Soul Kiss

To this day, I keep thinking, "Alright, whose idea was this, anyway?" :O Back when it was released, I couldn't imagine this recording being Olivia's idea... or at the very least not entirely her idea. This album was, sadly, the release that killed her mainstream charting success, and for good reason; it's simply not her. It was an album trying to sound currenr, edgy and controversial, but it was most certainly not Olivia (as she later stated). In other words, the album is pretentious, and it is plagued in two severe ways - one due to overly wanna-be-controversial sexual content trying to grab attention, and the other due to stale music composition. It's "shocking" lyrics only made you roll your eyes, and its tuneless melody ideas were terrible. Even Carl Wilson's presence couldn't save the track he dueted on with her. However, in spite it all, there are three bright spots here. The least of them is "The Right Moment", the closer - a dark, eerie ballad with a soaringly spooky vocal. If the album had been a strong one, this would have been quite the grand finale. Be forwarned that it is a bleak number, so it's not one you'll want to listen to too often. The middling one is the coaxing "Emotional Tangle". Although it didn't seem too musically original at its time of release, it's still a sweet little song with a soft reading that's much more suited to Olivia's lovely voice. But THE real treat here is the lighthearted "Driving Music". Here at last we have a strong that really DOES sound like the real Olivia; bright, sweet, fun, and irresistible. A true diamond in the rough, this jewel should have gotten a lot more attention than it did - it's impossible to hear it and not want to sing along. It wouldn't be until her next album, the excellent "The Rumour", when Olivia would finally release a truly worthy followup to "Physical", complete with a snappy title track courtesy of Elton John. Unfortunately, by then it was too late...

I was born 3 years after this album came out... so she was before my time. I found this album in my mother’s cassette collection at age 14 and decided to give it a try, since I loved the Xanadu soundtrack. Hearing this album made me want to hear everything else and from there it was all over. Toughen Up is pure bliss. So Olivia and so 80s.

“Soul Kiss” was ONJ’s first full studio album since her massively success “Physical” LP in 1981. She released a second “Greatest Hits” collection in 1982 and contributed four songs to the soundtrack of her 1983 movie “Two of a Kind” and by 1984, MCA was wanting another LP in hopes of recapturing the huge success of “Physical.” ONJ herself was wanting to record a collection of pop standards like Linda Ronstadt had done, but the label wanted a pop record. She went back in the studio with her long-time producer, John Farrar, and Steve Kipner, who had written “Physical.” The result was this album that was released in late 1985. While the album is not terrible, it’s not really representative of ONJ and what the public was expecting from her. By the mid-80s, artists like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were coming into the spotlight and bringing an edgier, more sexualized image with them. “Soul Kiss” comes across as ONJ’s attempt to compete with that and she seems more like an actress playing the part of the characters in the songs than actually being herself. The natural warmth of her voice doesn’t really lend itself to the harsh, synthesized (it’s the 80s) tracks although she has her moments in songs like “Emotional Tangle” and “The Right Moment.” The title track was the album’s first single and only made it to #20. Its actually the best track on the album and does serve as a believable “evolution” if you will, to a more mature sound from the bubblegum pop of “Physical.” Olivia’s vocals are on point throughout even when the producer is pushing her to the edge of her range. You’ll be hard pressed to find a bad note on an ONJ record. This project didn’t enjoy the same success of “Physical” and by the time of its release, Olivia had moved on to getting married and expecting a baby, so there really wasn’t much in the way of promotion and it haunted the bargain bins for the rest of the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Even today when she performs in concert, you’re not likely to hear anything from this album. She mainly sticks to the big hits and songs from whatever her current project is. It’s an LP that has a love-it-or-hate-it reputation amongst the die-hard ONJ fans. It’s an interesting project to listen to now when you put it in the context of Olivia’s recording career. It was her last (to date) big pop production. She would put out one more album with MCA in 1988, “The Rumour” and it was a return to form that should have been a huge hit for her, but the lack of success of the “Soul Kiss” album kept the label from really putting any promotion into that project and it was sunk before it hit the stores. What’s really interesting is when you play this album back-to-back with 1975’s “Have You Never Been Mellow” and hear what a difference a decade makes in music...not to mention in her image and album covers!