天长地久－世纪情歌精选 (1999)

All the Way... A Decade of Song is the first English-language greatest hits album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Columbia Records and Epic Records on 12 November 1999. Conceived as a celebration of Dion's commercial success during the 1990s, the album combines nine of her most successful recordings with seven newly recorded tracks. Dion collaborated primarily with longtime producer David Foster on the new material, with additional contributions from leading pop producers including Max Martin, Kristian Lundin, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, James Horner, and Matt Serletic. The album became the best-selling greatest hits collection by a female solo artist in the United States during the Nielsen SoundScan era. It has sold over 22 million copies worldwide, including more than nine million in the United States, five million in Europe, two million in Japan, and one million in Canada.

Although All the Way... A Decade of Song received mixed critical reviews—many critics praised the strength of the included hits while questioning the decision to pair them with seven new recordings—the lead single, "That's the Way It Is", was widely acclaimed for its uplifting production and contemporary pop sound. The album was a major commercial success globally, debuting at number one in most major music markets. It ranked seventh on the US Billboard 200 Year-End chart for 2000 and 26th on the Billboard 200 Decade-End chart, cementing its status as one of Dion's most successful releases.

Background

After 10 years of constant recording, touring, and global promotion, Dion announced that she would take an extended break from the music industry. "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 in 1999. Before beginning her two‑year hiatus on 1 January 2000, Dion and her team assembled All the Way... A Decade of Song as a retrospective celebration of her achievements throughout the 1990s—a decade in which she sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

During this period, Dion evolved from a rising Canadian vocalist into one of the world's most successful and recognizable pop artists. Between 1990 and 1999, she released six English‑language studio albums—from Unison (1990) to All the Way... A Decade of Song—as well as six newly recorded French‑language albums. Her output earned her numerous accolades, including five Grammy Awards, and established her as one of the defining voices of the decade.

The creation of All the Way... A Decade of Song was a meticulous process. The team faced the challenge of balancing Dion's most iconic hits with a meaningful selection of new material that would offer listeners something fresh. "We had hourly conversations, back and forth, about what the combination should be," recalled John Doelp, the album's co‑executive producer. "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 that the project grew organically: "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."

The resulting album blended Dion's most celebrated hits with new recordings crafted by some of the era's most influential producers, serving both as a capstone to her record‑breaking decade and as a final major release before her temporary retreat from the spotlight.

Content

Album

All the Way... A Decade of Song contains nine greatest hits together with seven new songs in a single‑disc collection. The new material was created in collaboration with leading producers and songwriters, including Max Martin, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, James Horner and Will Jennings—the team behind "My Heart Will Go On"—as well as Quebec composer and producer Luc Plamondon, Diane Warren, and David Foster. The Horner and Jennings composition "Then You Look at Me" also appeared in December 1999 on the soundtrack of Bicentennial Man, starring Robin Williams. Plamondon's "Live (for the One I Love)", adapted from the original French song "Vivre", was later included on the 2000 English-language cast album of Notre-Dame de Paris.