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| These Are Special Times | |||||
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| Studio album by Céline Dion | |||||
| Released | October 30, 1998 (see release history) |
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| Recorded | 1998 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Length | 68:27 | ||||
| Label | Columbia, Epic | ||||
| Producer | Bryan Adams, David Foster, Humberto Gatica, R. Kelly, Tony Renis, Carole Bayer Sager, Ric Wake | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Céline Dion chronology | |||||
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| Alternate cover | |||||
Ihre Schönsten Weihnachtslieder.
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| Singles from These Are Special Times | |||||
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These Are Special Times is a Christmas album by Canadian singer Céline Dion, released on October 30, 1998. It's her 1st English-language Christmas album, 6th English album and 25th in total. On November 20, 2008 These Are Special Times became the first holiday album by a female artist to top the 5 million mark in Nielsen SoundScan history. It has sold 5,006,000 copies.[1]
The album was re-released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in September 2007, under the title Ihre Schönsten Weihnachtslieder, including the same tracklist as the original version, but a different cover picture. These Are Special Times was also re-released worldwide between October and December 2007 as a collector's edition. This 2-disc digipak containes the original CD and previously unreleased DVD of Dion's 1998 CBS TV special. The CD+DVD Tin Box Edition was also released between October and November 2008 in selected European countries.
Contents |
On These Are Special Times Dion balances popular carols ("The Christmas Song," "Blue Christmas," "Feliz Navidad") with new songs ("Don't Save It All for Christmas Day," the R. Kelly duet "I'm Your Angel"), hymns ("Ave Maria," "Adeste Fideles"), and Christmas songs with a distinct religious theme ("O Holy Night," the Andrea Bocelli duet "The Prayer"). Dion is joined by her family on "Feliz Navidad" and "Les cloches du hameau." The album was produced mostly by singer's longtime partners: David Foster and Ric Wake. One of the songs, called "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" was co-written by Céline Dion.
These Are Special Times was recorded with help of few other artists, including Diana Krall (piano on "Blue Christmas") and Bryan Adams (guitars, bass and backing vocals on "Another Year Has Gone By").
Two songs from These Are Special Times were previously available: "The Christmas Song" (recorded in 1993 for The Christmas Album by David Foster) and "Brahms' Lullaby" (recorded in 1996 for the compilation For Our Children Too to benefit Pediatric AIDS Foundation). French version of "The Christmas Song" appeared on Dion's first two Christmas albums: Céline Dion chante Noël (1981) and Chants et contes de Noël (1983).
On November 25, 1998, one-hour CBS TV special, dedicated to Céline Dion's Christmas album, was broadcasted all across the United States. Dion performed songs from These Are Special Times, as well as few other tracks, including duet with Rosie O'Donnell on "Do You Hear What I Hear?." One year later, O'Donnell added her vocals to Dion's song "The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)," and included this duet version on her A Rosie Christmas album.
Céline Dion was nominated for two Grammy Awards in Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category for "I'm Your Angel" (1999) and "The Prayer" (2000). The last one was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song from the Quest for Camelot movie in 1999. Dion performed it with Andrea Bocelli at the Grammys and Oscars.
The title song was covered in 2000 by Christina Aguilera for her album My Kind of Christmas.
Over the years, Céline Dion recorded few other Christmas songs, not included on These Are Special Times. In December 1994, A Very Merry Chipmunk by The Chipmunks was released, containing "Petit Papa Noël" with Céline Dion on lead vocal. The latter recorded her own version of this song back in 1981 on Céline Dion chante Noël.
In December 1999, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was used as the lead track to the Target TV special called "And So This Is Christmas." The special featured an instrumental track of the song accompanied by a choir to the introduction to the show and also featured Dion's new Christmas recording "I Met an Angel (On Christmas Day)." The final track of the show used Dion's version of "Happy Xmas" accompanied by Charlotte Church and Gloria Estefan. "I Met an Angel (On Christmas Day)" was included as a B-side to the "That's the Way It Is" single, and appeared on various Christams compilations in the following years.
These Are Special Times is one of the best selling Christmas albums in history, with 11.5 million copies sold worldwide. According to Billboard magazine dated October 31, 2007, These Are Special Times is the second best-selling Christmas album of the Soundscan era. Kenny G took the first place with his Miracles: The Holiday Album. On November 20, 2008 These Are Special Times became the first holiday album by a female artist to top the 5 million mark in Nielsen SoundScan history. It has sold 5,006,000 copies.[2] In Canada, These Are Special Times sold 1 million copies and was certified diamond.
These Are Special Times went to number 1 in Canada (for two weeks), Switzerland (four weeks) and Norway (four weeks), and reached top 10 all over the world. Although number 2 on the Billboard 200, These Are Special Times reached number 1 for nine consecutive weeks on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums. The next year it went also to number 1 for seven consecutive weeks on the Top Pop Catalog Albums.
2007 collector's edition bonus DVD
| Chart | Peak position |
Certification | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart[3] | 6 | 2x platinum | 140,000[4] |
| Austrian Albums Chart[5] | 2 | Platinum | 50,000[6] |
| Belgian Flanders Albums Chart[7] | 16 | Platinum | 50,000[8] |
| Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart[9] | 12 | ||
| Canadian Albums Chart[10] | 1 | Diamond | 1,000,000[11] |
| Danish Albums Chart[12] | 6 | ||
| Dutch Albums Chart[13] | 3 | Gold | 50,000[14] |
| European Albums Chart[15] | 3 | Platinum | 1,000,000[16] |
| Finnish Albums Chart[17] | 4 | Gold | 30,000[18] |
| French Albums Chart[19] | 23 | 60,000[20] | |
| German Albums Chart[21] | 3 | Gold | 250,000[22] |
| Hungarian Albums Chart[23] | 14 | ||
| Italian Albums Chart[24] | 7 | Platinum1 | 250,000[25] |
| Japanese Albums Chart[26] | 4 | 2x platinum | 510,000[27] |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[28] | 4 | 2x platinum | 30,000[29] |
| Norwegian Albums Chart[30] | 1 | 2x platinum | 100,000[31] |
| Portuguese Albums Chart[32] | Gold | 20,000[33] | |
| Swedish Albums Chart[34] | 3 | Platinum | 80,000[35] |
| Swiss Albums Chart[36] | 1 | 2x platinum | 100,000[37] |
| UK Albums Chart[38] | 20 | Gold | 200,000[39] |
| U.S. Billboard 200[40] | 2 | 5x platinum | 5,006,000[41] |
| U.S. Billboard Top Holiday Albums[42] | 1 |
1 should be certified 2x platinum (200,000)
| Year | Award show | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Original Song – "The Prayer" |
| 1999 | Japan Gold Disc Awards | International Pop Album of the Year – These Are Special Times |
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | October 30, 1998 | Columbia | CD | 4927302 |
| Japan | October 31, 1998 | Epic | CD | ESCA 7390 |
| North America | November 3, 1998 | Epic | CD | 69523 |
| Australia | November 6, 1998 | Epic | CD | 4926512 |
| Europe | September 28, 2007 | Columbia | CD | 82876860572 |
| North America | October 2, 2007 | Epic | CD/DVD | 88697155752 |
| Europe | November 2, 2007 | Columbia | CD/DVD | 88697155752 |
| Japan | November 21, 2007 | Epic | CD/DVD | 88697155752 |
| Australia | December 8, 2007 | Epic | CD/DVD | 88697155752 |
| Europe | October 10, 2008 | Columbia | CD/DVD | 88697336312 |
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