Celine Dion - Incognito (1987)

From 1981-1985, Céline's earliest songs were written almost entirely by the late, great Eddy Marnay, songwriter to the likes of Edith Piaf, Nana Mouskouri, and Maurice Chevalier. Céline confided all of her dreams, her crushes, and her ambitions to Eddy, who created songs that captured the innocence and chaste crushes of childhood.
Around 1987, Céline underwent a drastic transformation from a gawkish teenager with long frizzy curls and pointed teeth to a confident, sexy young woman in preparation for her attempt to conquer the English-speaking market in Canada and south of the border (the United States). To reflect this change, Céline's manager and future husband René Angélil switched from Eddy Marnay to Québécois lyricist Luc Plamondon (easily recognized by his wild blond pompadour and extravagant sunglasses), the edgy creator of the mega-musical Starmania, La Légende de Jimmy and more recently, Notre Dame de Paris (Céline contributed a track, "Live for the One I Love," on the English cast album).
The lyrics and music on Incognito reflect this change, with Céline spunkily erasing the memory of her last boyfriend (Incognito), crooning her desire (Lolita--"Lolita isn't too young to love, not too young to give herself when desire consumes her body to her fingertips") (Jours de Fievre-"the world's more than a hundred degrees, I have heaven and hell, love and war inside of me...I burn and you'll burn with me"), and heartbreak (D'abord, c'est quoi l'amour-"You talk too much, you play with words. When you talk, I believe you...when you say "I love you," I understand it as "for life," but for you it's just for a night, and without knowing what love is, you spend your time talking about love").
The music is delightfully 1980's old school as well, with cheesy synth and drum machine overkill. Sultry sax solos heat things up on "Comme un coeur froid." Although dated, this is still my favourite "old" Céline album. The unique melodies are high-energy and rock-and-roll influenced (especially Incognito, Delivre-moi, and Jours de Fievre), a step up from the string-drenched puppy love ballads of Céline's earlier years. Slower ballads are still to be found in On Traverse un Mirroir, Partout Je Te Vois (rerecorded in English as "Have a Heart" on her first English album Unison (1990), and the strong closing track Comme Un Coeur Froid.
"Incognito" is, for me, is the pinnacle of Céline as a young woman---sexy, confident, and flirtatious, without belting out showstopping lovesick ballads. You can really hear how much her voice has matured from when she first began recording in 1981, or even from her previous album C'est Pour Toi (1985), with clear indicators of her future diva status. She is just experiencing her first taste of love and all the possibilities that await her. If you only buy one French-language Céline Dion CD, make it Incognito and hear what you've been missing!