The follow-up to her blockbuster album The Colour of My Love (1993) and French-language D'eux (1995), Falling into You showed a further progression of Dion's music.

The album combines many elements: ornate orchestral frills and African chanting, and instruments like the violin, Spanish guitar, trombone, the cavaquinho, saxophone and supreme string arrangements, which created a new sound.

"Falling into You" (originally by Marie-Claire D'Ubaldo) and "River Deep, Mountain High" (Ike & Tina Turner cover) made prominent use of percussion instruments.

"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (originally by Pandora's Box) and "All by Myself" (Eric Carmen cover) kept their soft-rock atmosphere, but were combined with the classical sound of the piano.

The album also includes English adaptations of songs from D'eux: "If That's What It Takes" ("Pour que tu m'aimes encore"), "I Don't Know" ("Je sais pas") and "Fly" ("Vole").

Outside North America, Falling into You also features a cover of Carole King's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".

Dion worked on Falling into You with many producers, mainly with Jim Steinman, David Foster, Ric Wake, Jean-Jacques Goldman and Humberto Gatica.

Verna highlighted the chart-topping "Because You Loved Me" and other hit-worthy moments on the album: a Meat Loaf-style epic "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", the laid back "Falling into You", bouncy pop "Make You Happy", sultry ballad "Seduces Me" (produced by Duran Duran producer, John Jones), and effervescent "Declaration of Love".

[11] The same critic called "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" a ballad that pits Dion against the bombastic production of Jim Steinman, adding that "lesser talents might have been gobbled up by this melodramatic arrangements, but Dion rises to the occasion with a performance that soars above the instrumentation with deliciously theatrical flair".

[12] A positive review also came from senior editor of AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who gave Falling into You four stars out of five.

He felt that Dion tackles dance-pop and love songs with grace and that effortless elegance saves the mediocre material on the album from being tedious.

According to him, there are a couple of weak tracks on Falling into You but it is a remarkably well-crafted set of adult contemporary pop and Dion's best album.

Eddy wrote: "There's something compellingly eccentric about even the mushiest ballads on Celine Dion's new set Falling into You, which features Spanish guitars, African chanting, and ornate orchestral frills.

But only in her desolate cover of Eric Carmen's "All by Myself" and her brutal blues-mama dance "Declaration of Love" (which kicks like Bonnie Raitt and Wynonna only wish they could) does she truly crash through the glass ceiling of passion".

Gardner gave the album two out of four stars and wrote that Dion "dabbles in more soulful and sophisticated textures, and at times her dilettantism pays off.

[17] Elle Canada discussed how Falling into You changed pop music forever saying: "the album helped shape genre trends of the era and cemented the enduring relevance of the heartfelt power ballad in a cynical musical landscape that still sneered at sentimentality.

And her influence set the stage for the next generation of big vocalists such as Adele, Jennifer Hudson, Lady Gaga, and Ariana Grande".

[18] Reader's Digest Canada included Falling into You as one of the 25 Greatest Canadian Albums of all time, placing it at number 22, calling it the "most complete summation of her gifts as an entertainer: stylish, catchy and unabashedly emotional".

[19] In 2014, Richard Dunn recorded a video on his iPhone when he was trapped alone in the Las Vegas airport overnight which utilized one of the biggest songs from the album, the 1996 cover of Eric Carmen's "All by Myself" that immediately became a viral hit across the internet.

[22] On 19 July 1996, for a TV audience of 3.5 billion viewers, Celine Dion sang "The Power of the Dream" during the Opening Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympic Games.

[24] Superstars like Michael Buble,[25] Mandy Moore,[26] Amanda Holden,[27] Jordin Sparks[28] and Viola Davis[29] among many others jumped on the trend.

In Germany, the album peaked at number five and was certified five-times Gold by the BVMI for sales of 1.3 million copies.

The Asian editions of Falling into You included "To Love You More", a 1995 hit single which reached number one in Japan and has sold 1.3 million copies there.

The Australian and Asian limited editions of Falling into You with bonus disc included "The Power of the Dream", a song performed by Dion during the 1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

Additionally, three more promotional singles from Falling into You were released: "Dreamin' of You" in Mexico, "Make You Happy" in Brazil and "River Deep – Mountain High" in France.

In the US, she performed "Because You Loved Me" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and Live with Regis and Kathie Lee in March 1996.

On 19 July 1996, Dion sang "The Power of the Dream" at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States.

"To Love You More" added to the Asian editions of Falling into You won International Single Grand Prix at the Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1996.

She was nominated for Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in categories Favorite Female Artist - Pop and Favourite Song from a Movie ("Because You Loved Me").

Songs added outside the US include: "Your Light", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "To Love You More" and "Sola Otra Vez".