| The Colour of My Love | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 9 November 1993 (1993-11-09) | |||
| Recorded | 1993 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 65:39 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| Celine Dion chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Colour of My Love | ||||
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The Colour of My Love is the twelfth studio album and third English-language album by Canadian singerCeline Dion. It was released bySony Music on 9 November 1993. The songs were produced mainly byDavid Foster,Ric Wake,Walter Afanasieff,Christopher Neil, and Guy Roche, and four of them were written byDiane Warren. The album features cover versions of "The Power of Love" and "When I Fall in Love".
After its release,The Colour of My Love received generally mixed reviews from music critics but became a huge commercial success, topping the charts in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and a few other European countries and reaching the top ten elsewhere, including number four in the United States.The Colour of My Love remains one of thebest-selling albums of all time, with sales of over 20 million copies worldwide,[1] including six million units in the United States, over 1.8 million copies in the United Kingdom, 1.5 million in Canada and over one million units in Japan. Singles released from the album include the US number one "The Power of Love", the UK number one "Think Twice", and the Japanese chart topper "To Love You More", which was included on the 1995 re-release ofThe Colour of My Love in Japan. Each of these singles sold over one million copies in these countries.
The Colour of My Love won twoJuno Awards forAlbum of the Year andBest Selling Album (Foreign or Domestic), and also received theIRMA Award for Best International Female Artist Album. "Think Twice" won theIvor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically and "To Love You More" received the International Single Grand Prix at theJapan Gold Disc Award. "When I Fall in Love" won theGrammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) and was nominated for theGrammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1994. "The Power of Love" was also nominated for theGrammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1995.
After releasing two English-language studio albums,Unison (1990) andCeline Dion (1992), recordingAcademy Award andGrammy Award-winning song, "Beauty and the Beast", and achieving three top ten entries on theBillboard Hot 100 ("Where Does My Heart Beat Now", "Beauty and the Beast" and "If You Asked Me To"), Dion started working on her third English-language album, entitledThe Colour of My Love. In September 1993, she performed two concerts at theCapitole de Québec inQuebec City, Canada, which were recorded to be later broadcast on television. Dion performed brand new, unheard songs from the upcoming albumThe Colour of My Love, including: "Refuse to Dance", "Everybody's Talkin' My Baby Down", "The Colour of My Love", "The Power of Love", "Misled", "Think Twice" and "Only One Road". The show entitled laterThe Colour of My Love Concert was issued as ahome video in 1995.The Colour of My Love was released in November 1993 in North America, December 1993 in Japan, February 1994 in Europe and in March 1994 in Australia.
In the album's liner notes, Dion for the first time publicly revealed her relationship with her manager,René Angélil. During the album's launch event at Montreal's Metropolis, she announced they are engaged to be married.[2][3]
The Colour of My Love was released with fourteen songs in the United States and fifteen tracks, including "Just Walk Away", elsewhere. The album was produced mainly byDavid Foster,Ric Wake, Guy Roche,Walter Afanasieff andChristopher Neil.Diane Warren wrote four songs forThe Colour of My Love, including: "Next Plane Out", "Real Emotion", "No Living Without Loving You" and "Lovin' Proof". The album features a duet withClive Griffin on "When I Fall in Love", taken from theSleepless in Seattle soundtrack and acover version ofJennifer Rush's 1984 track, "The Power of Love". In October 1995,The Colour of My Love was re-released in Japan, including new song, "To Love You More", written and produced by David Foster.
