TOO GOOD TO WAIT; CELINE DION CITES GOOD SONGS IN DECISION TO SPEED RELEASE.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer

It's almost too easy to antagonize the swarm of publicists surrounding easy-listening pop diva Celine Dion. All you have to do is bring up human sacrifice.

``Oh, no, don't do that,'' one of Dion's worried assistants says when it's suggested that the songbird be questioned about the blood-letting rituals that just might be the real explanation for her incredible success. ``She doesn't understand sarcasm.''

Who's being sarcastic? How else but the use of dark rites to explain Dion's 1996 release, ``Falling Into You,'' the best-selling album of that year to the tune of a startling 25 million copies worldwide.

Or the many awards, Grammy, Oscar and otherwise, snagged by the French Canadian singer whose new album, ``Let's Talk About Love,'' is due Nov. 18. Meanwhile, ``Tell Him,'' a Dion duet with Barbra Streisand, is nearing the top of the adult-contemporary chart.

Dion's latest disc finds the 29-year-old singer working with a host of high-profile collaborators, including Beatles producer George Martin, Luciano Pavarotti, Carole King, the Bee Gees and Streisand.

``I'm calling it the album of my life,'' Dion said by telephone from Quebec. ``It represents what I've been looking for my entire career.''

The album's 15 songs were recorded in an unusually quick two-month period. Initially, Dion and her manager/husband, Rene Angelil, planned to take a year off following the global ``Falling Into You'' tour. But Sony's 550 Music urged the couple to consider a new album for the holidays.

It's a surprise that Dion would release another album so soon after ``Falling,'' which remained in the top 10 for more than a year and spawned the top-five hits ``Because You Loved Me'' (the theme to ``Up Close & Personal''), ``It's All Coming Back to Me Now'' and ``All By Myself.''

But Dion insists that if she had not uncovered such outstanding material, the album would have waited until next year.

``We were very lucky to find such good songs,'' she said. ``That's what made all the difference. Everyone understood that if the songs weren't there, we wouldn't record yet.''

Songs for the heart

In her native Canada as well as France, Dion has been popular since she was a teen. It wasn't until 1991 when she released an English-language record that her soaring pop voice broke in the United States. Her theme to ``Beauty and the Beast'' was an early smash.

At popular adult-contemporary stations like KOST-FM (103.5) and KBIG-FM (104.3), Dion is a core artist, one of the voices that drives and defines the top-rated format.

``She's one of the most talented singers in the world,'' said Johnny Chiang, music director at KOST. ``And one of the most popular. A lot of it has to do with timing. In the past two years, adult pop radio has been inundated with female rockers like Alanis Morissette and Fiona Apple. In that kind of company, Celine is a breath of fresh air.''

Chiang also pointed out that the staples of female adult-contemporary - Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and Janet Jackson - have gone in a more r&b direction with their music, leaving Dion ``the only one left with a mainstream, offend-nobody approach.''

Charlie Rafols, music director at KBIG, said Dion has the ability to make lyrics sound personal.

``She speaks to the heart,'' Rafols said. ``With Celine, you don't have to be up on the latest trends. A good song is a good song. And she really knows how to put a good song across.''

The duet with Streisand stems from Babs' invitation after Dion performed the Bryan Adams/Streisand duet ``I Finally Found Someone'' at the Oscars last spring.

``It's a dream come true to work with her,'' Dion said.

Dion's longtime producer, David Foster, plus Linda Thompson and Walter Afanasieff, were asked to compose a song for the pair. ``Tell Him'' has Streisand reassuring an uncertain Dion that it's OK to admit her love to a boyfriend.

The singers recorded their vocals separately, ``but when I heard her voice, I almost passed out. I almost lost it. I just started crying,'' Dion recalled.

Dion will join the Bee Gees for their only stateside concert of the year Friday at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Dion will sing her new single, ``Immortality,'' which was penned by the brothers Gibb, who contributed background vocals to the ballad.

``The Bee Gees have such a specific and wonderfully warm sound that right away you connect and feel what they're singing about,'' said Dion, who plans to launch a world tour next summer.

``Touring is my favorite part,'' Dion said. ``It's the gift of show business. I love recording, where you can always repeat what you've done. But on stage, you can be free. There's nobody to tell you what to do.''

The new disc also contains ``My Heart Will Go On,'' the theme to director James Cameron's heavily anticipated, wildly expensive ``Titanic'' feature, which opens Dec. 19.

As for the future, Dion says she'd like to act, have a baby and record in other languages. In fact, Dion will cut her next French-language album early next year.

``I haven't begun taking acting classes, but I've read scripts,'' she said. ``We haven't decided on anything.''

Starting young

The youngest of 14 children, Dion gave her first performance at the age of 5 and at 12 recorded a demo that found its way to Angelil. Taking her under his wing, Angelil steered the youngster's career, even remortgaging his house to pay for the recording of Dion's debut album. She was embraced first in Tokyo, where she won the Gold Medal at the 1982 Yamaha World Song Festival, and in France, where she received a gold disc the following year.

She then won the 33rd annual Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland, performing for Switzerland. She recorded four top-selling French-language albums in Canada before signing with Sony's 550 label in 1991. Dion married Angelil, 55, three years ago.

After the astounding international success of ``Falling Into You,'' Dion says she's not making any projections about the forthcoming ``Let's Talk About Love.''

In fact, she said she never expects anything from an album in terms of sales.

``I never think about that sort of thing,'' Dion said. ``I don't want to be disappointed.''

No chance. And we're not being sarcastic.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) `Let's talk about ... ' CELINE DION

(2) `I'm calling it the album of my life. It represents what I've been looking for my entire career.'

Celine Dion

on ``Let's Talk About Love''