Falling Into You
finally established
Celine Dion
as a superstar in America, so its sequel,
Let's Talk About Love
, was designed to consolidate her position as a newly minted star. The album was constructed as a blockbuster, featuring
Dion
's trademark melodramatic
ballads
, some carefully tailored
dance-pop
, a bevy of duets with the likes of
Barbra Streisand
and
the Bee Gees
, and production and songs from
adult contemporary
gurus
David Foster
,
Jim Steinman
, and
Walter Afanasieff
. Given that so many talented craftsmen worked on
, it makes sense that a number of the cuts succeed according to
terms -- they are predictably sweeping showcases for
's soaring, technically skilled voice. As usual, the singles (including the
Streisand
duet
"Tell Him"
and the
Titanic
love theme
"My Heart Will Go On"
) shine the most brilliantly, but even the filler is immaculately produced. If the end result doesn't quite gel as an album, that shouldn't be surprising -- this is music by committee, a product that was made to appeal to the widest possible audience. Such a calculated execution guarantees that anyone who liked one of the singles shouldn't be disappointed by
Let's Talk About
, but it doesn't necessarily mean they'll remember all of the record after it's finished playing. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine