Search - Laura Branigan :: Laura Branigan Platinum Collection

THE Laura Branigan hits collection!

Invisiboy2001 | Chicago, IL United States | 09/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

A good selection at last

A. Griffiths | London | 07/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

An amazing talent @}->---

Little Miss Cutey | Melbourne, Australia | 08/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."