Gold (Olivia Newton-John)

For two decades, Olivia Newton-John was a force to be reckoned with on the pop charts. Her career took her from light country-tinged fare to more pop sensibilities, and the public went along with her on her journey. While her singles stopped performing quite as well near the end of the '80s, her career never ended, and she seems to have built a rather devoted following.

Gold is a two-CD, forty song career retrospective, collecting many of Newton-John's popular singles. On compilations like these, song selection always is always a factor. In this respect, Gold is a great success, in my opinion. Casual fans will find everything they want in this package. Those looking for an introduction to Newton-John will find this a great place to start as well. Even those looking for more than one ON-J set should find this a sufficiently satisfying place to start before supplementing it. In case any of these is a deal breaker, here are some tracks that I would like that aren't on the collection, although I don't fault it for excluding these over what it included. To start, a lot of her early period remakes: "What Is Life," "Jolene," "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Winterwood," and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." A few of her singles would also round out the collection: the Andy Gibb duet "I Can't Help It," the John Travolta duet "Take a Chance," and the 1992 Giorgio Moroder production "I Need Love." Again, these are quibbles, and, for a two-disc set, Gold has done a great job choosing songs.

The tracks on here are presented chronologically, beginning with 1971's "If Not for You" and ending with the 1998 Babyface collaboration "I Honestly Love You."

It's hard to choose the best songs on here. Familiar favourites include "If Not for You," "A Little More Love," "Make a Move on Me," and "Twist of Fate." Songs with which I was less acquainted that impressed me include "Something Better to Do," "Landslide," "Deeper Than a River," and "Can't We Talk It Over in Bed," a song which would be a hit when released by Grayson Hugh as "Talk It Over." Also present are the still ubiquitous hits from the film Grease. Most of the tracks on here are quality songs I plan on revisiting in the days to come.

Tracks:
1. If Not for You
2. Banks of the Ohio
3. Let Me Be There
4. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
5. I Honestly Love You
6. Have You Never Been Mellow
7. Please Mr. Please
8. Something Better to Do
9. Let It Shine
10. Come On over
11. Don't Stop Believin'
12. Every Face Tells a Story
13. Sam
14. Making a Good Thing Better
15. Hopelessly Devoted to You
16. Summer Nights (John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John)
17. You're the One That I Want (John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John)
18. A Little More Love
19. Deeper Than the Night
20. Dancin' Round and Round
21. Totally Hot
22. Fool Country

Disc 2
23. Xanadu (with Electric Light Orchestra)
24. Magic
25. Suddenly (Cliff Richard with Olivia Newton-John)
26. Physical
27. Make a Move on Me
28. Landslide
29. Heart Attack
30. Tied Up
31. Twist of Fate
32. Livin' in Desperate Times
33. Soul Kiss
34. The Best of Me (David Foster with Olivia Newton-John)
35. Can't We Talk It Over in Bed
36. The Rumour
37. Reach Out for Me
38. Deeper Than a River
39. The Grease Megamix (John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John)
40. I Honestly Love You (with Babyface)