Taking Chances is the twenty-third studio album and tenth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion. It was released by Columbia Records on 7 November 2007. Dion returned to recording after nearly five years of performing A New Day... in Las Vegas. She worked on Taking Chances with a wide range of rock and pop producers, including John Shanks, Linda Perry, former Evanescence members Ben Moody and David Hodges, Kristian Lundin, Ne-Yo, Chuck Harmony, Tricky Stewart, Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, Kara DioGuardi, Emanuel Kiriakou, Anders Bagge, Peer àström, Aldo Nova, Christopher Neil, and Guy Roche.
Taking Chances sold 3.1 million copies worldwide in 2007 and reached the top 10 in several countries, including number one in Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, and on the European Top 100 Albums. It has sold 1.1 million units in the United States and was certified platinum by the RIAA. In Canada, the album was certified four times platinum after shipping over 400,000 copies. The first single, "Taking Chances", was released in September 2007 and reached the top 10 in multiple European countries and in Canada. In 2008, different markets received different second singles: "Eyes on Me" in the United Kingdom, "A World to Believe In" in Japan, and "Alone" in North America. "Alone" was also issued as the third and final single in the United Kingdom. On 14 February 2008, Dion began the year-long Taking Chances World Tour, which visited five continents and became one of the highest-grossing tours of all time.
On 24 August 2007, Dion's official website announced that she would release her new EnglishâÂÂlanguage album, Taking Chances, on 12 November 2007 in Europe and 13 November 2007 in North America. The album was also scheduled for release in Japan on 7 November 2007, and in Australia and New Zealand on 10 November 2007. Dion said about Taking Chances: "I think it represents a positive evolution in my career. I'm feeling strong, maybe a little gutsier than in the past, and just as passionate about music and life as I ever was". On 2 September 2007, the album's cover became available to TeamCeline members. Six days later, Columbia Records made small changes to the Taking Chances cover.
The first single from the album, "Taking Chances", was sent to radio stations on 10 September 2007, and a video showing Dion recording the song in the studio was posted on Amazon.com. On 12 September 2007, Columbia Records stated in a press release that "Taking Chances" was written by Kara DioGuardi and Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, produced by Grammy AwardâÂÂwinner John Shanks, and that the album would be supported by the Taking Chances World Tour in 2008 and 2009. The music video for the first single was filmed on 17 September 2007 in several locations in the Las Vegas area and directed by Paul Boyd. The video became available to TeamCeline members on 16 October 2007, and later premiered on television.
The album was recorded mainly over a threeâÂÂweek period in July 2007 at Palm Studios in Las Vegas. Dion worked with a group of well-known songwriters and producers, including Linda Perry, Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, former Evanescence member Ben Moody, Ne-Yo, John Shanks, Kara DioGuardi, Kristian Lundin, Anders Bagge, Peer àström, Aldo Nova, Tricky Stewart, and Christopher Neil. One of Dion's favorite songs on the album is "That's Just the Woman in Me", written by Kimberley Rew, a former member of Katrina and the Waves. The song had been offered to Dion 15 years earlier, but she felt it suited her artistic direction only when she began working on the new album. Dion said: "I think this album represents a positive evolution in my career. As time goes by, and we have more experiences in life, it's easier to get in touch with our innermost feelings... to know more about what we really want, how we really feel". Other covers on the album include Heart's "Alone", Platinum Weird's "Taking Chances", Linda Perry's "New Dawn", and Tim Christensen's "Right Next to the Right One".
The first single from the album, "Taking Chances", premiered on 10 September 2007 and was sent to radio stations around the world on the same day. The song was written by Kara DioGuardi and Dave Stewart, and produced by John Shanks. The digital single was released on 17 September 2007, and the CD single was issued in selected countries in late October and early November 2007. The music video, directed by Paul Boyd, was filmed in mid-September 2007 in Las Vegas and premiered on 17 October 2007. "Taking Chances" became a successful single in Europe, peaking inside the top 10 in Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, and France, and reaching the top 40 in Austria, Norway, Germany, Belgium's Wallonia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In North America, it peaked at number nine on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 54 on the US Billboard Hot 100. "Taking Chances" also reached number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs and the Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart. It has sold over 20,000 digital downloads in Canada, receiving gold certification, and 500,000 digital copies in the United States.
