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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Born To Be With You

Dion

1975

Born To Be With You
Album Summary

Born to Be with You is the fourteenth solo studio album by Dion, released in October 1975. Six of the eight tracks were produced by Phil Spector, who had expressed admiration of Dion's earlier work with his doo-wop group, Dion and the Belmonts. Upon completion in 1974, Spector himself shelved the release for twelve months, only to find the album was largely met with indifference by the music establishment at the time. However, in the 1990s, the album began to receive widespread critical acclaim. Artists such as Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream cited it as a key influence. The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.65

Votes

9401
Genres
Pop

Reviews

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Sun Sep 25 2022
1

Bed wettingly shit. A complete and utter disaster of a record that makes me want to strangle an infant.

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Fri Mar 24 2023
2

I think this was added to the list to show those who are unaware of Phil Spector’s criminal history that not everything he touches is gold.

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Thu Oct 06 2022
4

Pretty easy to listen to. I’d probably put it on again as chill background music

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Wed Oct 26 2022
4

Great easy listening. No special single song, but as a whole, just click play and sit back and enjoy.

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Fri Nov 18 2022
4

Great voice, great mellow album, can definitely hear the blues influence, especially in the first track (favourite).

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Wed Jan 25 2023
4

Was my familiar with Dion’s earlier work, but this was a pleasant surprise

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Fri Feb 17 2023
4

The very first note of this is a typical country-twang note... siiiiigh.... but hey wait, it's not country, and this actually sounds quite nice. The second song is nice too. In fact these are all really nice songs. He's got a nice voice, it's all quite heartfelt and there's some nice melodies and interesting ideas here. Real easy listening. It's consistently good all the way through. While it's not 100% my thing, the fact that there's 20 songs and not a single bad one is some achievement. 3.5/5 rounded up to 4

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Wed Oct 05 2022
3

I was expecting a Wall of Sound pastiche. Thankfully this is more a Dion album than a Phil Spector Doo-wop record. It was uplifting, almost spiritual. The saxophone breaks come close to stealing the show. The album drifted a little towards the end, before rescuing itself with a rousing Good Lovin' Man as the closer. Dion deserves wider acclaim.

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Wed Apr 05 2023
1

I think I'd rather listen to Morrissey than listen to this again.

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Fri May 19 2023
1

You know the album just isn't good when the best song on it is a mediocre cover of a song that I like but not love. If I'm ever comatose, play this album because surely I'll wake up to turn it the hell off.

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Sun Sep 25 2022
1

looks like Mulligan or O'hare. nowhere near as funny.

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Mon Dec 12 2022
5

I know some Dion from the 60s, but this was the first exposure to his later work. It was not what I would expect from a former teen-idol doo-wop star. Quite good!

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Sun Mar 19 2023
5

Amazing! I loved the vocals.

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Wed Sep 06 2023
5

10/10 didn’t know Id like an album like this as much as I did, but hey, these songs are actually really good

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Sat Sep 03 2022
4

Pour ceux qui ne seraient pas au courant, la présence de cet album de Dion est un énorme doigt d'honneur de Robert à la communauté générateurienne qui s'attendait évidemment à tomber sur Céline et ses deux-cent-trente-millions d'albums vendus. Que nenni… encore une vilaine farce de notre Robert national.

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Wed Nov 09 2022
4

Прослушано! Неплохой крепкий альбом, можно слушать ещё раз.

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Sun Jan 22 2023
4

Tres bon bliesman ce dion.4.5

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Wed Feb 15 2023
4

Little bit struggling to categorize Dion. The album cover and those glasses are a bit disconcerting for starters. A bit like the soulful parts of Bob Dylan and Tim Hardin. Real Phil Spector polishing and yet you always think something great is coming, but it never does. Still, an enjoyable album to accompany a read up of Dion's quite incredible life, and the Buddy Holly story is quite something.

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Thu Mar 16 2023
4

Levitational longings for the hopeless, restless romantic.

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Thu Mar 16 2023
4

- Make the Woman Love Me fucks - In and Out of the Shadows fucks - Runaway Man fucks - More to you fucks - Hey My Love fucks The rest range from good to fine but filler. Overall good album I liked it.

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Wed Apr 05 2023
4

Very long album, but very good. I really enjoyed the songwriting and the production in the album.

