I agree, you're right. I total it up at over 51 minutes and that wouldn't do. By the same token, two of the sides are 11 minutes long and the other two are around 15 minutes each. At $37 for a non audiophile version I wouldn't be a buyer. I totally respect anyone who disagrees and chooses to buy it.
I think it might've made more sense to just do 1LP with the original 1o tracks, IMO, like they did with Physical and If Not For You.
Or they could have added two of the four "extra" songs and maybe still justified calling it a deluxe edition. I know it puts the huge Olivia fans in this thread in a tough spot when they like to own everything but don't really need a new version of any of these songs that they own many times over. I can see some value for the casual or new fan, but suspect they they would go for the CD version.
It would be a phenomenal listen that way if they would master it correctly, unlike the terrible volume 1 I returned. I’m really surprised they are going two discs when they don’t seem to care anyway.
Thanks but no thanks lol I barely have time to post here and a few other forums. I really only view there a few times a week to see if there’s any new info. They mostly just post photos anyway and too many are altered it’s scary they don’t even know most are not real. They may not like what I say about that lol
A lovely, nostalgic upload to YouTube (you'll have to go there to view it). I caught this programme on Grampian TV in early 1983, around the time I was first getting into Olivia's music. It dazzled me. I was amazed she had done so much (and this was BEFORE Physical took things into the stratosphere). Most tantalising of all was the fact that I was hearing snippets of songs I hadn't yet found on record or even seen in full on video: Don't Stop Believin', Totally Hot, Maybe Then I'll Think Of You... it was like peeking into a treasure-trove. And so it proved to be...
I remember this. It was originally shown in 1981, I think. I’d bought my first video recorder that year and was able to tape it. I hadn’t seen a lot of those clips either, so I found the show fascinating. I do remember thinking that I didn’t like her new, short, brown haircut and that it made her look a lot older. I actually saw another version of this show which, oddly, had different clips in places. I think I still have it on video.
Possibly this French version? Most of the clips are longer, ALML and DTTN are transposed, and there's an entirely different video of HYNBM....
This GHV2 reissue has me in my feelings a bit. It’s likely the last of the reissues that will have a personal note from Olivia. It’s also the first album of hers I ever owned, so it feels like a circle closing. I got this cassette a couple of years before CDs were a thing in our household. Still one of the best “Side Ones” I’ve ever heard.
GHV2 was my first ONJ album too! (Christmas ‘83) I played that so much that the original 10 song MCA version is ingrained into my DNA. So much ingrained that the extra songs on the deluxe version sound out-of-place to me! LOL
The U.K. version of GHV2 - which included the two new tracks plus all her U.K. hits since 1971 (except for Deeper Than The Night and - shock, horror! - Long Live Love) was my first one too. That’s my ONJ touchstone album, really (although Physical ultimately became my favourite). 20 tracks showing a remarkable range and diversity - and there were still a slew of U.S. chart hits to discover! In some ways, I envy ‘new’ ONJ fans who can access the full sweep of her career virtually instantaneously; on the other hand, I wouldn’t - not for the world - swap the sense of anticipation and excitement I experienced at gradually discovering her career, piece-by-piece, throughout the 80s. I *still* remember the absolute thrill of walking into record shops and discovering ONJ albums I didn’t even know existed, until they were right there in front of my face!
I blame this for my disappointment in the Olivia’s Greatest Hits album. I’d bought the Heart Attack single earlier in the month and the GHV2 LP was advertised on the back of it. So, when the 20 track Olivia’s Greatest Hits comp turned up in its place, I was a bit miffed. As I’ve said before, I didn’t like the new K-tel-like artwork, and although 20 tracks was very good value, all those songs per side made the LP sound a bit weedy. Great for a novice fan like you though. And of course it included Summer Nights, which none of the other variants did! Although I was miffed, I still bought the LP and cassette versions on the same day. And it has to be said that EMI were right to do this, as it was one of Olivia’s most successful U.K. albums. Plus, it tied in nicely with the Utah concert that was shown towards the end of 1982 and featured a fair few of these songs in the set list. For any non-U.K. fans who don’t know what I’m talking about, this is the Olivia’s Greatest Hits track list.
It was a phenomenally strong release, and at the time I didn’t appreciate how the cramming of 20 songs on one LP would have such an effect on the sound. Having said that, it doesn’t sound absolutely dreadful - it did its job well.
As I've learned more about her music in this thread, it is very interesting how her career varied so wildly around the world. That twenty song greatest hits album would have been a very strange release in the USA, filled with several songs that had never been hits here and a couple we didn't even know. There have been many artists that have been bigger in some countries than others, I think of Abba for one, but usually for an artist of her stature things become a little more standardized after this many years. Maybe it's because different record companies were involved.
I picked that up at the time of release. Hated the cover design and, like you said, the K-tel stink to it. But I bought anything Olivia at that time.
Of GHV 2 back in the day? We probably got our copy from the music section of Alexander’s or Woolworth’s. It was from a later run because my copy didn’t have the “Heart Attack” hype text on the front.
The 1982 Japanese pressing of GHV2 with all 14 tracks on one record sounds exceptional compared to the original US MCA's. There was no need to spread this onto 2 albums. The bass boost on A Little More Love was distracting enough on the new Target package so spreading it out even more on double vinyl will likely make it intolerable for me. Hopefully the liner notes will be worth it since I'll still buy it. Back To Basics will probably be pushed to the end of the reissue campaign I'm predicting since we've gotten 4 best of variations this year between different countries. That should be a triple LP at least to catch all the different tracks but at least that will get Twist Of Fate, The Rumour, Soul Kiss, & Grease Megamix onto an ONJ vinyl comp.
I bought the Dutch version of this album also with 20 songs but i believe it contains the same tracklist as the UK version, but i was only 13 years old so i didn't know much about sound quality back then, to me it always sounded good to me. This album has a special place in my heart because it was also my first album that i bought from Olivia with my own savings
I love the photo they used for GH Vol 2 especially the font script. However it bothers me that they can never reproduce the colors correctly. My Japan black triangle has to be the worst.
Christmas is coming. When me and my friends talk about Olivia’s Christmas album, the song I Think You Might Like It become a laughing stock. What do you guys think? Personally I think it’s feel… off.
