Customer Reviews

Back To Basics: The Essential Collection 1971-1992

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The biggest problem with Olivia Newton-John's catalog is out of the albums are out of print. Only two of the nine albums, not including soundtrack, from the pre-Physical period are still available on American catalogs. BACK TO BASICS gives us the golden nuggets from Olivia's career. Most of the biggest hits of Olivia's catalog are included "Physical", "You're The One That I Want", "Magic", "Have You Never Been Mellow", and "I Honestly Love You" are included. Unfortunately, BACK TO BASICS is not an essentials collection due to the fact that many major hits "Let Me Be There" and "Make A Move On Me" and important songs "If Not For You" are not included. In order to make the album a true retrospective collection you would need songs that demonstrated where Olivia was at the time "Come On Over" is every bit as important a song in her catalog as "Sam". Impressive performances like "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" and "Suddenly" (a duet with Cliff Richard from XANADU) are overlooked. In order to make it a complete package there should have been at least one song from each album present. The four new songs belong on this package. "Deeper Than A River" is beautifully produced and arranged and Olivia's voice is magnificent. "Not Gonna Be The One" has classic vocal styles and is sung by a musical master. "I Want To Be Wanted" is a vocal performance equal to many f her best love songs, you can hear the emotion in her voice. "I Need Love" is a revival of her days of PHYSICAL, TOTALLY HOT, and SOUL KISS. "Twist Of Fate", "Deeper Than The Night", and "Summer Nights" make their first apperances on American Hits albums. BACK TO BASICS is the perfect collection for Olivia introduction because it shows how varied her career is. For longtime fans, its a good collection, but the original Austrailan versions are ore comprehensive and complete.-MATT COKER

I have always loved Olivia Newton John as a singer and actress. A little more love touched my heart and I honestly love you , I still listen to the song everyday. When I first heard I honestly love you , I contacted the radio station to dedicate it the person I loved and always will. Love does not go away. Thanks Olivia!

[One CD, with a running time of 60:42.] This is a collection of seventeen songs by the talented Olivia Newton-John. Thirteen are old favorites, and four are brand-new songs (Deeper Than A River, Not Gonna Be The One, I Want To Be Wanted, and I Need Love). This album was released to relaunch Olivia's career, but a bout with breast cancer cut the tour short (thankfully Olivia has overcome the cancer).

When my wife gave me this CD, I was disappointed that some of my favorites were not included. However, listening to this wonderful album showed me that it is different than I expected. This is a wonderful collection of songs to slow-dance to - A Little More Love being always great for this, and I Honestly Love You being the best! Summer Nights is a little too fast for slow-dancing, but it is a fun tune to dance to anyway.

My little kids actually enjoy watching us dance to this CD. So, turn the lights down low, pop in this CD, and dance.

I was glad to see a CD that, at least partially, combines the previously-available Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 to span Olivia's entire career. I wish Geffen hadn't limited the selection to 13 hits (plus 4 increasingly-less-"new" songs); however, I'd say they picked most of the best 13. I was pleased to see "Deeper Than The Night" and "Sam" among the more-famous songs, but all of these are wonderful. (Note: I was 13 when "Grease" came out. I may not be objective.) It pained me to see "I Need Love" stop at the bottom of the pop chart; produced by Giorgio Moroder (producer of most of Donna Summer's classic hits), it had a great sound and lyric ("I'm not looking for a Band-aid on loneliness...").

Olivia deserves a 2-disc set. Import versions of this CD include "The Rumour" (fantastic; written by Elton John) and "If Not For You", among others. The latter's exclusion from the U.S. version is peculiar because it's actually from 1971. Its absence means this CD should be called "Essential...'74-'92".

Also among the missing are "Let Me Be There", "Make A Move On Me", "Heart Attack", "Xanadu" (with E.L.O.), "Soul Kiss", "Livin' In Desperate Times", "Don't Stop Believin'", "Suddenly" (with Cliff Richard), and a bunch more. Maybe someday these will turn up on an "Essential Collection, Vol. 2". This is why I kept my vinyl...

