Olivia Newton-John - Long Live Love

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Music reviews of Long Live Love

Music Review: Long Live Olivia!
Rating: 5 Stars

It is the last of the 'old' Olivia albums. Originally, for all you trivia buffs out there, Olivia was considered a British singer. That is where her early music was recorded and written and where her initial success was at its greatest. 'Long Live Love' was her fourth studio album, released in late 1974 it followed hot on the heels of 'If Not For You', 'Olivia' and 'Music Makes My Day' ('Let Me Be There' in Australia). What makes this album most interesting is that although Olivia's earliest work (her first two and a half records at least) are fairly widely available, a lot of the songs on 'Long Live Love' have never had a commercial release in the UK.

Before I actually review the music, I'll try and explain where some of these songs can be found. The American equivalent of 'Long Live Love' was a compilation (although issued as a 'studio' album) in 1974 called 'If You Love Me, Let Me Know'. That record featured half the 'Long Live Love' album. Similarly, a British compilation CD release from the mid-90's, '48 Original Tracks', seems to be a great alternative to actually tracking down Olivia's early albums as it contains the entire first three studio records - but unfortunately skimps on 'Long Live Love', offering only four songs from the album. That leaves a large wealth of 'unreleased' material on this disc for American fans, and they are some real beauties.

'Free The People' is a rocky little gospel song that Barbra Streisand also covered early in her career, and opens the 12-track set. Curiously this and 'Country Girl' (a drummy stomper about leaving a country life for a city existance) were ommitted from the South African pressing of the record because of 'questionable' lyrical content offensive to the SA government! 'Angel Eyes' is a gorgeous tune in the vein of a brighter, more peppy 'Angel Of The Morning', whilst 'Loving You Ain't Easy' and 'Home Ain't Home Anymore' fall happily into the easy-listening seventies pop bracket.

The entire feel of the album is particularly British, a feeling which Olivia all but lost the following year when she moved to the US and her sound became more of a commercialised American FM radio sound. This lovely 'British' feel is best noted on the beautiful mid-tempo piano ballad 'Someday' and Olivia's cover of 'God Only Knows', complete with plingy strings, shimmering woodwind, and multi-tracked vocals from the diva herself! Lovely. Of course the album also includes 'I Honestly Love You', the Peter Allen ballad which catapulted Olivia into the American charts and hearts of the US public, as well as the much-hated title track which effectively lost Olivia (and Britain!) the Eurovision song contest in 1974. Although Olivia claims to abhor the song nowadays... in retrospect it's cute and has a childlike naivety and sense of hope to it. Awww.

'The River's Too Wide' ventures once again into gospel territory (something Olivia never really explored, so it's a real gem here) and whilst 'Hands Across The Sea' and 'Have Love Will Travel' are rollicking British seventies pop tunes which compliment Olivia's soft, airy vocal style perfectly.

A great album for what it was, with some bright positive lyrics about love and one of Olivia's most beautiful album covers ever...I suppose I'll have to describe - Olivia, fresh-faced with piercing blue eyes, in a lace top surrounded by her name and the name of the album in a 'ribbon and flower' graphic design, all framed with a lovely bright yellow colour. Lovely, like the album and the woman herself.

Description of Long Live Love

Broadway & Vocalists CDs

• Music > Styles
• Country
• Pop
• Rock