Greatest Hits

Laura Branigan

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: April 24, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B000NDEXN4
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,613 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Songstress Laura Branigan's professional life in music began as a back-up vocalist for legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, and she toured the world with him during the late '70s. Her solo career soared in 1982 with the US Top 40 debut album Branigan, and her powerhouse voice generated a string of hits. Included among the thirteen favourites here are a trio of US Top 10 smashes-"Gloria" (#2), "Self Control" (#4), and "Solitaire" (#7). --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars If you want to have a single "Greatest hits" of Laura Branigan, this one should not be the one to have, March 26, 2008

By	Kokegg (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This is the same as The Best of Branigan package as "Greatest Hits"

If you want a "Greatest hits" compilation of Laura Branigan, you should look somewhere else. This compilation lacks "All Night With Me"," Satisfaction", "Shattered Glass", "Moonlight on Water", "I Found Someone", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", "Never in a million years", "Shadow of Love", and several more.

This compilation opted to add new tracks("Show Me Heaven", "Dim all The Lights"), which should not be qualified as her Best/Great hits, the compilation should have opted to add more hits from her career instead of something new and untested as "Best/Greatest" hits. May be the new songs could have been added as Bonus tacks at the end of the CD, but they were scattered in the middle of the other hits songs.

If you want to have a "Greatest hits" compilation, I recommend "Laura Branigan Platinum Collection" or "Very Best of Laura Branigan".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good,But Not Great,Branigan Collection, September 29, 2008

By	Silky Greensleeves (Northeast,Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This is A Good,but not great,collection of Many of the late,great,Laura Branigan's songs.While it does feature her hits "Gloria","Solitaire","Spanish Eddie"and"Self Control",it lacks many of her other good songs,like"Satisfaction","Hold Me",and"Imagination(from Flashdance)".Instead it includes many lesser songs including Laura's covers of"Power Of Love","How Am I Supposed To Live Without You",and"Dim All The Lights".However there are some good overlooked songs,like"Ti Amo","Is There Anybody Here But Me"and"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye".It's all in all ;A decent collection,but I was hoping for A little better.There still needs to be A better anthology honoring this wonderful female vocalist.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Voice, Big Heart, March 7, 2008

By	Steven Haarala (Mandeville, LA USA) - See all my reviews

Who can imagine the 80's without Laura Branigan? Few will deny that she had a big voice; she could belt with the best of them. But these recordings show that she had the heart to validate the power of the voice.

The CD opens with "Solitaire", which just might be my favorite track by Laura. I love the way she builds the song from quiet vulnerability to victory of operatic proportions. It rivals "Gloria" in sheer force. "Ti Amo" is a ballad in which she cries out in pain over the loss of someone she still loves desperately, as she does in her hit "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?" "Spanish Eddie" and "The Lucky One" are more upbeat musically, along the lines of "Gloria". "Is There Anybody Here But Me?" is a smooth mid-tempo number with a light Latin beat, decorated with romantic sax and atmospheric synths. In "Over You" Laura goes to great lengths to convince herself, us and her ex that she is over him. But is all that drama really denial? Does she protest a little too much? In "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye?", Laura is gentle and nurturing, rather uncharacteristic for her songs, which makes it all the more beautiful.

Two songs were hits by other artists. Laura sings "The Power Of Love", and I am amazed at the similarity of the vocal and instrumental arrangements to Celine Dion's version. I wonder how many people know that Laura's came first? Her emotional expression is a little more raw than Celine's, and frankly much better than I had expected. The other cover, "Dim All The Lights", follows Donna Summer's original pretty closely, and Laura acquits herself very well in this hit written and made famous by the Disco Queen.

The collection closes with Laura's 2 biggest hits: "Self Control", in which she paints a picture of a rather sinister but alluring and exotic nighttime world, and, of course, "Gloria", the unforgettable warning to someone who is indeed "...headed for a breakdown."

I read that at the time of her death, Laura had been planning a comeback. I believe she had it in her to succeed, and I am very sorry that we were denied the pleasure of witnessing that.