AC radio has evolved dramatically since Celine Dion took up residency at Caesars Palace nearly five years ago —but as she proves on aptly titled "Taking Chances," the globe's best-selling female singer has no interest in repeating history. The title track from new Columbia set (Nov. 13) supplants chest-thumping for fist-pumping amid a bushwhacking midtempo clamor of guitars. Dion's vocals display an appreciably less-polished veneer —an unconstrained ease among glorious dips and bellows—as she riffs with revelry at the peak. Written by Dion mainstay Kara DioGuardi with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and produced by Grammy Award-winning John Shanks, every note works in tandem with the greatest instrument of all: the consummate voice of Dion. "Chances" blazed onto AC at No. 23 this week; with a record-setting 11 No. 1s at the format since 1992, the countdown begins to another sure-fire triumph. —Chuck Taylor