Olivia Newton-John on vinyl, rating best releases worldwide

Personally, I believe a CD can sound just as good if not better than vinyl but for whatever the reasons, many CDs fall short. I also prefer the convenience of CDs over vinyl.

Still, in the Xanadu thread I did a write up on the vinyl releases of that magical soundtrack from the US, UK and Japan. Because of that comparison and hearing what a surprising difference all those records had over the CD releases, I've been slowly ripping my vinyl copies of her albums and singles.

I would love to hear and share what all the Olivia fans have discovered over the years for the best sounding versions of her albums. Also, let us know what are some releases we should stay clear of.

I'll start it off with the Japan release of the Olivia Vinyl Box. This was a 10 record set with 9 of her albums along with a record called "Early Days" and a 45 single of an interview.

I had bought this box when it was first released and had never, ever played it until this past year as part of my vinyl ripping project. I was blown away at how amazing these records sound. The vinyl is whisper silent and the audio to my ears sounds amazing. These rips will be my go to in playing these albums.

I'm going on the assumption that they represent how the Japanese releases sounded in general. i do have a few doubles from the set that I bought earlier on. I haven't yet compared them to see if they are similar or the same.

 

Digging out some past posts I made on the Xanadu vinyl soundtrack. I'm trying to find the one(s) on the sound but here's a comparison on the jacket design. The Japanese releases always seemed to have a nicer weight to the album sleeve.

And this shot includes the Japanese issue of the vinyl soundtrack


Cover color has the softest blue while the US borders on purple. The logo and art deco corner are raised but not as well as the US. Easily, the Japan one has the thickest cardboard of the three. Inner sleeve falls in between the thickness of the US and UK. It also came with a white lyric sheet.

 

Here's some more on the packaging:

UK/US - UK had a semi-gloss shine but thinner board while the US was non-gloss but much thicker board



But the US did put gloss on the raised portion of the logo and art deco corners, the UK is completely flat



It's the opposite on the inside jacket. The US (top) had a touch of gloss and over saturated pictures and the UK is flat and dry



The UK inner sleeve was a thick paper while the US version was on thick, glossy card stock



The UK included a great bonus: 8 postcards

 

And in a nutshell, this was my take on the audio:

Plus my initial reaction after playing the US vinyl again after many years of only listening to the CD soundtrack:

 

I thought I'd go back to the beginning and do a comparison of If Not for You. I have two copies of this album: US on UNI and UK on PYE. Some of the songs also appear on Let Me Be There and Early Days (from Japan's White Vinyl Box). I'm going to use the Japan issue of Let Me Be There and Early Days for this comparison to give us a US/UK/Japan reference.

I like the UK issue of this album better than the US. The UK issue sounds sharper, more clear than the US version, which sounds warmer but also muddier. The song If Not for You brings out this difference quite well. The UK has more treble while the US has more bass. UK is tad hallow and the US is soft. Meanwhile, the Japanese tracks from on Early Days and Let Me Be There fall between the UK and the US but with added bass. I enjoy listening to the Japan tracks the best. I think the UK still has more detail but sounds a bit shrill when compared to Japan. The bad news is, only half the album is accessible between the two Japan records.

So, between the UK and US complete issue of the If Not for You album, I'd recommend the UK one. I can see why some may like the warmth to the US one but I preferred the detail in the UK. Still, I'll be going to my rips from the Japan vinyl when playing the title track.

This was the first ONJ album I bought. I loved the single If Not for You and found the album in the cut out bin. I think it was when UNI was switching to becoming MCA records and they quickly dumped the album. I wasn't wowed by the record despite the hit. I hate the strings that are on here. I feel the song Lullaby would be so much better with just the acoustics in place and no strings. Same with If You Could Read My Mind. Sort of a drab affair for me though I've warmed up to the album a bit over the years.

As for the album art the US one shows Olivia's full figure sitting in the grass though the colors are darker. The UK cover is a tight, portrait shot of her head from the same shot. The US back cover just has ornate text while the UK back cover has two nice photos of Olivia in the studio.

 

There are few other options in finding the album If Not For You on vinyl. There are two great sounding double albums that contain all the tracks from that album along with a bunch more early tunes. There's Infusion's "Olivia Newton-John" and EMI's "Crystal Lady" from Japan.

The copy of "Olivia Newton-John" that I own is from Australia. I'm not a fan of the CDs by Olivia released from down under but the vinyl stuff is great. Side 1 and side 4 are actually side 1 and 2 of If Not for You in exact order. The sound great two. Sides 3 and 4 deliver 14 other great early Olivia tracks. I was really shocked at how good this album sound as I never played it all these years until recently to rip it. I wasn't expecting much because I've been disappointed by the CDs I've gotten, especially Xanadu. But this is a great set.

"Crystal Lady" sound fantastic too despite squezzing 32 tracks over its 4 sides. The bands on the vinyl are skinnier and the volume sounds lower to me but the sound is still fantastic. I really enjoyed listening to the set earlier today. And the album jacket is one of the best for an Olivia collection.