I bought this C.D., and I love it. I love the song Physical, and I also love the song PLease Mr. please. Whenever I hear that song I find myself singing along. This C.d is a deintie must have for the Olivia Newton-John fan. One of the best I've heard in a long time

Despite starting with folk and country roots, Olivia Newton-John came to the forefront with her relocation to North America and retooled herself to more pop standards, despite winning a Grammy for Best Country Female Vocal for "Let Me Be There." No, there was one more Grammy to be won, and that was Record of the Year (1974) for the tearful heartfelt piano and strings "I Honestly Love You," definitely the best song here.

That was from the If You Love Me, Let Me Know album, and the country title track is also included. The basso male backing vocalist provide a good balance with Olivia's winsome pop vocals.

As for the rest, it's the requisite collection of hits, of which there are plenty, as well as four new songs. The first one was penned and co-produced by Diane Warren, showing she has something in her magic pen for O N-J. "Deeper Than A River" belongs squarely in the 80's tradition of dreamy pop ballads, complete with synthesizers and strings.

"Not Gonna Be The One" could easily belong on one her Totally Hot album, as there are similarities to this and "A Little More Love." Produced by her longtime producer John Farrar.

Her cover of Brenda Lee's #1 hit, "I Want To Be Wanted,"--who doesn't want to be?--is my favourite of the four new songs here, showing her ability to put forth great ballads haven't diminished with her Grammy winner. And with Peter Asher (Peter of Peter and Gordon) as producer, how can she go wrong?

"I Need Love" is 80's soul/pop and synth fills set to a funky bass backbeat, with some monologue thrown in. In an ironic reference to an earlier hit, she sings that she holding out for something more than physical. Clearly it's something more permanent: "I'm not looking for a bandaid on loneliness." Aren't we all? And this is the most un-Moroder sounding Giorgio Moroder production I've heard.

In a twist of fate, many of her best-known songs turned out to be soundtrack hits. And because of that, N-J gets tarred with the epithet 70's cheese when many are asked to classify her. Two of them were from Grease, both duets with John Travolta. The bouncy "You're The One That I Want," penultimate number in the movie with the catchy bass setting the rhythm of the song, and a big hit in the US, spent nine weeks at the top in England. "Summer Nights," a song placed clearly in the musical genre, also went to #1 in the UK. The other #1, "Xanadu," is not on there, but "Magic" also from that movie, is.

Of the other movie tracks, the fast-paced pop of "Twist Of Fate," from Two Of A Kind, her second teaming up with Travolta, with its racing electropop bass synth and fuzzy guitar, definitely shows her staying power in 1983, and as far as this collection went, as material from Soul Kiss and The Rumour are excluded. The other, from Grease, is her soaring strings and steel guitar ballad, "Hopelessly Devoted To You," showing a mixture of pop and country instruments.

In the US, one of her last gasps at greatness was the smart and punchy title track to her "Physical" album, but singles like thatand lines like "let's get physical/let me hear your body talk" showed her embracing the naughty Sandy side of her. Small wonder the album cover, showing her flushed from an exercise workout, was mistaken for...well, physical things.

From Don't Stop Believin' (1976) comes the melting strings ballad "Sam." And from the previous year, "Have You Never Been Mellow?" taken from the album of the same name, was a leisure mid-paced number with strings, and showed Olivia adding her two cents to the feminist bandwagon: "someone else be strong" or "comfort from inside," reflecting the inner spotlight people began turning on in the 70's. Another song from that album is the country tune "Please Mr. Please," a pleading request to someone not to play a certain song for fear of being reminded of a past love.

Despite the subtitle 1971-1992, the earliest songs here date from 1974's If You Love Me, Let Me Know. For a first-time listen at Olivia, much recommended, and if you love her stuff, let me know. If not, let her be.

