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The Platinum Collection

Blondie - The Platinum Collection Audio CD

A fair review of the Blondie "The Platinum Collection" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Blondie reviews here, or go back to the Blondie tabs.

Band: Blondie
Title: The Platinum Collection
Rating:

Release Date: 1994-11-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: X Offender 2: In the Flesh 3: Man Overboard 4: Rip Her to Shreds 5: Denis 6: Contact in Red Square 7: Kung Fu Girls 8: I'm on E 9: (I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear 10: Poets Problem 11: Detroit 442 12: Picture This 13: Fade Away and Radiate 14: I'm Gonna Love You Too 15: Just Go Away 16: Hanging on the Telephone 17: Will Anything Happen? 18: Heart of Glass 19: Rifle Range 20: 11:59 21: Sunday Girl 22: I Know But I Don't Know 23: One Way or Another 24: Dreaming 25: Sound-A-Sleep 26: Living in the Real World 27: Union City Blue 28: Hardest Part 29: Atomic 30: Die Young Stay Pretty 31: Slow Motion 32: Call Me 33: Tide Is High 34: Susie and Jeffrey 35: Rapture 36: Walk Like Me 37: Island of Lost Souls 38: Dragonfly 39: War Child 40: Little Caesar 41: Out in the Streets 42: Platinum Blonde 43: Thin Line 44: Puerto Rico 45: Once I Had a Love (AKA the Disco Song) [1978 Version] 46: Atomic [Diddy Remix] 47: Rapture [K-Klass Remix]

Most Complete
Emerging on the New York punk scene in the mid 1970s, Blondie made pop respectable again by giving it a sharp punk edge, at least initially.
This 2-disc set is one of the most thorough Blondie compilations available. They created a string of classic singles as well as some very excellent albums like Plastic Letters and Parallel Lines that included superb tracks not released as singles.

A wide variety of styles are represented here, so not every track will appeal to everyone. My personal faves include the romantic and catchy Denis, the hypnotic album track I'm On E, the stirring ballad I'm Always Touched By (Your Presence Dear), the wistful poppy Picture This, the long album track Fade Away And Radiate, the bouncy I'm Gonna Love You Too, the electronic tour de force and disco classic Heart Of Glass, Sunday Girl which is classic and classy pop, and the reggae number The Tide Is High.

I don't very much like Hanging On The Telephone although it was a big hit, whilst Call Me, another huge chart-topper, is lacking in the melody department. Rapture is a rather tepid nod to the Rap genre. Others are interesting like the ballad Union City Blue and the synth-driven Atomic. This collection is a must for fans and a great introduction to one of the most original and productive bands of the 1970s and early 1980s. There is much interesting information on Blondie in From the Velvets to the Voidoids by Clinton Heylin, a book I highly recommend for the musical history of the times.
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Probably the best Blondie compilation...with a few caveats
What's more surprising is that a band this vital and prolific during their brief peak from 1975 to 1983 had only 8 Top 40 Hits, yet had such a profound effect on so many musicians. It's hard to estimate the impact Blondie had on music in the 1970s unless you lived in that era. Like the Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls Blondie's influence was far greater than you'd suspect and their astonishing canon of music has resulted in a slew of compilations, some great and some mediocre attempts at cashing in by their former label, Chrysalis. "Platinum Collection" is the former rather than the latter, a massive 47 track 2 CD collection spanning from their 1975 start with "X Offender" all the way through to their 1982 swansong "Little Caesar. " "Platinum Collection" includes all the hits and non-hits you've come to expect in any Blondie collection and showcases the bands incredibly eclectic range of styles. I've always argued Blondie was probably one of the most underrated bands in music and "Platinum Collection" goes quite a ways to making that case. Debbie Harry's vocals truly are astonishing, both in range and emotion, expressing rage, anger, sadness, ennui, disinterest, love, loss, and sadness. I've always considered her to be America's equivalent of Edith Piaf and I stand by that assertion listening to this collection. Blondie's songs always had a gritty New York City edge to them and that comes across here quite clearly.