I have a question for any of the fans from the UK, was the double album "Olivia Newton-John" also released there or was this an Australian exclusive? I really don't know. I know it got a CD release from Australia but I ignored it for the reasons mentioned above.

Up next will be "First Impressions"

 

As I'm editing and de-clicking my rips I just noticed that Love Song and No Regrets are not on "Crystal Lady." The complete "If Not for You" album is on "Olivia Newton-John."

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS, UK (2 versions), Australia, LET ME BE THERE, Japan

First Impressions and Let Me Be There are the same album. Oddly, the Australia one is different as it includes "Great Hits" on the cover and has a few differences in tracks. It drops Love Song, Everything I Own and Changes for I Honestly Love You, Long Live Love and If We Try. The copy I have is also pressed on red vinyl.

I'm not sure why this compilation got created early in her career. It's an interesting mish mash. Maybe someone can shed some light on this. I had gotten my first copy in the cut out bin which surprised me as this was not an album released in the US and had several songs I had never heard at that point. It made me realize I needed to search out imports of Olivia to see if there was other tracks I needed, which was certainly the case!

I have two different releases from the UK, one with the nice portrait illustration and the other with the photo. Surprisingly, they sound different for being from the same country and label. The 'Portrait" version has deep midtones and sounds lush but Olivia's vocals are a bit muffled at the same time. The "Photo" version sounds crisp but with less bass, still I think I prefer it between the two.

The Australian release is similar to the UK "Photo" version. It made for a really nice listen. I feel the Japan issue of "Let Me Be There" is in the middle sonically, a strong mix of midtones and detail and ultimately my favorite of the group. It's not quite as sharp as the UK "Photo" version.

 

I will be fascinated to read your comments @Pizza. I can't say I will have much to contribute as most of Olivia's albums I only own once on vinyl, but as always it's a pleasure to see more ONJ threads here!

My understanding is that the 'Olivia Newton-John' compilation was only released in Australia. It was the first Olivia album I ever heard so seeing that LP cover always stirs a lot of memories.


x

 

It's a great comp! I can't believe I never played it all these years until recently. It sounds great! That, First Impressions:Great Hits and Music Makes My Day are the only ones I got from Australia and they all sound really good. The vinyl is nice and quite too.

 

I have a great sounding MFSL of Olivia's Totally Hot album.

Deeper than the Night really sounds great.

 

That's as good as it gets!

 

Pizza, thanx for this AMAZING thread! Is the japanese box a new one or vintage?

 

I think a true ONJ fan needs both versions anyway. Thanx for the comparison! Now if I could only find it mint!

 

Crystal Lady also has one of the most gorgeous covers ever! To hold it in your hands is pure joy! Every ONJ fan needs one!

 

Totally Hot is an amazing production, even by sky-high 1978 standarts. Would love to see a serious LP shoothout for this one!

 

It's vintage.
I'll be doing more shoot outs. I've ripped Long Live Love and discovered horrible drop outs on Free the People that I never noticed before. It was on both my Japan and German copies. The US vinyl of If You Love Me Let Me Know came up best in regards to FTP and those drop outs IIRC but I haven't had a thorough listen yet.
I'm sort of going in release order (due to how I'm slowly ripping vinyl) but everyone is welcome to share any info they'd like at any point about any and all albums.

 

I bought some ONJ vinyl this year but my system is still getting assembled. I will post my reviews ASAP but in the meantime will eagerly await yours. I plan to collect all possible ONJ releases on vinyl.

 

Well, MCA vinyl pretty much always sounded like crap no matter the artist or era. I finally got all good ONJ vinyl by getting it all from Japan a couole years ago. The MFSL of Totally Hot is, as someone else said, as good as it gets. Don't waste your time trying to find any of her albums on MCA if you want good sound quality. Also, the Japan copies are clearly sourced from lower generation masters. Found that to be the case with the Elton John albums from the 70's as well.

 

Have you figured out yet whether the box set uses the same masters as the regular Japanese pressings? The box set is so pricey, but the original vinyls can be had fairly cheaply.

 

I haven't done that yet. I believe I have several albums as solo releases from Japan that are also in the box. I'll try to compare them at a future date.

 

I think the vinyl box set uses the same masters as the regular pressings.
The regular pressings sound better than the box set at least from Long Live Love to Come On Over.
The important discs for me are Early Days LP (newly compiled) and 2 singles of interview.

From the 1st album to HYNBM UK pressings are the best and after Clearly Love US pressings are the best logically.
Japan pressings? As regards to the copy generation they aren't good.
But they have lesser noise.

 

I have often recommended the Canadian MCA pressings - same stampers as US, better vinyl IMO. I even recently came across sealed copies of "Come On Over", "Don't Stop Believin''" and "Making A Good Thing Better". They were $5-$8 CDN each.

 

My "Totally Hot" is a Canadian pressing and it sounds really good.

 

It's s very interesting question but I can't find it. At what point is it on FTP?
I measured the duration of 3 LPs. UK EMC 3028 is 3:17, Japan EMS-80005 is 3:18 and US MCA-411 is 3:17. They all are within an acceptable error range.