Clearly Love Shines For Olivia
By Harry Wilson
For anyone who is already a fan of Olivia Newton-John, her latest album, “Clearly Love,” is more than a pleasant surprise, and anyone who is not a fan will soon become one after listening to “Clearly Love.” This album should surpass any of her previous albums in both sales and popularity.
Known in the past for her physical attributes as well as her vocal ability, this album may tip the scales in favor of the latter. It is her finest singing effort, and may indicate a moderate exodus from country music, although Olivia is not totally a country artist. Olivia prefers to sing a variety of songs, and she shows her versatility by performing pop, country, and a little rock, all equally well.
The most impressive song is “Lovers,” a sad song whose performance really has to be heard to be appreciated. That may be an old cliche, but it is quite applicable.
“Something Better To Do,” a current single release, like many of Olivia’s hits was written by John Farrar and features Olivia’s sexy voice at its best. The total range of her voice is displayed in “Sail Into Tomorrow,” another Farrar tune, and the title song “Clearly Love.”
She sings country in “Let It Shine” and rock in an old Elvis song, “Summertime Blues.” The final song is a moving performance of “He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother.”
Much of the success of the album is due to the superb background music provided mainly by the electric guitar of John Farrar, Terry Britten, and Farrar on acoustic guitar, the keyboard of Graeme Todd, Brian Bennett on drums, Alan Tarney on bass, the steel guitar of B. J. Cole, Keith Nelson on the five-string banjo, and an excellent vocal group.
However, the main reason “Clearly Love” is so good is Olivia Newton-John, whose songs keep getting better and whose voice improves even more with each new song.