This CD is fantastic,not only do you get Olivia's greatest hits,but 4 wonderfull new songs.I first heard "I need Love" driving back from Florida.I thought this song was so different,about not having sex untill you truely love someone,and also being worried about Aids.I really believed this record was going to be a huge hit for Olivia.She was ready to tour untill she discovered she had breast cancer."Deeper than a river,"was a hit in the Adult charts,and" Not Gonna Be the one,"that sounds alot like the Bee Gee's, are fantastic new songs also.This one CD has it all,from Olivia's begining when she was into country music,to one of the greatest musicals of all time,"Grease,"to Olivia's biggest hit,"Physical," and these four beutifull new songs.You have to get this CD if your a Olivia Newton John fan.

nowadays, an album released in one country could omit or add tracks when released in other countries. luckily, "olivia newton-john's back to basics: the essential collection" was released in the philippines with 20 tracks! the cd is made in germany and the tracks are:

01. if not for you
02. banks of the ohio
03. what is life
04. take me home country roads
05. honestly love you
06. haveyou never been mellow
07. sam
08. you're the one that i want
09. hopelessly devoted to you
10. summer nights
11. a little more love
12. xanadu
13. magic
14. suddenly
15. physical
16. the rumour
17. not gonna be the one
18. i need love
19. i want to be wanted
20. deeper than a river

the tracks seemed chronological as the albums where the tracks came from are featured in the sleeve cover. all the new tracks are tucked in the end. reading the reviews of fellow amazon.com customers, complaining about the missing tracks, i feel sorry that they were not able to get the european version.

for a more comprehensive track listing, "gold" which is a 2-disc greatest hits was also released. you may grab that instead of this collection.

in brief, this essential collection is really great and a amazing retrospect of olivia's multi-platimum career!

Olivia Newton-John compilations have been in this household since the 70s and all I can say is she has always had songs that I enjoy listening to. To this day I still own her O.N.J. Greatest Hits MCA Records Inc. LP from 1976. Part of the tunes from that album are on this CD but not all. In other words the biggest problem I have with this 1992 Back To Basics disc is there's to many of her hits left off. Let Me Be There, Come On Over, Don't Stop Believin, and, Xanadu, are just four that are not here however there are several on this CD that most of you will recognize like, Physical, I Honestly Love You, Sam, If You Love Me (Let Me Know), and the sexy tunes, A Little More Love, and, Magic, plus it also has three songs from the highly popular motion picture, Grease, and they are, Summer Nights, You're The One That I Want, and, Hopelessly Devoted To You. There is also a nice catchy little tune on here that deserves honorable mention and is also pleasant to listen to being, Deeper Than A River, so I have to say that this is a decent seventeen track single disc that still packs a punch.

Of all the great songs Olivia has gave us over the years I still gotta say that my two favorites are songs with a country flavor from her earliest days and they are 1973s, Let Me Be There, and 1974s, If You Love Me (Let Me Know), and like I stated above, Let Me Be There, is not on this disc so I still have to listen to my ole O.N.J. Greatest Hits LP to hear that one. For years; when I would listen to one I would also listen to the other because they are back to back on the ole LP.

For Olivia I give five stars however due to some of Olivia's hits being missing I can only give this compilation three stars which rounds out to four. I can handle a few of her hits not being on this disc and you probably can to However; Am I aggravated at myself for purchasing this CD without one of my two favorite tunes by Olivia on it? Yep! and I can't get any more basic than that.

Olivia Newton-John's career can neatly be encapsulated in a few separate phases: early pop/country hits ("I Honestly Love You," "Have You Never Been Mellow"), a big splash in a cheesy movie ("Grease") with the corresponding hits, the sexy pop hits that followed ("Physical", "A Little More Love") followed by a gradual exit from the charts. (Sounds a lot like Sheena Easton - I suppose "Miami Vice" could substitute for "Grease").

I could easily put together two or three CDs worth of chart hits from Newton-John, but Geffen Records didn't offer me the chance, so this one-CD mishmash, featuring virtually no liner notes whatsoever, will have to suffice. It's missing some pretty good songs ("Suddenly," "Heart Attack") and some not-so-great ones ("Soul Kiss," "Tied Up"), but they bagged most of the good ones, including "Twist of Fate," which had basically been unavailable to those who didn't think to buy the "Two of a Kind" soundtrack on CD. Four nondescript songs recorded for this CD are included as well. This covers virtually all of her career, and most fans will accept it as such.

Late note: Universal's "Magic - The Very Best of Olivia Newton-John" now supercedes this set, as it includes all of these songs (save the four newly recorded tunes) and adds "Let Me Be There," "Heart Attack," "Make a Move on Me," "Xanadu," and "Suddenly."