Search - Jane Olivor :: Love Decides

A welcome return by arguably the best singer on the planet!

11/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I became a Jane Olivor fan at age 12. I'm now 35. Amazingly, on this release, her first since 1982's "In Concert", her voice has not changed since I first heard it. The new disc marks a triumph for Olivor, whose taste in material has only improved over time. If you've never heard Olivor, she's often compared to Piaf and Streisand, but I've always believed she's inimitable. There's simply no one else who sings like her--the voice soars, is quite beautiful and her interpretations are never predictable. Personal favorites off this (though all the tracks are amazing), include "Half Heaven, Half Heartache", "Bury My Lovely" (an October Project cover) and "Night Song". She has co-composed a couple of songs on the album and includes a song written by Jason Darrow, who produced her prior releases. The production on this album is superior to that of prior Olivor albums and very similar in quality to recent k.d. lang releases. On this disc, Olivor often sounds like she's there in your living room (pick your environment) singing to you alone--something that the prior albums didn't quite achieve--perhaps the technology has evolved. If you're an Olivor fan, this one is not to be missed."

18 years in the making

Daniel W. Koonce | Little Rock, AR USA | 11/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I remember the first time I saw Jane Olivor singing "Chasing Rainbows" on the Tonight Show in the late 70s; I went out the next day and bought her first two albums. I was captivated by her great unique voice and expressive style. (Some have compared her voice to Edith Piaf and Barbra Streisand.)After five albums, she retired from the music business in the early 80s. Now after 18 years, she's back with a new incredible recording produced by the renowned producer Steve Addabbo (Shawn Colvin)."Love Decides" has a completely different feel from her Columbia recordings; I get the feeling that this is the real Jane Olivor; still the same great unique voice, but a much more personal performance.Jane co-wrote two of the songs on this recording: "However Dark the Night" and "In the Moment." She's included at least three songs that she's been singing in concert for the past few years: "Love Decides," which appears to have been written just for her; "Colors of the Wind," written by Stephen Schwartz (from Pocahontas); and "I'll be Here," which she she closed her show with in Dallas a couple of years ago."I Believe in You" was written by Jason Darrow, who was responsible for writing several of her early songs, and produced several of her Columbia recordings.Jane gets Gene Pitney to sing harmony vocals on one of his old hits, "Half Heaven, Half Heartache." My vote for the best tracks are "Love Decides," "However Dark the Night," "I Believe in You," and "I'll be Here.""

A long-awaited return...

J. R. SOUTH | Albany, New York USA | 11/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I still remember the night, way back in the 70's, that I purchased Jane Olivor's first album "First Night" after reading an extraordinary review of her music in the NY Times. As excellent as that review was, it didn't come close to describing the haunting, gorgeous sound of Olivor's voice, or her ingenious choices in song material. Everyone who heard this record playing in my house stopped dead in their tracks and ended up running to the store to get a copy of their own. Jane followed that with 4 other recordings: all standouts, and all still available in music stores---after all these years. That's how remarkable she is. Oddly enough, Jane never became the superstar everyone thought she would be, but that only added to her mystique and her ablity to remain so utterly original. But what was even more surprising is Jane's disappearance from the recording studio for eighteen years. For a time, she seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth, leaving heart-broken music fans wondering WHAT could have happened. Now comes the best part: she is back and she is still magnificent, as demonstrated with "Love Decides", a collection of 11 unique, carefully picked songs guaranteed to keep you waiting for the next CD. This is the first "direct-to-disc" recording for Jane, and modern technology is even more in love with her voice than vinyl was. The arrangements are simpler (in the best sense of the word) than past recordings, and often remind me of why I love George Winston so much. The digital sound, superb engineering by Steve Addabo & Ed Keane, and buoyant accompaniment allow Olivor's lyrical mezzo to flourish, still mesmerizing, still milking everything she can get out of a song, and sounding just as---even better---than our "First Night" date all those years ago. Please, Varese Sarabande, sign this girl to a LONG contract. And Jane, thanks for all the memories. Don't go away again..."