After "When I Fall in Love", which originally appeared on theSleepless in Seattle soundtrack, "The Power of Love" was issued as the first proper single fromThe Colour of My Love. The song was very successful, reaching number one in the United States, Canada and Australia, and peaking inside top ten in various countries, including the United Kingdom and France. "The Power of Love" has sold over 1.1 million copies in the United States and was certifiedplatinum in 1994.[4][5] The next song, "Misled", became a top ten single in Canada and also reached number one on theHot Dance Club Songs in the United States. Another success came with the release of "Think Twice", a single which topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, and reached top ten in Australia, Spain and Switzerland. "Think Twice" has sold over 1.3 million copies in the United Kingdom and was certifiedplatinum in 1995 (eligible fortwo-times platinum).[6][7] The next single, "Only One Road" peaked inside the top ten in the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland. In 1995, "Next Plane Out" was released in Australia and "Just Walk Away" was issued as a promotional single in Spain. In October 1995,The Colour of My Love was re-released in Japan, including new song, "To Love You More", which was released as a single at the same time. "To Love You More" reached number one on theOricon Singles Chart and has sold 1.5 million copies in Japan.[8][9][10] It was certifiedMillion by theRIAJ.[11]
Dion promotedThe Colour of My Love in North America on various television programmes in late 1993 and early 1994. Additionally, herThe Colour of My Love Concert aired in December 1993 in Canada and in February 1994 in the United States. Dion also embarked onThe Colour of My Love Tour and performed concerts in the United States in February 1994, and in Canada through May 1994. After the success of "Think Twice" outside North America, she also started promoting the album in 1995 in Europe, including the United Kingdom. Performances, after releasing the album include: "The Power of Love" at theJuno Awards of 1994 andAmerican Music Awards of 1995, "Think Twice" at theEdison Awards in 1994 andWorld Music Awards in 1995, and "The Colour of My Love" at theJuno Awards of 1995. Dion also performed three songs fromThe Colour of My Love onTop of the Pops in the United Kingdom: "The Power of Love" (1994), "Think Twice" (1995) and "Only One Road" (1995).
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The Baltimore Sun | (mixed)[13] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[14][15] |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Music & Media | (favorable)[17] |
| Music Week | |
| Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Upon release, the album received mixed reviews from music critics, with positive attention given to Dion's vocals.Stephen Thomas Erlewine fromAllMusic gave it three out of five stars and wrote that the album follows the same pattern as Dion'seponymous breakthrough, and while the songs are not quite as consistent this time around, the record is nevertheless quite successful, thanks to the careful production, professional songwriting (highlighted by "When I Fall in Love", "The Power of Love", and "Think Twice") and Dion's powerhouse performances.[20] Brad Webber fromChicago Tribune gave the album two out of four stars.[21] He felt that "sickly sweet, by-the-books standards" like "The Power of Love" belie Dion's talent: "forcefully resonant and multiflavored vocals".[21] He criticized "crooked roots" of aJanet Jackson impersonation ("Misled" and "Think Twice"), formulaic duo ballad ("When I Fall in Love") and added that with Dion's attempt atsoul, you can categorize her as "fairly shallow, sort of a femaleMichael Bolton".[21] However Webber praised an "exotic thrill" in "Refuse to Dance", which "throws a little variety in the mix".[21] According toBillboard,The Colour of My Love is a "big-league affair" that should push Dion to "new realms of pop stardom".[14] Dion is more mature and shows off her vocal prowess on probable smashes as "The Power of Love", "Misled" and "Only One Road".[14] According toLarry Flick fromBillboard, althoughThe Colour of My Love is full of the "grand pop balladry", it also has more rhythmic depth than Dion's previous projects, includingjack-swinging "Misled" and the "haunting but spine-crawling" "Refuse to Dance".[15]
The Colour of My Love remains one of the world'sbest-selling albums of all time. It was the second top-selling album of 1994 in Canada, third top-selling album of 1994 by a female artist in the United States, third top-selling album of 1995 in the UK and has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, becoming the twentiethbest-selling album by a woman in history.[22]