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Mon Apr 17 2023
4

Maybe heretical but I'm not sure the Spector sound has aged all that well, though it could be some combination of the source (I have no idea really what YT Music is up to in that respect -codecs, bit rates etc.) and my lackluster playback equipment. Other than that this is all solid, well crafted lyrics riding a flawlessly professional musical foundation. Much of it delivered by Wrecking Crew icons who are departing this mortal coil at an unsurprising but sad rate over the last couple decades.

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Thu Apr 20 2023
4

Really reminded me of a Jim Croce vibe in the first half. Second half of the album was a bit peppier and more groovy almost. Had a few I really was bouncing too. Almost a 5 for me

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Fri Apr 28 2023
4

Kinda poppy/operatic, reminiscent of Elton John

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Mon May 08 2023
4

One shall not be surprised if a love-struck or love-starved individual had made their path towards this album in some capacity. Even in some of the more heartfelt, expansive and explosive albums in the decade of this album's resurgence (the 1990s) has its DNA strewn all over it. Phil Spector's destructive path in the 70s somehow made it's way to Dion's front door and the pre-British Invasion crooner needed some injection of relevancy in the changed marketplace. It's a shame that Born to Be With You did not recieve the plaudits it deserved at the time, for this is a really great album that shows reminds those of Dion's vocal prowess and the instrumentation involved here is a precursor of what Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies' Man would become a little later (and namely records like Spiritualized's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space). The bonus tracks tacked on the end serves as a postscript and it does its tricks even if it feels a bit mute. Favorites: Born to Be With You, Make the Woman Love Me, Only You Know, In and Out of the Shadows, Good Lovin' Man, Baby, Let's Stick Together.

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Fri May 19 2023
4

Holy shit, like *that* Dion. Damn nice record, good folksy vibe with great production. Your Own Back Yard is pretty topical...

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Thu Jun 15 2023
4

I love his music with the Belmonts, but this is such a mature album. Your Own Backyard is a great song

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Mon Jul 17 2023
4

So what to make of an album that the artist hates and that no one paid attention to for decades? I'm trying to figure it out - I think the angle is I need to hear this because Dion was a teeny bopping doo wopper 15 years earlier and this was a much more mature sound. And yeah I know his big hits and this is way different. So relative to himself you need to hear it. Relative to the music industry? I'm not sure. But I will say this, I really liked it. His voice was captivating and crazy ahole Phil Spector made many of the songs sound soaring. The opener Born to Be With You perfectly captures that soaring feel - it did not feel like a 7min song (nice little sax solo in the middle). Make the Woman Love Me was a great follow-up. And then Your Own Back Yard - kudos to Dion for writing some deep, personal lyrics about his rampant drug habit. Solid song. Only You Know was also very solid (his vocals just resonate) and then there's New York City Song. Absolutely beautiful (and sad) lyrics and vocals from Dion. The song caught me completely by surprise even as I was enjoying the album already. And that's when it hit me as to what this album was capturing - a John Denver kind of folk (with some Spector adds to give it an R&B musical backdrop). That's a good thing on a song like In and Out of the Shadows but a little much on a song like Good Lovin Man. I can honestly say that I will put this album on again (and again) when I need an album to play on repeat for a couple hours. I never would've listened to it if not for this list, but glad I did.

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Thu Jul 20 2023
4

This is great. I'm a total sucker for Phil Spector (producing, not the binfire of a human). A very pleasant listen. Had never heard of Dion before this but there's loads of older stuff I didn't realise was him (The Wanderer!)

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Fri Jul 21 2023
4

Favourite song: Make the Woman Love Me

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Sun Jul 30 2023
4

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Make the woman love me, Good loving man

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Fri Aug 04 2023
4

The main thing that occurs to me when I listen to this, is that I wish Phil Spector had produced an album for Harry Nilsson around the time this record came out. That thought aside, this really is a pretty remarkable achievement for the guy who started his career in '61 with "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer," and "Dream Lover."

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Mon Aug 14 2023
4

8/10. I liked this. Maybe liked the second album that was packaged with it on Spotify a little more, but maybe I was just paying better attention by that point.

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Mon Aug 21 2023
4

Thought this was great. Liked everything on here

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Mon Aug 21 2023
4

Lovely album which surprised me

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Mon Sep 18 2023
4

Lush baroque pop produced by Phil Spector. A little schlocky but not bad.