In the United Kingdom, "Eyes on Me" was chosen as the second single. The song was written by Kristian Lundin, Savan Kotecha, and Delta Goodrem, and produced by Lundin. The digital single was released on 4 January 2008, and the CD single was issued on 7 January 2008. The song peaked at number 113 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video for "Eyes on Me", using footage from the Taking Chances World Tour, was released on 5 May 2008. In Japan, "A World to Believe In", written by Tino Izzo and Rosanna Ciciola and produced by John Shanks, was selected as the second track to promote the album. It was re-recorded as an EnglishâÂÂJapanese duet with Yuna Ito, titled "ãÂÂãªãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂéÂÂãÂÂ: A World to Believe In". The song premiered on radio on 1 December 2007, and the music video debuted two days later. The video was filmed in Las Vegas in October 2007 during the recording of the duet. The CD single was issued on 16 January 2008 and peaked at number eight on the Japanese Oricon chart.
The music video for the second North American single, "Alone", was taken from the That's Just the Woman in Me television special and released on 15 March 2008. The promotional single was sent to radio stations in Canada and the United States in early April 2008. This cover of Heart's hit song was produced by Ben Moody. "Alone" was also chosen as the third and final single in the United Kingdom and was digitally released on 5 May 2008. The song peaked at number 57 on the Canadian Hot 100, number 85 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 24 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. "My Love", written and produced by Linda Perry, was included on Dion's next album, ', and released as a single from it in September 2008.
Dion visited the United Kingdom in late October 2007 and began promoting the album by performing "Taking Chances" on The X Factor on 27 October 2007. She later performed "Alone" and "Taking Chances" on Saturday Night Divas, broadcast on 3 November 2007. Dion also recorded An Audience with Celine Dion, broadcast on 22 December 2007, where she performed "Taking Chances", "Eyes on Me", "Alone", and several of her earlier hits, including "My Heart Will Go On", "Think Twice", a medley of "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "Because You Loved Me", and "To Love You More", "I Drove All Night", "River Deep, Mountain High", and "The Prayer" in a duet with Andrea Bocelli.
Next, Dion visited France and performed "Taking Chances" and two of her French-language hits with contestants on Star Academy on 2 November 2007. She also recorded performances of "Taking Chances" for two other French television programs, Hit Machine and Vivement Dimanche, broadcast on 1 December 2007 and 9 December 2007 respectively. On 4 November 2007, Dion travelled to Monaco where she received the Legend Award at the World Music Awards and performed "Taking Chances". The performance was broadcast on 22 November 2007. On 7 November 2007, Dion visited Italy and performed "Taking Chances" and "I Knew I Loved You" on Domenica In, broadcast four days later. On 10 November 2007, she travelled to Germany and performed "Taking Chances" on Wetten, dass..?.
The promotional campaign in the United States began on 12 November 2007 with an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show dedicated to Dion. She recorded the episode before her visit to the United Kingdom and performed "Taking Chances", "Alone", and several of her earlier hits, including "My Heart Will Go On", "Because You Loved Me", "A New Day Has Come", and "I Drove All Night". On 14 November 2007, Dion performed three songs on Today, including "Taking Chances", "Alone", and "I Drove All Night". On the same day, The Ellen DeGeneres Show aired an episode with Dion that included performances of "Taking Chances" and "Because You Loved Me". Dion also performed "Taking Chances" at the American Music Awards on 18 November 2007 and on All My Children on 21 November 2007. On 23 November 2007, she performed "Taking Chances", "Alone", and "Because You Loved Me" on The Early Show, and "Taking Chances" and "Alone" on The View. On 27 November 2007, Dion performed "Taking Chances" and "My Heart Will Go On" on the finale of Dancing with the Stars. The following day, she performed "Taking Chances", "Alone", and "The Christmas Song" at the Annual NYC Tree Lighting Ceremony. On 21 December 2007, two performances recorded during one of the final A New Day... concerts were broadcast on Larry King Live: "Taking Chances" and "The Christmas Song".
In late January 2008, Dion returned to France. On 25 January 2008, she appeared on the Star Academy finale and performed "Alone" and two of her French-language hits with the contestants. The following day, Dion performed "Taking Chances" at the NRJ Music Awards, where she received the NRJ Award of Honor. Before her second visit to France, Dion recorded the television special That's Just the Woman in Me for the United States and Canada, broadcast on 15 February 2008. She performed "Taking Chances", "Alone", an "Eyes on Me" remix with will.i.am, "That's Just the Woman in Me", and also "Something" with Joe Walsh on guitar, "The Power of Love", "River Deep, Mountain High", and "The Prayer" in a duet with Josh Groban. "The Prayer" was released as a digital download on 12 February 2008. On 14 February 2008, Dion began her Taking Chances World Tour, which visited Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America, and concluded on 26 February 2009. It grossed over US$279 million, making it at the time the third highest-grossing tour by a female artist, behind Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour and MDNA Tour. The tour was documented in the film ', released on DVD and Blu-ray in April 2010. The concert itself was issued on DVD and CD as ' and '.
