Miracle: A Celebration of New Life [Bonus DVD]

Disc 1
1	Miracle 3:38
2	Brahms' Lullaby 3:32
3	If I Could 4:47
4	Sleep Tight 4:40
5	What a Wonderful World 3:48
6	My Precious One 3:52
7	A Mother's Prayer 3:43
8	The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 4:10
9	Baby Close Your Eyes 3:25
10	Come to Me 4:36
11	Le Loup, La Biche et le Chevalier (Une Chanson Douce) 3:14
12	Beautiful Boy 3:53
13	In Some Small Way 5:06
Disc 2
1	The Making of Miracle: Celine Dion & Anne Geddes Bonus Track / DVD

Barnes & Noble

Celine Dion has long since cemented her status as a powerhouse pop stylist, but between her many albums and her three-year stint in Vegas, the singer took a break to focus on family -- in January 2001 she gave birth to her son, Rene Charles. Since then, Dion has been vocal about the impact of motherhood on her life, and her devotion to and love for children gave birth to Miracle. This inspiring CD pairs Dion with world-renowned photographer Anne Geddes. Together, they created a visual and musical homage to the bond between mother and baby. The CD's cover art is just a taste of the splendor inside -- the CD includes a 20-page booklet featuring Geddes's stunning photos, along with lyrics to all 13 songs. Dion has always been drawn to songs with a love theme, and here she sets the tone with the disc-opening "Miracle," which allows her maternal instincts play out intensely in such lines as, "You're the reason I was born / Now I finally know for sure." She indulges the emotion further on a rousing interpretation of the classic Brahms Lullaby, delivered in both and English and French. The songstress pours all of her being into every song , as on her soaring, passion-filled rendition of "What a Wonderful World." Lullabies like "My Precious One" and "Baby Close Your Eyes" are cast in soft-hued, piano-led orchestral settings, allowing Dion's dramatic vocals to shine through. On a cover of John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy," a more upbeat track, the diva's voice takes a softer road -- and it works just as beautifully. This breathtaking CD can also be found in a box set version, which includes an expanded, 60-page booklet and a "Making of the CD" DVD. And do not miss the extraordinary coffee table book , which includes the CD and DVD, to see the complete collection of Anne Geddes's own little miracles.

All Music Guide

Miracle is billed as a collaboration between Celine Dion and Anne Geddes, a photographer who specializes in photos of babies, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the subtitle of the album is "A Celebration of New Life." After all, all of Geddes' work celebrates new life, and Dion has been very outspoken in how motherhood has changed her life, so it's only natural that their collaboration is about newborns. Since Geddes is strictly a photographer, "collaboration" may be a misleading title, but Miracle isn't strictly just a music album. Instead, it's a book accompanied with an album, with the images inspired by the songs and vice versa; in the special edition of the album, there's even a DVD of the making of the project, extending it into another realm of multimedia. As a piece of music, it's the quietest record Dion has recorded in a while, an unabashed adult contemporary album that keeps its gentle mood from start to finish, as if it were a prolonged lullaby. Dion tempers her vocal histrionics considerably -- she still soars to the high notes, but there are no pyrotechnics, no showboating here -- which serves this collection of standards and new songs quite well. The worst you can say about the record is that there are no surprises, but the audience for this record doesn't want surprises; they want comfort, whether it arrives in polished music or artsy photos of newborns, and Miracle provides both, which makes it appealing for those expectant or new mothers in Dion's audience. Stephen Thomas Erlewine