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Fri Sep 29 2023
4

I absolutely love Dion’s music from the 50s-60s, but I had no idea what to expect from this. It was a little up and down for me as an album, but “Make the Woman Love Me” is absolutely fantastic. I’ve been listening to it nonstop since I finished the full album. I’m not completely sure this should be on a list of greatest albums of all time, but personally I really enjoyed it.

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Fri Oct 20 2023
4

This was much different from everything else I've ever heard from Dion (The Wanderer and that's basically it). It was interesting to hear his voice used more for Elton john style ballads as opposed to 60s doowop music. I liked pretty much all of the songs and even listened to the extra tracks on Spotify but nothing stood out too much to list here really.

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Wed Nov 22 2023
4

This is actually quite good, a lot better than I reckoned going into it. Reading about it and some of the perceived production issues have me wondering how good it could've been in that regard but in terms of composition and storytelling, I enjoyed it.

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Wed Nov 22 2023
4

Folk rock. Está bien. Un 4.

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Mon Nov 27 2023
4

Kind of surprising album here. Never would have picked this up before but I do like it! Title track has a great feel. Your Own Backyard… dig the vibe and vocals. Also New York City Song. At least 3.5 I feel.

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Wed Nov 29 2023
4

I knew his 50s stuff but wasn’t aware of any of this style. Very much enjoyed it

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Sun Dec 03 2023
4

Surprisingly I really enjoyed this album. It was so full of soul and character. I thought it was going to be boring and melancholy and it ended up way more extravagant than I could imagine.

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Wed Jan 24 2024
4

1/23/24. This record surprised me! I only knew Dion from a couple famous 50s songs, but each song here sounded big and in your face in a great way. Definitely will revisit.

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Wed Jan 24 2024
4

Liked this one I chopped off the streetheart bit that spotify had combined.

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Fri Feb 02 2024
4

I probably should hate this but I didn’t. Cheesy fun

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Sun Feb 04 2024
4

Folk rock. Está bien. Un 4.

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Mon Feb 05 2024
4

Very nice timeless vibes to this. I was tempted to give it 5 stars because I would like to listen again, but it is definitely “pleasant” rather than “brilliant”.

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Wed Feb 14 2024
4

This had some really fun tracks, and some boring ones.

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Fri Mar 08 2024
4

I came to understand Dion as more than "Runaround Sue" via, of all goddamned things, Mott the Hoople, and 1971's Brain Capers, an album I hold in the highest of esteem. They covered "Your Own Backyard", and I was really knocked out by the soulful humanity of the lyrics. So I was intrigued when this came up, and by the end of this Leonard Cohen-ish, collection, I can say I am a fan.

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Fri Mar 15 2024
4

A mix of pop, country, crooner, folk. Not quite on a par with the classic 60s pop / do-wop for me (Runaround Sue is a certified BANGER) but certainly does enough to show why he's regularly listed as one of the best vocalists ever. Lovely stuff.

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Sat Mar 16 2024
4

Interest grew with every listen and a fairly mundane listen at first became an intriguing pop baroque record with unusual song choices and an uneasiness just below the surface.

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Fri Sep 02 2022
3

Solid album, a bit depressing tho

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Sat Sep 03 2022
3

Alors là, c'est la cerise sur le gâteau. Comme vous le savez déjà, Robert n'a pas jugé nécessaire d'inclure Céline Dion dans sa liste pourrie. En revanche, Robert nous offre ici un superbe pied de nez, en incluant l'illustre inconnu Dion, homonyme de la chanteuse à succès que l'on connait tous. Robert ne perd décidément rien pour attendre, multipliant les farces ces dernières semaines.

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Sat Sep 03 2022
3

It's great to hear another side of Dion, outside of his music with the Belmonts and his solo stuff from the 60s. The collaboration with Phil Spector is fitting for a vocalist like Dion, and when it works, the results are really lovely. There does seem to be a little stylistic tension though, between what you might expect in a Phil Spector-produced record and what I suspect is Dion's preference for more of a contemporary, singer-songwriter sound (see: "New York City Song"). The result is a somewhat uneven quality from song to song. Added to that, the album has a fairly slow moving pace and a bit of a dour mood overall. In the mid-70s, apparently that didn't play so well, but I think the album has actually aged remarkably well. It was really ahead of its time. Very high 3, not quite a 4. Fave Songs: Only You Know, In and Out of the Shadows, Born to Be with You, New York City Song

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Mon Sep 05 2022
3

Could Not get in to it. If Meh had an album....

