"The Perfect Year" is a song performed by English singer-songwriter

Dina Carroll Geraldine Carroll (born 21 August 1968) is an English singer. She had a string of hits during the 1990s, including the UK top ten singles, " It's Too Late" (1991), " Don't Be a Stranger" (1993), "The Perfect Year", (1993), and "Escaping" (1996 ...

, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton . It is taken from the 1993 musical ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...

'' and was released as a single on 29 November 1993. Later, it was included on Carroll's second album, '' Only Human'' (1996). Becoming one of her most successful songs, it peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number four in Ireland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 17 in January 1994. In 2001, the song was included on Carroll's compilation album, '' The Very Best of Dina Carroll''.

Critical reception

Hannsjörg Riemann from German ''

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'' gave the song two out of five, stating that Carroll "can sing really well." He viewed it as a "tearjerker" that "doesn't tear me off my stool despite the noble design." In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton described the song as a "Christmassy

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

". Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it five out of five and named it Pick of the Week, writing, "This heartwarming ballad from ''

'' with sweeping strings, a powerful vocal and optimistic, seasonal lyrics could easily end Carroll's perfect year by becoming her first number one single." James Hamilton from the '' RM'' Dance Update complimented it as a "gorgeous Lloyd Webber radio ballad". German band

Culture Beat Culture Beat is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Torsten Fenslau. The act has gone through a number of lineup changes over the years; they achieved the most success whilst fronted by singer Tania Evans and rapper Jay Supreme. Their ...

reviewed it for '' Smash Hits'', giving it four out of five. Jay Supreme said, "This is a real sweet song though and a great song if the mood is right."

Tania Evans Tania Evans (born 28 May 1967) is a British singer and songwriter. She gained popularity during her participation in the German Eurodance group Culture Beat from 1993 to 1997. Career Evans' first release was the single "Can't Let Go" in 1992 o ...

stated, "I'd say this is the best she's done so far. Dina is brilliant."

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single. It has a

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and was filmed in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Year Dina Carroll songs 1990s ballads 1993 singles 1993 songs A&M Records singles First Avenue Records singles Songs from musicals Songs with lyrics by Don Black (lyricist) Songs with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber New Year songs