Celine Dion takes a chance while Alicia Keys stays as she is

It's a battle between the cool and the un-cool, hip hop and ballad, black and white, proven bestseller and another bestseller. Alicia Keys and Celine Dion's head-on album debuts has been a featured Billboard.com poll. Voters thought Celine was to emerge victorious, they were wrong. Billboard statistics placed Keys with a wide lead at the number one slot followed by Josh Groban and then, Dion. Contrary to prevailing calculations and expectations, the Dion magic seems to have failed. Forbes.com expected veteran artists to rule the charts -- two of them being Celine Dion and Garth Brooks.

Pop culture pulse today seems to have its leaning to younger artists. There's X-Factor alumna Leona Lewis ruling the British charts and here's Alicia Keys dominating America. Maybe it's the music. Perhaps it's the look and appeal. (Did I mention the dead ringer effect in Alicia and Leona's album covers?)

So much for the questions, let's take a quick look at the new musical offerings of Dion and Keys.

As I am

With Sony (Keys' label) doing heavy promotion and marketing campaigns, Alicia Keys' "As I am" is ubiquitous. The first single "No One" is reverberating.

The tracks (song title - writers - track length):

1. "As I Am (Intro)" (Alicia Keys) - 1:52
2. "Go Ahead" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers, Mark Batson, Marsha Ambrosius) - 4:35
3. "Superwoman" (Alicia Keys, Linda Perry, S. Moysten) - 4:34
4. "No One" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers, George Harry) - 4:13
5. "Like You'll Never See Me Again" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers) - 5:15
6. "Lesson Learned" (featuring John Mayer) (Alicia Keys, John Mayer) - 4:13
7. "Wreckless Love" (Alicia Keys, Harold Lily, Jack Splash) - 3:52
8. "The Thing About Love" (Alicia Keys, Linda Perry) - 3:49
9. "Teenage Love Affair" (Alicia Keys, Harold Lily, Jack Splash, Josephine Bridges, Carl Mitchell Hampton, Ivan F. Reyes, Tom Nixon) - 3:10
10. "I Need You" (Alicia Keys, Mark Batson, Harold Lily, Paul Green) - 5:09
11. "Where Do We Go from Here" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers, Harold Lily, Ivan F. Reyes, Johnnie Frierson, Mary Lou Cross) - 4:10
12. "Prelude to a Kiss" (Alicia Keys) - 2:07
13. "Tell You Something (Nana's Reprise)" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers, Paul Green, Novel, S. Moysten) - 4:28
14. "Sure Looks Good to Me" (Alicia Keys, Linda Perry) - 4:31

Keys speaks of the album as something very fresh and new. "It's coming together incredibly. I am in love with this album. "

Critics give the album a mainly positive reception. Fans and audience are bringing it to lingering chart success. The album was selected by Rollingstone the #36 best album of 2007.

Being ubiquitous and highly successful, this album needs track descriptions no more.

Taking Chances

(Borrowing the words of Chris Daughtry) Closet Celine Dion fans may just be delighted to hear the Las Vegas Diva's latest offering. The 16-track album is packed with variety and a new edgy sound. It can't really claim to be a total deviation from the usual Dion ballads . Nevertheless, the album boasts of a great musical collaboration Clive Davis may have wished Kelly Clarkson did.

The tracks (song title - writers - track length):

1. "Taking Chances" K. DioGuardi, D. Stewart 04:07
2. "Alone" B. Steinberg, T. Kelly 03:23
3. "Eyes on Me" K. Lundin, S. Kotecha, D. Goodrem 03:53
4. "My Love" L. Perry 04:08
5. "Shadow of Love" A. Bagge, A. Nova, P. Sjöström 04:10
6. "Surprise Surprise" K. DioGuardi, M. Harrington, A. Howes 05:14
7. "This Time" D. Hodges, B. Moody, S. McMorran 03:47
8. "New Dawn" L. Perry 04:45
9. "A Song for You" A. Bagge, A. Nova, R. Wells 03:27
10. "A World to Believe In" T. Izzo, R. Ciciola 04:08
11. "Can't Fight the Feelin'" A. Nova 03:51
12. "I Got Nothin' Left" Ne-Yo, C. Harmon 04:20
13. "Right Next to the Right One" T. Christensen 04:10
14. "Fade Away" P. Astrom, D. Stenmarck, A. Nova 03:17
15. "That's Just the Woman in Me" K. Rew 04:33
16. "Skies of L.A." C. Stewart, The-Dream, T. Harrell 04:24

Surprise Surprise and Skies of L.A. seem to be the most noticeable new sounds introduced in the album. Both have calming and very pleasant effects reminiscent of Coldplay and the soundtrack-meets-country-music type of music. Fade Aways smacks of Kelly Clarkson's Since You've Been Gone. New Dawn has the Gospel Mariah Carey feel. Eyes on Me sounds Shakira -- not really Oriental as how many perceive it. That's Just the Woman in Me is a vocal exhibition with Dion trying to growl a la Janis Joplin.

The vocally notable "Map to My Heart" is a track only available in the Japanese release of Taking Chances. A World to Believe in, on the other hand, sounded a lot better in a collaboration Dion did with Japanese singer Yuna Ito.

Overall, the album is great. However, with the album's "wild" cover, closet Dion fans may still have to do the old trick hiding their cd's behind Alicia Key's (for example) when checking out from the store.