Taking Chances received mixed reviews from music critics upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received a weighted average score of 53 based on 8 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album 3 stars and wrote that Taking Chances is "an album of its time: it offers extravagance in the guise of self-help, which can be alluring in doses, especially those bizarre blues-rockers, but it's just too much of a very expensive yet not particularly tasteful thing". The Billboard review stated: "Packing an emotional wallop, Chances should quash critics who insist that Dion's voice is stainless steel". Bill Lamb of About.com rated the album 3 stars out of 5 and commented: "Listening to 16 consecutive songs can be an endurance test for even the most ardent Celine fan. 14 of the songs here suffer, to various degrees, from leaning to the ordinary or seeming to lack inspired artistic fire. However, they are sandwiched by 2 brilliant tracks that, sadly, give a hint of what Taking Chances might have been".
Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe wrote: "Are chances taken? Not many, but there are rewards if you're willing to enjoy Dion's precise vocalizing and the hooky songs". Entertainment Weekly noted: "It's cool that Dion can mimic everyone from Shakira to Sam Phillips... but her appalling Janis Joplin impression is a chance too far". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine opined that: "The laborious 16-track record purportedly finds the queen of adult contemporary-turned-Vegas attraction taking chances by modernizing her treacly power ballad sound with lots of overdubbed guitars and of-the-moment collaborators".
The Amazon.com review was positive, stating: "As far as standard Celine fare goes, in fact, Chances is likely her strongest non-French outing since 2002's A New Day Has Come; nobody unfolds a lyric with more care or nuance". The NOW review observed: "The album is also comfortably ignorant of the times. With its feathery production and common pop arrangements, it could have come out in 1996". Edna Gundersen of USA Today wrote: "With Chances, the diva seems to be stretching artistic muscles, yoga-style not aerobically, and seeking an escape from expectations". Ashante Infantry of Toronto Star concluded: "Taking Chances, Dion's 10th album, finds her doing just that. With an obvious reach for contemporary radio, Dion padded the efforts of longtime collaborators with in-the-now hitmakers Ne-Yo, Linda Perry, and Ben Moody, who co-wrote the self-empowering anthem 'This Time' about an abused woman breaking free. The result is an edgier rock sound that won't alienate loyal fans, but may engage some new ones".
Two months before its official worldwide release, Taking Chances was among the most pre-ordered albums on Amazon. According to the IFPI, it was the eight best-selling album by a female artist worldwide in 2007, with sales of over 3.1 million copies that year.
In Canada, Taking Chances debuted at number one with 80,000 copies sold, surpassing Dion's own record for the biggest debut of 2007 (her French-language album D'elles sold 72,000 units in its first week in May 2007). Achieving two of the highest sales debuts in Canada for two different albums in one year gave Dion an unprecedented milestone in Canadian Nielsen SoundScan history. In its second week, the album remained at number one with 44,000 copies sold. It then fell to number two, staying there for four consecutive weeks with sales of 39,000, 45,000, 37,000, and 43,000 units, respectively. Dion returned to number one for the final week of 2007, selling another 13,000 copies. With 301,000 units sold in 2007, Taking Chances became the third best-selling album of the year in Canada according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album spent two additional weeks inside the top 10. In July 2008, it was certified four times platinum by the CRIA for shipments exceeding 400,000 copies. It also finished as the number-one album on the 2008 Canadian year-end Billboard chart.
In the United States, Taking Chances debuted at number three with 215,000 copies sold. It then fell to number eight, remaining there for two weeks with sales of 128,000 and 93,000 copies. For the next four weeks, the album remained inside the top 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 84,000 (number 12), 92,000 (number 15), 134,000 (number 18), and 50,000 units (number 20). Taking Chances was certified platinum by the RIAA in February 2008 and has sold 1.1 million copies in the US as of May 2010.
The album reached number one in Switzerland, South Africa, and on the European Top 100 Albums, and peaked inside the top 10 in numerous other countries. It received gold certifications in several markets, and platinum or multi-platinum awards in others. According to the IFPI, Taking Chances sold 3.1 million copies worldwide in 2007 alone.
In 2008, Dion won the World Music Award for World's Best Selling Canadian Artist of the Year. At the Juno Awards of 2008, she was nominated in six categories, including Album of the Year (Taking Chances), Pop Album of the Year (Taking Chances), Artist of the Year, and the Fan Choice Award. At the Juno Awards of 2009, Dion received three nominations, including Single of the Year for "Taking Chances" and the Fan Choice Award.