The biggest problem with Olivia Newton-John's catalog is out of the albums are out of print. Only two of the nine albums, not including soundtrack, from the pre-Physical period are still available on American catalogs. BACK TO BASICS gives us the golden nuggets from Olivia's career. Most of the biggest hits of Olivia's catalog are included "Physical", "You're The One That I Want", "Magic", "Have You Never Been Mellow", and "I Honestly Love You" are included. Unfortunately, BACK TO BASICS is not an essentials collection due to the fact that many major hits "Let Me Be There" and "Make A Move On Me" and important songs "If Not For You" are not included. In order to make the album a true retrospective collection you would need songs that demonstrated where Olivia was at the time "Come On Over" is every bit as important a song in her catalog as "Sam". Impressive performances like "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" and "Suddenly" (a duet with Cliff Richard from XANADU) are overlooked. In order to make it a complete package there should have been at least one song from each album present. The four new songs belong on this package. "Deeper Than A River" is beautifully produced and arranged and Olivia's voice is magnificent. "Not Gonna Be The One" has classic vocal styles and is sung by a musical master. "I Want To Be Wanted" is a vocal performance equal to many f her best love songs, you can hear the emotion in her voice. "I Need Love" is a revival of her days of PHYSICAL, TOTALLY HOT, and SOUL KISS. "Twist Of Fate", "Deeper Than The Night", and "Summer Nights" make their first apperances on American Hits albums. BACK TO BASICS is the perfect collection for Olivia introduction because it shows how varied her career is. For longtime fans, its a good collection, but the original Austrailan versions are ore comprehensive and complete.-MATT COKER

I have always loved Olivia Newton John as a singer and actress. A little more love touched my heart and I honestly love you , I still listen to the song everyday. When I first heard I honestly love you , I contacted the radio station to dedicate it the person I loved and always will. Love does not go away. Thanks Olivia!

[One CD, with a running time of 60:42.] This is a collection of seventeen songs by the talented Olivia Newton-John. Thirteen are old favorites, and four are brand-new songs (Deeper Than A River, Not Gonna Be The One, I Want To Be Wanted, and I Need Love). This album was released to relaunch Olivia's career, but a bout with breast cancer cut the tour short (thankfully Olivia has overcome the cancer).

When my wife gave me this CD, I was disappointed that some of my favorites were not included. However, listening to this wonderful album showed me that it is different than I expected. This is a wonderful collection of songs to slow-dance to - A Little More Love being always great for this, and I Honestly Love You being the best! Summer Nights is a little too fast for slow-dancing, but it is a fun tune to dance to anyway.

My little kids actually enjoy watching us dance to this CD. So, turn the lights down low, pop in this CD, and dance.

I was glad to see a CD that, at least partially, combines the previously-available Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 to span Olivia's entire career. I wish Geffen hadn't limited the selection to 13 hits (plus 4 increasingly-less-"new" songs); however, I'd say they picked most of the best 13. I was pleased to see "Deeper Than The Night" and "Sam" among the more-famous songs, but all of these are wonderful. (Note: I was 13 when "Grease" came out. I may not be objective.) It pained me to see "I Need Love" stop at the bottom of the pop chart; produced by Giorgio Moroder (producer of most of Donna Summer's classic hits), it had a great sound and lyric ("I'm not looking for a Band-aid on loneliness...").

Olivia deserves a 2-disc set. Import versions of this CD include "The Rumour" (fantastic; written by Elton John) and "If Not For You", among others. The latter's exclusion from the U.S. version is peculiar because it's actually from 1971. Its absence means this CD should be called "Essential...'74-'92".

Also among the missing are "Let Me Be There", "Make A Move On Me", "Heart Attack", "Xanadu" (with E.L.O.), "Soul Kiss", "Livin' In Desperate Times", "Don't Stop Believin'", "Suddenly" (with Cliff Richard), and a bunch more. Maybe someday these will turn up on an "Essential Collection, Vol. 2". This is why I kept my vinyl...

I bought this C.D., and I love it. I love the song Physical, and I also love the song PLease Mr. please. Whenever I hear that song I find myself singing along. This C.d is a deintie must have for the Olivia Newton-John fan. One of the best I've heard in a long time