Despite her promise to unleash her inner rock 'n' roll wild
child, diehard Celine Dion fans need not fear her newest album Taking Chances —
its efforts to push Celine into a new direction were unsuccessful, leaving her
in her comfortable realm of perpetual sap.

Dion
stepped out of the Las Vegas limelight (she had been putting on an over-the-top
show there for the past three years) and found herself back in the real world,
ready to take on her first English album since 2003. The album is a generous 16
tracks long and chock full of fan-faithful favorites. The poignant power
ballads "A Song for You" and "Right Next to the Right One" passionately tug on
the same heartstrings that "Because You Loved Me" and "My Heart Will Go On"
once did — delivering the same old earnest lyrics and vocal elasticity she is
known for.

In the
remaining tracks on the album, she works with producers Ben Moody
(ex-Evanescence guitarist), Linda Perry and Ne-Yo as well as Eurythmics
songwriter Dave Stewart to introduce her fresh direction. Dion offers up her
same old strong vocals and leans on the contemporary artists on board to
deliver a new rock sound. Unfortunately, they do no such thing. The song "I've
Got Nothin' Left", written by rapper Ne-Yo, fails to produce the same
catchiness that he once delivered in Beyonce's hit single "Irreplaceable."

The album's title track (written by Kara DioGuardi who also
wrote Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful") opens with Celine singing softly
through the first verse: "Don't know much about your life/ Don't know much
about your world but/ Don't want to be alone tonight/ On this planet they call
Earth." When the song erupts into an up-tempo roar of drums and guitar, Dion's
powerful vocals do little to conceal the juvenility of her lyrics — a theme
that resonates throughout the rest of the album (with the exception of her
rendition of Heart's "Alone").

The album does contain one redeeming surprise. If you are
one who considers Dion merely a pretty songbird, listen to her Janis
Joplin-esque vocals on the track "That's Just The Woman In Me" and think again.
Her voice on that track and others like "This Time" and "Can't Fight the Feelin"
prove that although this is her 34th album, she can still compete with
fresh-faced power vocalists Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera and the like. 

Taking Chances doesn't quite accomplish what the title
promises, but this album has pushed her to the farthest edge of her comfort
zone, experimenting with new styles and artists in an attempt to prove her
relevancy in today's music scene.

2 stars out of 5