Olivia NewtonJohn - 20th Century Masters The Best of Olivia NewtonJohn The Millennium Collection EcoFriendly Packaging (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

Fine hits giving me chills--but there's just not enough of t

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 03/13/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"20th Century Masters - The Best of Olivia Newton-John: The Millennium Collection gives us great artistry by Olivia Newton-John; but sadly it's still not substantial enough of an album to truly call this a "best of" compilation. However, what we do get here is absolutely wonderful; and the sound quality is very good as it usually is in this series. The artwork is about par for this series.

The track set starts of with Olivia performing "Let Me Be There;" this country/soft rock ballad really sounds great when Olivia sings it out and the musical arrangement works wonders for this ballad. Olivia's excellent diction makes her performance sound all the best and "Let Me Be There" is a great start for this CD "I Honestly Love You" is about as tender a love ballad as you're ever gonna hear; and Olivia sings this with such sensitivity that it stuns me with its beauty. There's also a fine recording of Olivia doing her best on "Have You Never Been Mellow." :Have You Never Been Mellow" brings back so many fond memories for me because I listened to this so many times on the radio back in the day. The music sounds great and it goes very well along with the lyrics to this song.

"Hopelessly Devoted To You" comes from the movie Grease, I believe; and Olivia delivers this like the pro she always was whenever she performed! The musical effects are wonderful and this makes "Hopelessly Devoted To You" a great pop/soft rock love tune.

"Magic" has a more modern, eclectic feel to it; and this works well when Olivia sings it passionately. The guitars on "Magic" help the songs along and the use of minor keys really makes this number glisten! In addition, Olivia does a duet with Cliff Richard on "Suddenly;" this tune from the `70s sounds good even today and I remember dancing to this at many a school dance when I was younger. Olivia and Cliff complement each other very well and that makes "Suddenly" sound really good.

"Heart Attack" sounds like the late `70s or maybe even early `80s if I remember correctly; the beat is much more aggressive than the beat on the previous tracks and Olivia changes keys very smoothly to make "Heart Attack" sound strong and yet very natural--all the more appealing to the listener.

"Twist Of Fate" ends the album with a distinctly late `70s/eaarly'80s feel to it; but still Olivia sings this strong and "Twist Of Fate" is a good ending for the album.

Sure, this is good stuff. But where are the other songs from Grease that she sang with John Travolta? Where's all her other tunes? What a disappointment--this is NOT a "best of" compilation--not by a long shot. Nevertheless, because what we do get is first class, I will compromise and give this album three stars. This is probably best suited for the casual fan who wants just a sampling of Olivia's greatest hits; the diehard fan will want to seek out box sets and other CDs by Olivia Newton-John that are much more substantial.

"

The bare essentials

Chris | Sydney, Australia | 10/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, granted, there are better, more complete compilations out there. In fact, there's an absolute multitude, so you can pick and choose to your heart's content to find the Olivia "era" which suits you best. However for those of you who for some bizarre reason are lacking in the Olivia department, this new 20th Century Masters release "The Best Of Olivia Newton-John" should be considered your training ground.Included on this nice little package are twelve of Olivia's biggest US Top Twenty hits. Of course the most obvious omissions are "You're The One That I Want" and "Summer Nights", the two uber-hits from the mega musical "Grease". However, all households should own a copy of the soundtrack already, so the loss is not a particularly significant one.The disc starts with Olivia's twangy "breakthrough" hit "Let Me Be There" which still holds the same naive charms it did twenty years ago. The next three inclusions are gems culled from Olivia's mid-seventies country / AC output, most notable is the #1 hit "Have You Never Been Mellow" which remains as sublime and fresh as ever. No Olivia collection is complete without the "Grease" solo "Hopelessly Devoted To You", but the butter-wouldn't-melt image Ms Newton-John projects in these early MOR tunes are pushed aside for the latter half of the disc. 1978's "A Little More Love" is a rocking tune with an incessantly catchy hook, and "Deeper Than The Night" (from the same year) is about as R'n'B as Olivia has ever gone. The remaining songs include "Physical" (come on, #1 for ten weeks - legwarmers, exercise, fat men, you remember it), two inclusions from the "Xanadu" soundtrack (still a notable highlight in Olivia's musical career) and a couple of underrated masterpieces. The first is "Heart Attack", the track which effectively accompanied Olivia's 1982 / 1983 "Physical" tour. A harder, sassier, edgier Olivia is complimented by a bubbling synth which pushes her to the limit. And just when you thought the eighties couldn't get much better for our Liv, along comes "Twist Of Fate", a pulsating dance hit from the (failed) movie "Two Of A Kind". Both were modest hits for Olivia, reaching #3 and #5 on the US charts respectively.For anyone who is familiar with the lovely Olivia Newton-John's catalogue, you'll know that the fun does not end here. There is a multitude of beautiful recordings from this underappreciated legend, ranging from folk to country, from pop to dance, from rock to orchestral renditions of much-loved standards. For those who are less knowledgable on the guilty pleasure that is Olivia, then this is the perfect place to start."