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Fri Sep 16 2022
3

Would have preferred the other album

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Thu Sep 22 2022
3

It wasn’t awful but it folded intell was not my thing.

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Thu Oct 06 2022
3

I can definitely hear some of this in the recent Bobby Gillespie / Jenny Beth record. It’s not quite 3.5, but better than a 3. I probably won’t listen to it again but it was pleasant enough while it lasted.

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Fri Oct 21 2022
3

Nicely bland and listenable. Can't say I'd listen again, but also can't say I didn't like it, on the whole. First half of the album is stronger than the second half.

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Wed Oct 26 2022
3

Decent album, nice runtime but ultimately nothing exciting or groundbreaking or even memorable to warrant more than a 3

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Sun Nov 13 2022
3

Very chill pop rock, might work well as background music

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Mon Nov 21 2022
3

Not a bad album for background music, quite pleasant and with a few interesting moments. I really can't see it as any more than that and I have my doubts about if it really deserves being on this list. I quite liked Queen Of 1959 from the bonus tracks - with tracks like that on the actual album, this could have been a solid 4.

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Wed Nov 23 2022
3

Before today I'd never heard of Dion. He apparently got his start in music singing with a Doo Wop group called Dion and the Belmonts, before going off on his own, and exploring his sound a bit more. I enjoyed this album. It wasn't something amazing or groundbreaking, but it was a nice easy listening experience. I find that Dion sounds like Van Morrison, or Simon & Garfunkel. Just a nice, easy, 70's pop rock sound. The addition of sax was great! The Spotify link for this album is a double album (Born to Be With You/Streetheart), so it was a little longer listen than just the one album, but I didn't mind because it familiarized me with more of his work. The "Streetheart" side of the album was more upbeat and rockin' than the Born to Be With You side. All in all, a good listening experience today. Not phenomenal, but perfectly average. Favourite songs: Good Lovin' Man, The Way You Do The Things You Do, In and Out of the Shadows, New York City Song Least favourite song: (He's Got) The Whole World In His Hands 3/5

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Thu Nov 24 2022
3

Nothing offensive but nothing memorable either

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Fri Nov 25 2022
3

If Father John Misty and Steely Dan had a baby and raised him in a loving Christian household, this is the music I think he’d make.

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Fri Dec 02 2022
3

This album was more interesting than I thought it would be. I wouldn't necessarily say that I enjoyed listening to it all that much because it's not a style of music that I find all that enjoyable (nor did Dion, for that matter), but the production is interesting. Phil Spector may be a god damned murderous psychopath, but he knew how to make a compelling sound. The themes of redemption that run through the album make it very interesting. A pop star who has been through hell and is now trying to make good on the other side is an interesting theme for an album. Dion's story and his perspective on it is worth listening to, if only just once 3/5

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Mon Dec 05 2022
3

69 love songs for swinging lovers but actually good? Some actual quality mixed with some cornballesque stuff

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Mon Dec 05 2022
3

Dion is more known as a 50s and 60s doo wop singer and that's how know him - as lead singer for Dion and the Belmonts. In the 70s It seems he has re-positioned himself as a singer-songwriter and as such this album is pretty unremarkeable. I liked much of it but as pleasant background music; nothing really reached out and demanded my attention. Sorry Dion...3 stars

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Sun Dec 11 2022
3

Has some good songs in it but is very bloated, love his voice and the more simple songs with string instruments in them, but a tough listen all at once Fav songs Streetheart Born to be with you NYC song 6/10

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Mon Dec 12 2022
3

This seemed very adult. Not in a bowm-chicka-bowm-bowm way but in an I gotta wear a suit and do my taxes kinda way.

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Wed Dec 21 2022
3

A mostly love song album that goes on for quite a while. At 20 songs there’s no shortage of romantic topics covered. I felt like this was a white R&B album. Smooth, enjoyable, not that complex and a little poppy. Never really listened to this guy but he seems like a Walmart John Lennon. Overall thought it was okay. 6.5/10

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Sun Jan 01 2023
3

Kind of like a love child of Van Morrison and Rodriguez. Mellow tunes, nice arrangements and decent lyrics. No particular standout tracks for me.

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