Customer Reviews

The Platinum Collection

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Few people remember Laura Branigan's first hit single, "All Night With Me." It reached #60 a few months before the career-establishing megasmash "Gloria" hit the airwaves and shot to #2. That first hit has been so forgotten, in fact, that both Branigan's U.S. hits collections ("The Best of Branigan" and "Essentials") completely ignore the tune. Happily, this UK compilation presents the song, along with most of Branigan's other Hot 100 entries. "All Night With Me" is a great record, and it's a real treat that it has finally been remastered and presented on a hits CD.

With that said, this is THE Laura Branigan collection to own. The hits everyone knows are here ("Gloria," "Solitaire" and "Self Control"), along with smaller but solid hits like "The Lucky One," "Power of Love" and "Spanish Eddie." And of course, Branigan's #1 smash "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" from 1983 is here. And all these hits sound crisp and layered with the superb mastering job provided by Heathmans Studios.

There are a few head-scratchers, of course. Where is the hit "Hold Me"? Granted, it hit low in the Hot 100, but it was a hit and is a sexy, vibrant record. Instead of this song, or the single "Cry Wolf," listeners get two rather negligible ballads ("If You Loved Me" and "Lovin' You Baby") from Branigan's 1982 debut album and "Silent Partners," an okay song from Branigan's 1984 album. These tracks' inclusion is extra annoying, because all the material from Branigan's splendid and thoughtful 1993 "Over My Head" album is ignored.

Still, this is the very best Laura Branigan hits collection that has ever been available. The lovely, late vocalist sounds astonishing on every song, especially "Solitaire" (what a range!!!). Let's hope that someday a record label (read: Rhino) will make a two-CD collection of her work that includes all the hits, rare tracks and choice album tracks, like "Shadow of Love," one of Branigan's best recorded performaces.

Fans of Laura still miss her. It's sad to know there will never be new music from this amazing vocalist. She was so talented and had one of the most under appreciated voices around.
This also, would be one of the first Greatest Hit cds of an artist, where I feel there isn't a song missing. Usually in a music review, I'll highlight 3-4 of my favourite songs, but I have so many favourites here, I'll list them in order of top favourite. First, Self Control, Solitare, Ti Amo, Spanish Eddie, Shattered Glass, Gloria and the sexy Moonlight On Water.
This is an amazing album that every fan of hers should own. Her voice is so powerful, she suited ballads mainly, but did great jobs on the faster songs. This is an album with 18 of her best songs and I hope everyone will enjoy it as much as I do.

Stop-Press! We finally have a proper Laura Branigan CD collection. I previously reviewed the "Best of Branigan" with lots of complaints about the chosen tracks. This one, however gets it right. Now all of the important singles are here along with the good material from Laura's best albums (the middle period of her career). So we finally get the fantastic "Satisfaction" acknowledged as a hit, and the unnecessary cover versions of Maria McKee's "Show Me Heaven" and Donna Summer's "Dim All The Lights" have been deservedly dropped. I'm not saying Laura does not sing the songs well, but they are not her hits by any stretch. And they are also really bland, AOR productions. Shame we still have to put up with her version of Jennifer Rush's "The Power of Love"...was this actually a hit for her? The original is really Rush's trademark performance and should be left that way.

But I'm not averse to all her covers, in fact it's a hard term to use fairly with a singer like Branigan, who is first and foremost a vocalist, and her whole career has been based around interpretations of other people's songs. So let's not forget that she merely imported English language versions of "Gloria" and "Self Control" from their original Italian origins...however in these two cases she did a fabulous job. Songs like these she makes the definitive version of, that's why I want to see them gathered on a CD collection, rather than the bland interpretations of the ones I mention up above.

It's also great to see other strong tracks like "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (the Carole King number, a lovely version) and "If You Loved Me". Then there are also the other moderately successful singles like "Ti Amo" and "Spanish Eddie", so the package is a much more fully-rounded one than previous Laura Branigan CD compilations.

I'd still like to see the good tracks from "Hold Me" (a flop album for some unfathomable reason) re-appraised, as it's full of some very strong tracks, easily comparable to those on the "Self Control" album. The only other track salvaged for this collection ("Spanish Eddie" was the main hit single from it) is "I Found Someone" - easily as good as the Cher version, and just one of several very good tracks that all seem to have been forgotten by the public now.

At least this album gives a better representation of Laura Branigan's talent that some previous releases. I wouln't spend long on the later singles like "Shattered Glass...I think Laura's style was best accommodated by the big crashing 80's production jobs done on her biggest hits. That's where she shines the brightest, and there's a lot of good evidence of it on here.

