The album features cover versions of popular Christmas songs and original material, including "I'm Your Angel" and "The Prayer".
The album has been certified six-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of six million copies in the United States.
Dion worked on These Are Special Times with her longtime partners David Foster and Ric Wake, who produced most of the songs.
Other tracks include inspired arrangements of standards like "O Holy Night", "Blue Christmas" (Diana Krall on acoustic piano), "Adeste Fideles", "Ave Maria" and new versions of the modern classics "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Feliz Navidad".
Instead, "I Met An Angel (On Christmas Day)" - which was originally released as a B-Side to Dion's 1999 single "That's The Way It Is" - is included, as the album's closing track.
[14] He wrote, "sounding at complete ease and wielding a wildly creative wand, an ever-maturing Dion conjures up surprise on what should be regarded as her next "big" album".
[14] He praised "grandiose versions of standards" ("O Holy Night", "Adeste Fideles"), "modern classics" ("Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", "Feliz Navidad") and "thoughtfully produced original compositions" ("Another Year Has Gone By", "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day").
[14] According to him, other highlights include "The Prayer", a "gorgeous duet" with Andrea Bocelli, the "Phil Spector-esque" "Christmas Eve", and a "sparkling reading" of "Ave Maria".
[16] Taylor commented, "what raises the roof is the tune's elegant, epic instrumental base, which includes sweeping strings, a soulful choir, and gentle but determined percussive drive".
[16] He continued, that "I'm Your Angel" "sells big at the bridge, where the instrumentation drops and Kelly and Dion harmonize in a gorgeous minor key – it truly makes the song".
[16] Chuck Taylor also reviewed "The Prayer", calling it "a breathtaking, ultra-lush song, and the tour de force combination of Dion and Bocelli [which] will send a half-dozen chills up your spine".
[17] Although he felt that the song is "an unorthodox track for the radio", Taylor called it "affecting", "heartwarming", "absolutely exquisite" and "one of Dion's most radiant performances ever".
[17] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated that "any fan of Dion, or of '90s adult contemporary pop in general, should find this [album] very enjoyable".
[13] By the end of 1998, These are Special Times sold 6 million copies worldwide, including 738,000 from Canada,[18] becoming the best-selling holiday album of 1998 in the US & globally.
[25] In its fourth week, thanks to Dion's CBS television special, the album rose to number three, with a 94% sales increase (409,000 copies), becoming a greatest gainer again.
[27] These Are Special Times tied Amy Grant's 1992 Home for Christmas as the highest-charting holiday album ever by a female artist.
[44] These Are Special Times was also successful in Australasia and Europe, hitting the top ten in most countries and peaking at number one in Switzerland[45] and Norway.
[12] These Are Special Times was a television ratings champion, ranking number-one for the night[26] and drawing an audience of more than sixteen million viewers.
[64] Billboard ranked her rendition of the classic hit "O Holy Night" at number 68 on their "100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time" list, calling it a "bombastically earnest performance".