All the Way... A Decade of Song is the first English-language greatest hits album by Canadian singer Celine Dion. Released by Sony Music on 12 November 1999, it features nine previously released songs on most editions and seven new recordings on all editions. Dion worked on new tracks mainly with David Foster. Other producers include Max Martin, Kristian Lundin, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, James Horner, and Matt Serletic. It is the best-selling greatest hits album by a female solo artist in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era.[1]All the Way... A Decade of Song has sold over 22 million copies worldwide, including over nine million in the United States, five million in Europe, two million in Japan and one million units in Canada.
All the Way... A Decade of Song garnered generally mixed reviews from music critics, who praised the included hits but questioned the inclusion of seven new songs. Out of all of the new recordings, the first single "That's the Way It Is" was generally praised. The album became a commercial success throughout the world and peaked at number one in most major music markets. It placed at No. 7 on the US Billboard 200 Year-End Chart in the year 2000[2] and placed at No. 26 on the US Billboard 200 Decade-End chart.
Background
After ten years of standing in the spotlight, Celine Dion decided to go on vacation. "I'm looking forward to having no schedule, no pressure, to not caring about whether it's raining or not, just visiting with family and friends, cooking at home, trying to seriously have a child. I want no pressure for a while," she said.[3] Before Dion embarked on her two-year respite from the music industry beginning 1 January 2000, she prepared All the Way... A Decade of Song to cap a ten-year period in which she had sold over 100 million records worldwide.[4] In the 1990s, Dion transformed herself from a regional Canadian success into one of the world's most successful pop artists. In that time, she released six English-language albums, from 1990's Unison to All the Way... A Decade of Song, and six newly recorded French albums, picking up numerous awards, including five Grammys.[3][4]
The process of putting together All the Way... A Decade of Song was laborious for all involved, from balancing the number of hits and new songs to ensuring that each of the latest tracks showed a new side of Dion. "We had hourly conversations, back and forth, about what the combination should be," said John Doelp, the album's co-executive producer. He added, "We wanted to make sure we had some new sounds and that we were able to go to new places". Co-executive producer Vito Luprano added: "The first idea was to record three new songs, then Dion said, 'Let's go for five,' her lucky number. But we had so many great songs coming in that we ended up recording nine. Out of that, we decided to go with seven".[3]
Sony Music Entertainment released eight different versions of her greatest hits, tailored to Dion's individual successes in North America, Europe, France, Australia/New Zealand, Asia, Japan, Latin America and Brazil.[3]
All the Way... A Decade of Song garnered generally mixed reviews from music critics. Although Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, he criticized it for including seven new songs and just nine hits. He felt that the album had "glaring omissions", such as Dion's first American hit, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", and her duet with Barbra Streisand, "Tell Him".[13][18] Phil Sutcliffe from Q called the album a "strange hybrid" that was "neither comprehensively greatest nor best".[15] Dave Veitch from the Calgary Sun felt that "fans may be disappointed" that some hits were not included.[14] Erlewine considered "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "My Heart Will Go On" to be "among the best adult contemporary songs of the decade," but felt that aside from "That's the Way It Is" and "If Walls Could Talk", the new material was not memorable.[13]
Michael Paoletta from Billboard gave it a positive review. Regarding the seven new songs, he wrote: "All the Way... A Decade of Song is Dion's most focused album yet, drawing on a team of collaborators that understands this artists's strengths".[19]Chuck Taylor from Billboard praised "That's the Way It Is". He wrote that Dion "at last ups the tempo with the irresistible first single." Taylor applauded the pairing of Dion with collaborators Max Martin, Kristian Lundin and Andreas Carlsson. "Replete with a festive mandolin and a midtempo beat to bring new heights to her as-ever splendid vocal," he concluded that "'That's the Way It Is' is one of the most compelling radio releases yet from "one of the core voices of the decade".[20] Chuck Taylor also reviewed "I Want You to Need Me" and wrote that "linking Dion and Diane Warren has always been about as fine a fit as a trusty pair of Thom McAn's. Between Warren's heart-drenched words and dramatic melody writing and Dion's potent vocals straight from soulside, divadom has never sounded so mighty".[21]
Commercial performance
All the Way... A Decade of Song topped the charts around the world and was certified multi-platinum in various countries. During the first two years of its release, the album had sold over seventeen million copies globally.[22] To date, the album has sold over 22 million copies worldwide, becoming the fifteenth best-selling album by a woman in history.[23]
All the Way... A Decade of Song debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with sales of 303,000 copies, the second-largest opener in Dion's career behind Let's Talk About Love (1997) which sold 334,000 units in its first week.[24] The album had a second-week gain of 30% (394,000 copies) and became the third number-one album of her career. In its fifth week, it topped the chart again, selling 537,000 units, becoming the first number one album of the 2000s.[25]All the Way... A Decade of Song drew its biggest weekly sales in its sixth week when it sold 640,000 copies, falling to number two.[26] On the Billboard's list of best-selling records of 1999 in the US, All the Way... A Decade of Song was placed at number thirteen with sales of 2,900,000 units.[27] As of November 2019, All the Way... A Decade of Song has sold 8,200,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan,[28][29] with an additional 1,100,000 units sold at BMG Music Club.[30] It was certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA.[31]All the Way... A Decade of Song is the fourth best-selling greatest hits album in the US in the Nielsen SoundScan era and the best-selling greatest hits album by a female artist.[1] According to Billboard, it was the 26th best-selling album of the decade (2000–09) in the US.[32]
In Canada and in Quebec, All the Way... A Decade of Song debuted at number one.[33][34] The album shipped one million copies and was certified Diamond by the CRIA.[35] In the United Kingdom, All the Way... A Decade of Song debuted at number one, selling 74,681 copies.[36] It became one of five Dion albums to sell more than one million copies in the UK. As of October 2008, the album has sold 1,318,223 units in the UK[36] and was certified four-times Platinum by the BPI.[37] In Germany, the album entered the chart at number one, spending six non-consecutive weeks at the top.[38] It was certified seven-times Gold by the BVMI after it shipped 1,050,000 copies.[39][40] Overall, it sold over five million copies in Europe and was certified five-times Platinum by the IFPI.[41]
All the Way... A Decade of Song was also successful in Japan, where it peaked at number one[42] and was certified two-times Million by the RIAJ, denoting shipment of two million copies.[43] In Australia, the album topped the chart for two weeks and was certified
five-times Platinum by the ARIA.[44]
All global editions of All the Way... A Decade of Song comprise seven new songs and the six previous hits: "The Power of Love", "Beauty and the Beast", "Because You Loved Me", "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "To Love You More" and "My Heart Will Go On". The rest of the track list varies by country:
All editions except for the Australasian edition contain "I'm Your Angel". The Australasian edition replaces it with "Falling into You" from Falling into You.
All editions except for the Canadian/U.S. edition contain "Immortality" from Let's Talk About Love. The Canadian/U.S. edition replaces it with "If You Asked Me To" and "Love Can Move Mountains".
Asian editions contain "Be the Man" from Let's Talk About Love.
The European (excluding the French edition) and Australasian editions contain "Think Twice" from The Colour of My Love.
The French, Brazilian and Japanese editions contain "All by Myself" from Falling into You; the Latin American editions contain the Spanish-language version, "Sola Otra Vez".
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Release history
Release history for All the Way... A Decade of Song
^As of November 2019, All the Way... A Decade of Song has sold 8,200,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan,[28] with an additional 1,100,000 units sold at BMG Music Club.[30] SoundScan does not count albums sold through clubs like the BMG Music Service, which were significantly popular in the 1990s.[140]
