Olivia Newton-John
has had many greatest-hits compilations over the years. Since she is due for a renaissance, it will be valuable to distinguish between the ones available.
Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits
was first released in 1982 to capitalize on her newfound mainstream success. The album was released the same year as
Olivia's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
. The first volume represented nine songs from
Newton-John
's early
country
material while the second can be described by the words
Xanadu
,
Physical
, and
Grease
. So in 1982 buyers had two choices, and obviously would pick the
pop
collection of songs they heard on the radio. The problem with
is that
MCA
had released a similar album called
Greatest Hits
in 1977 with four songs not on the 1982 version:
"Let Me Be There,"
"If You Love Me (Let Me Know),"
"Banks of the Ohio,"
and a cover of
John Denver
's
"Take Me Home, Country Roads."
So to sensitive music critics (and
fans)
is a disappointing and poor album, not because the material is bad, but because of misguided judgment by the label. This is somewhat moot. On September 11, 2001,
Universal
released
Magic: The Very Best of Olivia Newton-John
which basically combines the two volumes into one double-CD package, making it perhaps the definitive collection. But
was the best of the bunch for a long time (including the years when
was most popular). And it remains the best choice for casual fans who only want the roller-rink hits. However, all of these compilations are in print (except the 1977 collection) and (budget notwithstanding) lacking -- if quantity of quality music is one's highest value. (With respect to the rating of this disc, how can one approve of a re-release of a compilation with four good songs removed?) ~ JT Griffith