In Canada,The Colour of My Love entered theRPM Albums Chart at number five and moved to the top in the fifth week.[23] It stayed at number one for twelve consecutive weeks and spent eighty weeks on the chart in total.[23] In December 1994, the album was certifieddiamond by theCRIA for selling one million copies.[24] It became the second best-selling album of the year 1994 in Canada, afterAce of Base'sThe Sign.[25] By the end of 1995,Billboard reported that the album has already sold 10 million copies worldwide (including 1.4 million Canada).[26] In November 1996,Billboard wrote that the sales ofThe Colour of My Love have reached 1.5 million units in Canada.[10] The album also topped the Quebec chart for twenty weeks.[27]
In the United States,The Colour of My Love debuted at number eighty-eight, selling 16,000 copies.[28] In March 1994, it peaked at number four on theBillboard 200 and spent 149 weeks on the chart.[29] It became the 20th best selling record of 1994 in the United States (third by a female artist), selling 2.1 million copies in 1994 alone.[30] The album has sold 4.6 million copies according toNielsen SoundScan and was certifiedsix-times platinum by theRIAA in November 1999 for shipping six million copies in the United States.[31][32][33]
In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number ten in March 1994.[34] Thanks to the success of "Think Twice", the album reached number one on theUK Albums Chart in January 1995 and spent seven weeks at the top.[35][36] For five consecutive weeks, "Think Twice" andThe Colour of My Love stood simultaneously on top of the UK charts, an achievement not replicated since 1965 and the heyday ofThe Beatles.[37] In December 1995, the album was certifiedfive-times platinum by theBPI for selling 1.5 million copies.[7] It also became the thirdbest-selling album of 1995 in the United Kingdom, afterRobson & Jerome'seponymous album andOasis's(What's the Story) Morning Glory?.[38] In November 2006, theOfficial Charts Company released a list of the 100 best-selling albums of all time in the United Kingdom.[39] Dion made the list with three albums, includingThe Colour of My Love at number seventy-seven with sales of 1,816,915 units (eligible forsix-times platinum certification).[39]The Colour of My Love was also very successful in other European countries. It went to number one in Ireland, Norway, Belgium Flanders and Denmark, and reached top ten in France, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Portugal and the Netherlands. The album was certified multi-platinum, platinum and gold in various European countries. In 1996,IFPI certified itfour-times platinum for selling four million copies in Europe.[40]
In Japan, the album originally peaked at number sixty-five in February 1994.[41] It was certified gold and has sold 200,000 units.[42][43] Due to the success of "To Love You More"The Colour of My Love was re-issued with this song in October 1995 and reached number seven on theOricon Albums Chart in November 1995.[41] This re-release has sold 650,000 copies in 1995.[43] While charting on the Oricon Albums Chart in 1995 and 1996, the re-issue ofThe Colour of My Love has sold 813,450 units.[44][45] In January 1996, it was certifiedthree-times platinum byRIAJ and later that year,The Colour of My Love became Dion's first million-selling album in Japan, with the summed numbers of the original version and the re-release.[46][43][44][45] As of May 1996, the album has sold over 1.5 million copies in the South East Asia.[47]
In Australia, the album debuted at number nine in March 1994.[48] Again, thanks to the success of "Think Twice", it topped theARIA Chart in mid-1995 for eight weeks, achieving the longest run at number one for that year.[48] It also became the second best-selling album of 1995 in Australia, afterTina Arena'sDon't Ask.[49]The Colour of My Love was certifiednine-times platinum by theARIA for shipments of 630,000 copies.[50]The Colour of My Love became one of the best-selling albums by Dion, with sales of twenty million copies worldwide.[22][51]
