''Les premières années'' (English: "the early years") is a French-language

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

by Canadian singer

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

, released in France by

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

on 10 January 1994. It features eighteen rare songs recorded between 1982 and 1988, including the Eurovision-winning "

Ne partez pas sans moi "Ne partez pas sans moi" (; "Don't Leave Without Me") is a song recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion with music composed by Atilla Şereftuğ and lyrics by Nella Martinetti. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, held in Dublin, winning ...

". In France, ''Les premières années'' was certified Gold. The album was also released in Belgium, reaching number twelve on the chart in Wallonia.

Background and content

After the success of "

Un garçon pas comme les autres (Ziggy) "Un garçon pas comme les autres" ( "A Boy Like No Other") is a song written and produced by Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon for the 1978 musical, '' Starmania''. It was originally performed by Fabienne Thibeault and released on the '' Starman ...

", which reached number two on the

French Singles Chart SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

in 1993,

issued ''Les premières années'' on 10 January 1994, a compilation of Dion's early and rare recordings from the '80s. In addition to the singles, it also includes album tracks and singles

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

("En amour", "Comment t'aimer").

Critical reception and commercial performance

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album two and a half out of five stars. Thanks to the success of ''

D'eux ''D'eux'' (French for "of them, "about them", or "from them"; homophonic with , meaning "two") is the thirteenth studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, and her tenth French-language album. It was released by Sony Music on 30 March 1995 in ...

'', ''Les premières années'' has eventually sold 180,000 copies in France and was certified Gold in November 1995. After being also released in Belgium, it entered the Wallonia Albums Chart in June 1995 and peaked at number twelve in November 1995.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from

. * Didier Barbelivien – composer *

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the " Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had a significant impact on popular musi ...

– primary artist, vocals * Thierry Geoffroy – composer *

Hubert Giraud Hubert Yves Adrian Giraud (3 March 1920 – 16 January 2016) was a French composer and lyricist. Career Giraud began his career playing the harmonica with Django Reinhardt's jazz group, the Quintette du Hot Club de France. In 1941, he was recr ...

– composer * Jean-Pierre Goussaud – composer * Andy Hill – composer * J.P. Lang – composer * Patrick Lemaitre – composer * Christian Loigerot – composer *

Eddy Marnay Edmond Bacri (18 December 1920 – 3 January 2003), known professionally as Eddy Marnay, was a French songwriter. In his career, he wrote more than 4000 songs, including works for Édith Piaf, Frida Boccara and Céline Dion. He was joint win ...

– composer * Nella Martinetti – composer * Jean Claude Massoulier – composer * Romano Musumarra – composer * Francois Oren – composer *

André Popp André Charles Jean Popp (19 February 1924 – 10 May 2014) was a French composer, arranger and screenwriter. Biography Popp was born into a family of German-Dutch background, in Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée. He started his career as a church ...

– composer * A. Sereftug – composer *

Peter Sinfield Peter John Sinfield (27 December 1943 – 14 November 2024) was an English poet and songwriter. He was best known as a co-founder and lyricist of King Crimson. Their debut album '' In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the fi ...

– composer * R. Walt Vincent – composer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Premieres annees, Les 1994 compilation albums Albums produced by Eddy Marnay Celine Dion compilation albums