Let's Talk About Love

Let's Talk About Love
Studio album by Céline Dion
Released	November 18, 1997 (1997-11-18) (see release history)
Recorded	1997
Genre	Pop
Length	74:35
Label	Epic, 550
Producer	Walter Afanasieff, David Foster, Humberto Gatica, Corey Hart, James Horner, George Martin, Billy Pace, Tony Renis, Jim Steinman, Ric Wake
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
Céline Dion chronology
Live à Paris (1996) Let's Talk About Love (1997) S'il suffisait d'aimer (1998)
Singles from Let's Talk About Love
"Tell Him" Released: November 3, 1997 "Be the Man" Released: November 13, 1997 "The Reason" Released: December 8, 1997 "My Heart Will Go On" Released: December 8, 1997 "Immortality" Released: June 8, 1998 "When I Need You" Released: September 7, 1998 "I Hate You Then I Love You" Released: September 7, 1998 "Miles to Go (Before I Sleep)" Released: September 7, 1998 "Treat Her Like a Lady" Released: March 29, 1999

Let's Talk About Love is an album by Canadian singer Céline Dion, released on November 18, 1997. It is her 5th English-language album and 23rd in total. Let's Talk About Love remains one of the best-selling albums in history with over 31.5 million copies sold worldwide.^[1] It includes Grammys and Academy Award winning song "My Heart Will Go On", which reached #1 all over the world and became the biggest song of Dion's career.

Let's Talk About Love / Falling into You / A New Day Has Come 3CD set was released in October 2007. Later, it was repacked and released in a reusable gift box on September 29, 2009, titled The Collection.^[2] Also on October 2, 2009 Let's Talk About Love / A New Day Has Come 2CD set was released.^[3]

Album information

Céline Dion followed successful Falling into You with Let's Talk About Love, which she publicized as its sequel. The recording process took place in London, New York, and Los Angeles, and featured a host of special guests: Barbra Streisand on "Tell Him", the Bee Gees on "Immortality", and world-renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti on "I Hate You Then I Love You". Other musicians included Carole King and Sir George Martin - the famous The Beatles producer on "The Reason", Bryan Adams on "Let's Talk About Love", and Jamaican singer Diana King, who added a reggae tinge to "Treat Her Like a Lady". As the name suggests, the album had the same theme as Dion's preceding albums: "love." However, emphasis was also placed on "brotherly love" with "Where Is the Love" and "Let's Talk About Love".

The most successful single from the album became the classically influenced ballad "My Heart Will Go On", which was composed by James Horner, and produced by Horner and Walter Afanasieff. Serving as the love theme for the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, the song topped the charts in most countries across the world, and has become Dion's signature song. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, four Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and many other awards around the world. Let's Talk About Love was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album and "Tell Him" for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

The track "Where Is the Love" was a last minute addition to the album. It replaced "Is Nothing Sacred", a Jim Steinman penned/produced song which was removed from the album for unknown reasons. An early Asian advertisement poster for the forthcoming album listed "Is Nothing Sacred" in the tracklist. The album was originally named The Reason.^{[citation needed]}

Let's Talk About Love includes the following covers: "Treat Her Like a Lady" (Diana King), "Love Is on the Way" (Billy Porter), "When I Need You" (Leo Sayer), "I Hate You Then I Love You" (slightly modified "Never, Never, Never" by Shirley Bassey - an adaptation of the Italian song "Grande grande grande" sang by Mina Mazzini), "Let's Talk About Love" (English version of the French song "Puisque Tu Pars" by Jean-Jacques Goldman) and "Amar Haciendo el Amor" (Spanish adaptation of the "You Only Love Once" by Billy Mann).

Dion did the 1998-99 Let's Talk About Love Tour to support the album.

Chart success

Before Let's Talk About Love was even released, Sony Music Entertainment announced they had orders for almost 11 million copies worldwide (10,750,300), making it the most expected album of 1997. The sales skyrocketed right at the beginning, and the album quickly topped the charts all around the world, smashing sales records in many countries. Let's Talk About Love has sold over 31.5 million copies worldwide^[1] and became one of the best-selling albums in history (20 million were sold in first four months, 6 of which in the U.S.).