The Colour of My Love won twoJuno Awards of 1995 forAlbum of the Year andBest Selling Album (Foreign or Domestic).[52] It also won theIRMA Award for Best International Female Artist Album in 1996 and was nominated for theEdison Award in 1995 in category Best Album.[53][54] Songs fromThe Colour of My Love also received various nominations and awards around the world.[53] "Think Twice" won theIvor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and "To Love You More" won theJapan Gold Disc Award in category International Single Grand Prix.[55] "When I Fall in Love" won theGrammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) and was nominated for theGrammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[56] It also won twoASCAP Pop Awards in category Most Performed Songs and was nominated for theMTV Movie Award as Best Song from a Movie.[57][58][59]
"The Power of Love" was nominated for theGrammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance,American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single,Juno Award for Single of the Year, and twoBillboard Music Awards in category Hot 100 Single of the Year and Adult Contemporary Single of the Year.[60][61][52][62] "The Power of Love" also won the ASCAP Pop Award as one of the Most Performed Songs and "Misled" won theBMI Pop Award in the same named category.[58][63] Thanks toThe Colour of My Love and its singles, Dion also wonWorld Music Awards for Best Selling Canadian Female Artist of the Year and Best Selling Canadian Artist of the Year,Juno Award for Female Vocalist of the Year, andFélix Awards for Artist of the Year Achieving the Most Success Outside Quebec and Artist of the Year Achieving the Most Success in a Language Other Than French.[53][52][64] Dion was also nominated for her firstBrit Award in category Best International Female, and received nominations for other Billboard Music Awards and Juno Awards.[65][62][52]The Colour of My Love Concert was also nominated for theGemini Awards in 1995.[66]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Power of Love" | David Foster | 5:42 | |
| 2. | "Misled" |
| Ric Wake | 3:30 |
| 3. | "Think Twice" | 4:47 | ||
| 4. | "Only One Road" | Zizzo | Wake | 4:48 |
| 5. | "Everybody's Talkin' My Baby Down" |
| Wake | 4:01 |
| 6. | "Next Plane Out" | Diane Warren | Guy Roche | 4:57 |
| 7. | "Real Emotion" | Warren | Wake | 4:26 |
| 8. | "When I Fall in Love" (withClive Griffin) | Foster | 4:20 | |
| 9. | "Love Doesn't Ask Why" |
| Walter Afanasieff | 4:08 |
| 10. | "Refuse to Dance" |
| Neil | 4:22 |
| 11. | "I Remember L.A." |
| Neil | 4:12 |
| 12. | "No Living Without Loving You" | Warren | Roche | 4:22 |
| 13. | "Lovin' Proof" | Warren | Wake | 4:11 |
| 14. | "Just Walk Away" |
| 4:58 | |
| 15. | "The Colour of My Love" |
| Foster | 3:25 |
| Total length: | 65:39 | |||
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
All-time charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[50] | 9× Platinum | 630,000‡ |
| Austria (IFPI Austria)[116] | Gold | 25,000* |
| Belgium (BRMA)[117] | 2× Platinum | 100,000* |
| Canada (Music Canada)[118] | Diamond | 1,500,000[10] |
| Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[119] | Platinum | 40,289[119] |
| France (SNEP)[120] | Platinum | 300,000* |
| Germany (BVMI)[121] | Gold | 250,000^ |
| Italy (FIMI)[122] | Gold | 50,000* |
| Japan (RIAJ)[46] | 3× Platinum | 1,013,450[43][44][45] |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[123] | 3× Platinum | 300,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[124] | 6× Platinum | 90,000^ |
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[125] | 3× Platinum | 150,000* |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[105] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Sweden (GLF)[126] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[127] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
| Turkey (Mü-Yap)[128] | Gold | 20,000[128] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[129] | 5× Platinum | 1,816,915[39] |
| United States (RIAA)[130] | 6× Platinum | 6,000,000^ |
| Summaries | ||
| Europe (IFPI)[131] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000* |
| Southeast Asia | — | 1,500,000[132] |
| Worldwide | — | 20,000,000[22][51] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog | Edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada[133] | 9 November 1993 | Columbia | 57555 | 15 tracks | |
| United States[134] | 550 Music | 14 tracks | |||
| Japan[135] | 2 December 1993 | SMEJ | CD | ESCA-5893 | 15 tracks |
| Germany[136] | 11 February 1994 | Columbia |
| 474743 | |
| Switzerland[137] | 14 February 1994 | ||||
| United Kingdom[129][138] | 21 February 1994 | Epic |
| ||
| Australia[139] | 7 March 1994 | ||||
| United Kingdom[140] | 1 August 1994 | MD | 4747438 | ||
| Japan[141][142] | 21 October 1995 | SMEJ | CD | ESCA-6340 | 16 tracks |
| 30 May 2018 | Blu-spec CD2 | SICP-31166 | 15 tracks | ||
| Various[143] | 9 November 2018 | Columbia | LP | 589420 |