2 (Olivia Newton-John album)

(2) is the nineteenth studio album by Australian pop singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 12 November 2002 in Australia. A duets album, the majority of tracks are with Australian artists, along with two American performers (Richard Marx and Michael McDonald). The Peter Allen and Johnny O'Keefe duets are built around archive recordings, with new vocals added by Newton-John.

(2)
Studio album by
Olivia Newton-John
Released12 November 2002
RecordedApril–August 2002
StudioSing Sing South (Melbourne, Australia); Electric Mountain Studios and Milk Bar Studios (Sydney, Australia); Red Zone Studios (Burbank, CA)
GenrePop, country pop, adult contemporary
Length47:05
LabelBMG U.S.
ProducerOlivia Newton-John (exec.), Charles Fisher, Richard Marx, Rick Nowels
Olivia Newton-John chronology
'Tis the Season
(2000)		 (2)
(2002)		 Indigo: Women of Song
(2004)

The album was planned to include the song "True to Yourself", a Vanessa Amorosi song re-recorded as a duet and intended as track two. However, the track was dropped at the last minute due to contractual disagreements between Amorosi's Transistor Music and Newton-John's Universal Music labels. Both women said they felt sad about the situation and clarified that there is no problem between them, but that it was simply a contractual matter.[1]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Sunburned Country" (with Keith Urban)Olivia Newton-John, Keith UrbanCharles Fisher5:37
2."Lift Me Up" (with Darren Hayes)Darren Hayes, NowelsFisher, Rick Nowels3:59
3."I'll Come Runnin'" (with Tina Arena)Diane WarrenFisher4:26
4."Tenterfield Saddler" (with Peter Allen)Peter AllenFisher4:07
5."I Will Be Right Here" (with David Campbell)WarrenFisher4:26
6."I Love You Crazy" (with Human Nature)Brooke McClymont, Robert Parde, Steve WerfelFisher3:49
7."Bad About You" (with Billy Thorpe)Don Cook, James House, Newton-JohnFisher3:00
8."I'm Counting on You" (with Johnny O'Keefe)Alicia EvelynFisher2:29
9."Never Far Away" (with Richard Marx)Marx, Jamey ClewerFisher, Richard Marx4:45
10."Happy Day" (with Jimmy Little)Nathan Cavaleri, Don WalkerFisher3:55
11."Act of Faith" (with Michael McDonald)Michael McDonald, Newton-John, Tommy SimsFisher4:56
12."Physical" (acoustic version) (bonus track)Steve Kipner, Terry ShaddickFisher4:16
Japan edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Let It Be Me" (with Cliff Richard)Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre DelanoëFisher3:43

Release and promotion

The album was a great success in Australia, reaching the top 10 in the ARIA Charts, being certified Platinum. A TV special for the album promotion, A Night with Olivia, also aired in the country, featuring John Farnham and Tina Arena as special guests.

Newton-John's 2008 duets album, A Celebration in Song, contains two songs originally released on (2): "Never Far Away" and "Sunburned Country".

Lift Me Up

The album contains the song "Lift Me Up", a song co-written by Darren Hayes, the vocalist for Savage Garden, and producer Rick Nowels. The song had been originally offered to the Backstreet Boys for possible inclusion in one of their forthcoming albums at the time. Although the Backstreet Boys did record the song in the studio, it did not make the final cut for inclusion in the album, as they reportedly had dozens of songs to consider. Hayes then offered the song to Olivia Newton-John, as he had a contractual agreement with her management to provide songs for her. She accepted to use the song and included it in her album of duets that she was planning, inviting Hayes to record it with her. The Olivia Newton-John/Darren Hayes duo's recording appears as the second track in this album 2 Darren Hayes later recorded a solo version of the song. The Backstreet Boys' version, despite not being on any of their recordings, has appeared online.

Tour
Main article: Heartstrings World Tour

The Australian leg of Newton-John's Heartstrings World Tour also served in the promotion of album. These were the first solo concerts in Australia of Olivia since 1982 and were very well received by the public and critics. New Idea magazine published an article of "the comeback of queen" in 2002, highlighting the success of the album and tour, as well as its induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Personnel
  • Olivia Newton-John – lead vocals
  • Steve Nathan – organ (1)
  • Rick Nowels – keyboards (2)
  • Andrew Bojanic – synthesizer (2, 10), guitars (2, 3, 4, 8), bass (2, 3, 4, 8), drum programming (2), keyboards (4, 8), backing vocals (5)
  • Chong Lim – keyboards (3, 5)
  • Peter Allen – acoustic piano (4), lead vocals (4)
  • Warren "Pig" Morgan – keyboards (7)
  • Richard Marx – keyboards (9), lead vocals (9)
  • Mike Bukovik – guitars (1)
  • Keith Urban – guitars (1), lead vocals (1)
  • Stuart Fraser – guitars (5, 11)
  • Tim Pierce – guitars (6, 7, 10)
  • Billy Thorpe – guitars (7), lead vocals (7)
  • Dai Pritchard – guitars (7)
  • Alison Prestwood – bass (1)
  • Joe Creighton – bass (5, 11)
  • Mark O'Connor – bass (6, 10), keyboards (6, 10, 11)
  • Dario Bortolin – bass (7)
  • Chris McHugh – drums (1)
  • Iki Levy – drum programming (3), drums (6, 10, 11)
  • Bradley Polain – drums (4, 6)
  • Angus Burchill – drums (5)
  • Mark Kennedy – drums (7)
  • Marlen Landin – backing vocals (1)
  • Steve Real – backing vocals (1)
  • Darren Hayes – lead vocals (2)
  • Tina Arena – lead vocals (3)
  • Liz Hooper – backing vocals (3, 5)
  • David Campbell – lead vocals (5)
  • Human Nature – lead and backing vocals (6)
  • Johnny O'Keefe – lead vocals (8)
  • Jimmy Little – lead vocals (10)
  • Michael McDonald – lead vocals (11)

Production
  • Producers – Charles Fisher (tracks 1–11); Rick Nowels (track 2); Richard Marx (track 9); Andy Timmons (track 12)
  • Additional production on tracks 4 and 8 – Wizards of Oz (Dale Barlow, Tony Buck, Paul Grabosky and Lloyd Swanton)
  • Executive producer – Olivia Newton-John
  • Engineers – Justin Niebank (track 1); Adam Rhodes (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 10 and 11); Tony Wall (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7)
  • Assistant engineers – Todd Gunnerson (track 1); Greg Clarke (tracks 2 and 7); Jimi Maroudas (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 10 and 11); Paul Rodger (tracks 3, 5 and 6)
  • Drum recording on track 4 – Val Garay
  • Mixed by Don Smith
  • Mix assistants – Joe Brown and Ok Hee Kim
  • Mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Marcussen Mastering (Hollywood, CA)
  • Photography – Peter Carrette and Michelle Day

Charts and certifications

References
  1. "El affaire Olivia Newton-John-Vanessa Amorosi". Zona Musical. 8 November 2002. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  2. "Australiancharts.com – Olivia Newton-John – (2)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  3. "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 2002".
  4. "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top Australian Albums 2002".
  5. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2002 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
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