When Blondie exploded onto the pop scene with "Parallel Lines" in 1978 few realized Blondie were seasoned NYC pros that already possessed an extensive body of work. 1979's "Eat to the Beat" only served to solidify Blondie's status as one of the hottest bands in America. Blondie would continue to record and tour until their break up in 1983. It is their work during that era that is encompassed here and short of buying all their original CDs it's hard to imagine what tracks you'd be missing here or want to include. "Platinum Collection" even includes the original demo version of "Heart of Glass" so you can see how they worked it out in the studio, transforming it into their signature song. Now, are there tracks I'd like to see included that weren't? Sure. "Call Me" is oddly enough not included here, nor is "Ring of Fire. " My other big complaint is that these are, by and large, the single versions of the songs and not the album length versions, which his especially galling on "Atomic" and "Heart of Glass. " But this is more a matter of preference and taste as some listeners may prefer the shortened versions or more familiar mixes heard on radio, 45s, and in the videos. But for a kid growing up on the fringes of the Everglades listening to Blondie transported me to the streets of New York City, taking me to a world far more exciting. These songs still have that power.
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Debbie Harry is a true Goddess of Rock and Soul
99 percent of all her music, if you are a oldcbgb cronie or a new blood just discovering her then this is the best you can get- it has just about all her greatest and radio hits and then some lost in the toybox songs(Critics flapping unknowing mouths)If you are hard core then this is a must have for the collection if you want to waste money picking and choosing from her seperate albums then do so- but you may find your shopping list on these 2 discs. this is the treasure chest, the lost bounty, the most AWSOME collection of her best and most acclaimed and not acknowledged hits that I have come across and I OWN 99. . . . . . . P. S. ATOMIC rocks still.

THIS {BLONDIE} COLLECTION MADE ME A FAN !!!!!
BUT I WAS AT THE STORE FLIPPING THROUGH CD'S AND DISCOVERED THIS ONE;AND WAS IMPRESSED. I HAD NEVER BEEN A FAN OF BLONDIE BEFORE.
IT WAS COOL TO HEAR HOW PUNK~ROCK WAS BACK IN THE LATE 70'S AND EARLY 80'S.
YOU CAN TELL THAT MUSIC HAS MADE A 360~TURN SINCE 1980. BUT IT IS STILL COOL TO GO BACK IN TIME. AND HEAR THINGS THAT WILL NEVER BE IN THE TOP 100 OR PLAYED ON MTV EVER AGAIN AND THAT IS A SHAME.
I THINK THAT EVERYONE SHOULD PICK UP THIS 2~DISC SET BY BLONDIE.
IF YOU ARE A FAN OF PUNK~ROCK YOU WILL GIVE OLD~SCHOOL MUSIC A CHANCE. AND NOT JUST LISTEN TO MUSIC OF THE YEAR 2OOO AND BEYOND.
BLONDIE IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO STARTED THIS FEMALE ROCK GAME.
AND PAVED THE WAY FOR PEOPLE LIKE ALANIS MORISETTE & AVRIL LAVIGNE.
AND JUST MAYBE YOU WILL BECOME A FAN OF SOMEONE WHO NEVER CROSSED YOUR MIND BEFORE;JUST LIKE I DID.
PLUS THIS GREAT COLLECTION HAS [47] SONG'S ON IT;NOW THAT IS WHAT I CALL A GREATEST HITS!!!!.
(ROME,NEW YORK)/HOME OF WOODSTOCK 1999/.

Good Collection- 4.5 Stars
The songs are tight and the insturmentation rocked as well. I really love this collection. I recommend it to anybody who loves 80's music and new wave/punk. It makes a great listen whenever you are out or with your friends. .

You can see a complete list of all Blondie discography, or go back to the Blondie tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.