Search - Olivia Newton-John :: Totally Hot

Totally Hot is indeed, totally hot

Doc Shred | 10/25/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Any guy alive in 1978 remembers Olivia decked out in black leather during the final scenes of Grease. Totally Hot was her own musical release follow-up album after the movie Grease became a mega-selling big deal. But ONJ, being the talent that she is, didn't just throw together some sloppy songs, toss the black leather on, and try to sell it to the public while she was in the spotlight. What she did do was assemble another in a long line of outstanding albums filled with the top stuido musicians of the era and her trademark soulful, sultry, heavenily voice. While many of her earlier albums are soft and subtle, Totally Hot has a lot of spunk. It's just a fun record. It sounds like she had a great time belting out these tunes, and as a listener in my opinion it really comes across. The funky and playful title track kind of summarizes the album. It's not too serious, yet it's Olivia getting comfortable as a "sex symbol" while maintaining her innocent charm at the same time. Other standout tracks include "A Little More Love," "Please Don't Keep Me Waiting," "Deeper Than the Night," and "Dancin' Round and Round.""

A tiny bit better than 'A Celebration In Song'.

bobby morrow | United Kingdom | 09/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Quite rightly a fan favourite, 'Totally Hot' is perhaps Olivia Newton-John's best and most memorable album. As other reviewers have stated, 'Physical' is a more polished and overall successful attempt at a rock album, but there's something just so charming and RIGHT about The Hot.



Released in November 1978 after a blistering year for Olivia with the success of 'Grease' and it's massive soundtrack, one wonders if TH was a somewhat rushed affair to cash in on O's new (slightly) naughty girl image that the last 10 minutes of the movie had created. If so, Olivia and producer John Farrar were very lucky as the album went platinum and lead to another good five years of Olivia being a global superstar.



Lead single 'A Little More Love' hit #3 in the States and is widely regarded as one of her best ever singles, far more interesting than anything on the 'Grease' soundtrack and and the finest cut on the album. 2nd single 'Deeper Than The Night' hit #11, it's a pretty powerful pop song though it has to be said that although she does her best, Olivia isn't quite up to the song vocally. It's something that surfaces on most of the uptempo material, the daft wailing at the end of ALML, the hopelessly out-of-her-depth shrieking throughout the title track and the lost-in-the-mix throat-shredding shouting on 'Gimme Some Lovin'



The album's opening track, 'Please Don't Keep Me Waiting' escapes this despite featuring Olivia wailing an odd duet with a vocoder. At nearly six minutes it's the album's most adventurous cut and I'm still surprised it wasn't considered as third single instead of the under-performing title track.



The ballads on TH still stand the test of time. The beautiful 'Dancin' 'Round And 'Round' remains one one of her best country tunes and 'Boats Against The Current' is one of her most enduring mature songs. It has to be said that towards the end of the song she tends to shout where Streisand would soar but it's still a great achievement for ONJ. 'Never Enough' despite a cloying lyric is lovely too and Olivia's own 'Borrowed Time' is another highlight. Only the horn-ridden, O penned 'Talk To Me' lets the side down. It's not a fantastic song and the production has always sounded weak to me.



So there you have it, an almost perfect 10 track album and Olivia Newton-John's best ever work, IMO. I know I've nitpicked about some of the vocals but believe me, this is perhaps my favourite album ever and I've played it constantly throughout the last 30 years. Olivia was never better, despite the occasional, rough edges than here."