We have finally recieved the definitive Luara Branigan hits Collection, with the Platinum Collection, sure the usual hits are found here like, "Ti Amo", "Spanish Eddie", "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" and "Shattered Glass", and the Megahits, like "Gloria", "Self Control" and "Solitaire", as well as "The Power Of Love"(still better than Celine Dion's), and "The Lucky One", we are finally given songs that were never released, but should have been, especially "Satisfaction" and "If You Loved Me", songs that you cannot find on any Laura Cd, now that most of her work unfortunately is out of print. It is a real treasure to still be able to have Laura's music around, especially now that she is no longer here, it's nice to still hear that voice, the one that can make you feel better and take you back to your youth. Laura as told in other reviews I have done will always have a very special place in my heart, it is a very big shame that she is gone after only 47 years, but maybe she was taken away to do more important things. Some of today's artist wish they could hold a candle to Laura, but they fall well short. As with the CD of course it gets an A++++++++++infinitely, what else could I give, I'd give it more if I could.

The songs that have never been graded are done now:

1) Will You Love Me Tommorrow- A+
2) All Night With Me- B
3) Lovin' You Baby- A
4) Satisfaction- A++++++
5) If You Loved Me- A++++++++
6) Silent Partners- A+

Great Hits Package, by a fantastic lady and artist, an artist with a tremendous heart and voice.

Laura you will always be with me.
Live on Laura, and she does here.

Growing up in the 80's Laura Branigan's music just ran through my body from the first time I heard her voice. She will be missed.

My favorite songs from this cd is: I found someone, The Lucky one and If you loved me and Shattered Glass. I have not found a song by her that I really didnt enjoy. I am just now getting used to the song Gloria. There was just something with that one , It did not click with me.
She will be missed. I know one day when I get to that wonderful place called HEAVEN, there will be a joyful concert for me right in front.

Those of us who had the opportunity to know and love Laura Branigan when she was at her peak are a bit surprised that so many are just now discovering how wonderful she was. From rattle-the-walls dance hits to moving ballads that could take you to the very edge, Laura Branigan delivers.

This remastered collection includes some of Laura's greatest hits, such as "Gloria", "Solitaire", "Self Control", and "Power of Love", as well as a few songs that somehow missed being a big hit, like "Moonlight On Water" and "Shattered Glass", both of which were certainly worthy of Top 10 status but somehow - amazingly - were overlooked at the time of their release.

Laura Branigan had an incredible octave range, as well as an ability to communicate emotion to the listener that was unique, which set her apart from her peers. It's impossible to just listen to a Laura Branigan song, because Laura invites you in and makes you a part of the song when she sings.

Laura is no longer with us, but the music she left behind for us is her greatest gift. The songs in this collection range from trendsetters that set the world on fire when they were originally released, to classics that are timeless, and sound as good today as they did years ago. Compare Laura's version of "I Found Someone" to Cher's, and Laura's "Power of Love" with Celine Dion's rendition. Most will agree that Laura took both of those songs to a dimension that is a cut above the other versions.

The music world was never the same after Laura came along, and her absence now only reminds us how special she truly was. This latest release from one of the greatest is a snapshot of time, when a young lady named Laura Branigan redefined music as we knew it, and won over millions of loyal fans who to this day are her other half.

This is the best branigan collection issued so far.
All the hits and the fundamental album tracks (why silent partners instead of heart?!?!) are here and with the remastering they truly have a new life.
Still, some songs are missing:
for instance Maybe Tonight (from Hold Me) and Cry Wolf (from Touch) were both commercial singles and had videos and together with Hold Me and a couple of tracks from over my heart they deserved inclusion on the collection.
But overall this is the best you get, until rhino will decide to put a 2 disc collection (maybe in their wonderful "Gold" series) with all the singles plus the new songs. Who knows....

This is by far the most complete (and remastered) collection of Branigan's work. Sure, die hard fans could poke holes at some personal favorites and soundtrack work that may have been left out (Imagination, Forever Young, anything from "Over My Heart")...but all in all this is a superb collection. Many of the album tracks that are included here withstand the test of time and have never sounded better (All Night With Me, If You Loved Me, Satisfaction, etc...).

Anyone looking for an overview of Laura Branigan's singles and representitive body of work needs to look no further. Now, if only there were a similar collection of her videos on dvd!

The late Laura Branigan had a remarkably worldwide fan base, with several greatest hits albums in countries ranging from South Korea, Brazil, Japan, Germany, and 2 in South Africa (and that was before the U.S. even had one!).

This PLATINUM COLLECTION is the best new compilation of her work since her death in 2004. While there are a few tracks that are glaringly absent (e.g., "Cry Wolf", "Hold Me", "Forever Young", singles from 1993's OVER MY HEART album, etc.), it is a good selection of her work. Better yet, these tracks are remastered!

Again, this is not a perfect selection (the ones from South Africa had the best selections), this album is the best one in years, certainly better than the BEST OF BRANIGAN that was released in the U.S. in 1995.

If you must limit yourself to one Branigan album and you do not want shell out the money for the ones from South Africa, the PLATINUM COLLECTION from the U.K. is your best choice!

"The Platinum Collection" is an excellent compilation of Laura's career from 1982 - 1990. It contains all of her charting singles from that period along with key album tracks. Unfortunately it does not contain any tracks from her 1993 album Over My Heart. This is a budget title, so the booklet contains only track data, and even a few of the tracks have the wrong year listed.