorless adult contemporary). Still, that suggests Loved Me Back to Life is a livelier, riskier album than it actually is; despite these deeper grooves and sparkling surfaces, there's no question this is a Celine Dion album, a record that flirts with new ideas but never hooks up. Yet, that flirtation counts for something: it means the album is livelier, less self-conscious, less beholden to the expected, and quick-footed enough to not seem mired in show biz glitz. That doesn't mean Loved Me Back to Life will reverse her Billboard chart trajectory -- there's nothing here that screams big hit –- but it's something better: the work of a diva who is comfortable in her own skin. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

ベスト盤や仏語作品を経て久々に登場したオリジナル・アルバムは、ベイビーフェイスの手掛けた生音ソウル曲やスティーヴィー・ワンダー本人を迎えた“Overjoyed”のカヴァーなど、抑え気味の歌表現に巧さを感じてドキッとさせられます。得意の壮大なバラードで圧倒する場面もありますが、ニュー・ジャック・スウィングにレトロ・ポップをはじめ曲調は多彩。セリーヌには珍しく（!?）、胃もたれなしでスルスル聴けますよ!
bounce (C)山西絵美