"girl next door is hopelessly devoted to you"

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 02/24/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Universal Music presents a sampling of some rare glimpses of the talented artist Olivia
Newton-John...undisputedly a big hit by American standards which she has devoted
groundbreaking music and re-interpret some strikingly original tunes...as a popular vocalist in
the '70s and '80s, no one could come close in the pure essence of delivery, almost like the girl
next door. Now comes the favorite picks of my review ~ "HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU"(with
John Travolta), from the musical "GREASE", which still holds up well, even by todays
standards(in other words, a CLASSIC)...another is "HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN
MELLOW", Olivia's interpretation still gives me chills from the very first note..."MAGIC", a
trance-like arrangement which hit the charts originally and stayed there for weeks, brings back
unforgettable memories of that time with a smiling face. Olivia has reached such fame by sharing uncategorizable improvisations that is nothing short
than "pure enjoyable entertainment"...this is far from complete, if you want more check out my
review on "Magic-Very Best of Olivia Newton-John"(UTV Records 314-585-233-2) with
21 tunes, sure to knock you socks off...but this release at hand is a must have for all fans and
friends of OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN! Total Time: 42:36 on 12 Tracks ~ Universal Music 314-585-412-2 ~ (2002)"

MCA makes another major mistake with her catalog

Matt Coker | Davis, CA, USA | 08/01/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I like Olivia Newton-John's music; I've been listening to her records for a long time, and have developed an appreciation for her catalog-something lost in the corporate headquarters of MCA. If I could base this review solely on the music, it'd be 5 stars, but to evaluate the package (and the damage inflicted on her catalog), 3 stars is a generous offering.

In Australia, Olivia Newton-John's greatest hits is a three disc series: FIRST IMPRESSIONS (1971-1974) (most of those songs aren't even released in the United States), GREATEST HITS VOL. 2 (1975-1977) (a rare hits package that makes the music from the era even more impressive), and GREATEST HITS VOL. 3 (1978-1982) (four songs added to the classic US ten song version). I'd be satisfied though if MCA would have left GREATEST HITS and GREATEST HITS VOL. 2 (US releases) in print. I've long cherished my copy of GREATEST HITS VOL. 2 (with "Heart Attack," "Magic," "Make A Move On Me," "A Little More Love," "Tied Up," ...) which suddenly disappeared from the shelves, and I've tried to find GREATEST HITS on eBay, but I'm always outbid (hint, hint MCA - there's demand for a CD of this album). Of course most Olivia Newton-John fans would love to see her original albums, including LET ME BE THERE (US - not the one available as an Import) and IF YOU LOVE ME (LET ME KNOW) and TOTALLY HOT finally back in print (though TOTALLY HOT is available as an import. With so much work to be done in her catalog - why do we need yet another compilation???

All of these songs, and many more, are available on MAGIC. Its true that MAGIC is more expensive, but its also much more complete. Olivia Newton-John certainly deserves a space in the 20TH CENTURY MASTERS lexion, but this compilation misses the mark. Complaining about missing songs like "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)," "Make A Move On Me," and on usually doesn't count with much merit, a brief compilation is a brief compilation, some songs have to be omitted, though there are two major issues I have with the compilers' selections. The first is BIG. The GREASE tracks might be ever present, but they're definitely important. Where is "You're The One That I Want" - a platinum single (which required more copies sold to certify than a platinum album, and quite a rariety in the 1970s)(a chart book from 1979 shows only 4 since certification started, this was one of them), the Cliff Richard duet from XANADU, "Suddenly" is here, but one of her most popular songs with all types of fans is missing. That ommission alone takes away from the usefulness of this type of compilation. While "Deeper Than The Night" and "Suddenly" are both great songs and were Top Twenty hits, Olivia Newton-John had bigger hits that are ignored here. I usually don't get into chart success, as artistry is more important to me, but 1)These compilations aren't meant to showcase much art - as a rule they're singles oriented, and 2)MCA has no respect for Olivia Newton-John's artistry (look at the state of her catalog).

Hit status again isn't particularly important to me, and I like all these songs, but MCA is wasting space on collections like these, when they don't respect her catalog in the first place. MAGIC was a near-perfect hits collection for all types of Olivia Newton-John fans, and it covered everything you see here. GREATEST HITS and GREATEST HITS VOL. 2 neatly summerize her peak years, and if they miss "Deeper Than The Night" or "Twist of Fate" (this song came a year after VOL. 2's release) they make up for it with material no longer available in the US: "Tied Up," "If Not For You," "Let It Shine." The Import collections are also a good way to go, because they focus on early recordings many fans have never heard. If you're interested in Olivia Newton-John, move away from this collection, there's so much better out there. Longtime fans, get on MCA about releasing and respecting the catalog of one of pop music's essential artists."

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