In Canada, it debuted at #1 with 230,212 copies sold, another record by Dion in her native country that still remains, and after only three weeks, it was certified diamond; over 1.7 million copies were sold to date. In the United States, it debuted at number 2 with 334,000 copies. The sales were going on increasing until a 624,000 total in its sixth week, though remaining at number 2. Finally, Let's Talk About Love topped the Billboard 200 the following week. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Let's Talk About Love has sold 9,461,000 copies in the U.S. through August 23, 2009.^[4] Additional 1,110,000 copies were sold through BMG Music Club (data from 2002).^[5] In total, the album has sold 10.6 million copies in the U.S. and was certified diamond (10x platinum) by the RIAA.^[6]

In 2003, the album received an IFPI Award to commemorate the sales of over 10 million copies of Let's Talk About Love in Europe, including over 2 million copies sold in the UK, over 1.5 million in Germany, over 1.2 million in France and over 1 million in Italy.

The album has sold also over 1.1 million copies in Japan and 1 million in Brazil. In Latin America, it has sold over 2 million copies.^[7]

Let's Talk About Love made Dion the only female recording artist to have two albums with more than 31.5 million copies sold (with her previous international release Falling into You), a record that she still holds.

The album reached #1 all over the world, spending 11 weeks at the top in the Netherlands, 10 weeks at number 1 on the European Top 100 Albums chart, 9 weeks at #1 in Switzerland and Norway, 8 weeks in New Zealand, 7 weeks in France, Italy and Belgium Wallonia, 5 weeks in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Denmark, 3 weeks in Austria, 2 weeks in Canada, Ireland and Belgium Flanders, 1 week in the United States, Sweden and Finland. Let's Talk About Love reached also the top in Greece.

Track listing

1. "The Reason" (Carole King, Mark Hudson, Greg Wells) – 5:01
2. "Immortality" (featuring the Bee Gees) (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb) – 4:11
3. "Treat Her Like a Lady" (featuring Diana King) (Diana King, Andy Marvel, Billy Mann, Céline Dion) – 4:05
4. "Why Oh Why" (Marti Sharron, Danny Sembello) – 4:50
5. "Love Is On the Way" (Peter Zizzo, Denise Rich, Tina Shafer) – 4:25
6. "Tell Him" (with Barbra Streisand) (Linda Thompson, Walter Afanasieff, David Foster) – 4:51
7. "When I Need You" (Albert Hammond, Carole Bayer Sager) – 4:12
8. "Miles to Go (Before I Sleep)" (Corey Hart) – 4:40
9. "Us" (Billy Pace) – 5:47
10. "Just a Little Bit of Love" (Maria Christensen, Arnie Roman, Arthur Jacobson) – 4:06
11. "My Heart Will Go On" (love theme from Titanic) (James Horner, Will Jennings) – 4:40
12. "Where Is the Love" (Hart) – 4:55
13. "I Hate You Then I Love You" (with Luciano Pavarotti) (Tony Renis, Manuel de Falla, Alberto Testa, Fabio Testa, Norman Newell) – 4:42
14. "Let's Talk About Love" (Bryan Adams, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Eliot Kennedy) – 5:12

Asian/Australian/European bonus tracks

15. "Amar Haciendo el Amor" (Mann, Rich, Benito) – 4:12

16. "Be the Man" (Foster, Miles) – 4:39

Canadian bonus track

15. "Amar Haciendo el Amor" (Mann, Rich, Manny Benito) – 4:12

U.S. bonus track

15. "To Love You More" (Foster, Junior Miles) – 5:28

Asian tour limited edition bonus CD

1. "My Heart Will Go On" (Richie Jones mix) (Horner, Jennings) – 4:16
2. "To Love You More" (Tony Moran mix) (Foster, Miles) – 5:54
3. "Be the Man" (karaoke version) (Foster, Miles) – 4:39
4. "Unison" (remix) (Andy Goldmark, Bruce Roberts) – 4:04
5. "Love Can Move Mountains" (live) (Diane Warren) – 5:25

Chart performance

¹ should be certified 10x platinum (10,000,000)
² should be certified 4x platinum (400,000)

Awards

Release history

See also

• List of best-selling albums worldwide
• List of best-selling albums in the United States
• List of BMG Music Club's top selling albums in the United States
• List of best-selling CDs (Brazil)

References