Compilation Albums

This is a selection of Olivia's official compilation albums. It is difficult to track down all the releases as they frequently vary from country to country. I've listed the ones that seemed to be done with Olivia's support (and promotion) first, then some of the better compilations done by her former record companies, with the rest bringing up the rear.

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish official releases from bootlegs - we've listed some of the suspected bootlegs here.

Only the first collections really have a place in a collection unless you're an ONJ completist. Many recent compilations are compilations of Olivia's early work prior to 1974/5 after which it seems control passed from the record companies to ONJ Productions. Most of these are from when Olivia was in the UK, they may be unfamiliar to her wider US audience but US fans will know them well. As a result her earlier folk-themed songs are excessively represented on collections, even modern CD ones. It's nice to hear these tracks, but now that we can create our own playlists we don't need them sliced and diced so many ways. In a world which is now more into streaming and mp3 downloads it's now hard to see the raison d'etre for so many CD compilations featuring such a small subset of her work.

The notable exception is the 1992 Back To Basics album, which was promoted by Olivia at the time. The Greatest Hits 1, 2 are probably the best compiled selections along with the Back To Basics CD which was to launch her 1992 comeback. Back To Basics is an excellent selection, with four new tracks on it. Fate did not smile on Olivia and her comeback tour which was canceled when she was diagnosed with breast cancer (which was then successfully treated).

In 2010 the fans' compilation collection got a boost with the release of two Japanese compilations. The first was the 40/40 Best Of Selection featuring one formerly unreleased track, Come On Home. The second was the wonderful 40th Anniversary Collection box set of most of Olivia's earlier albums with the inclusion of bonus tracks, some previously unreleased, and a DVD.