14 Foreigner + 3 Lou Gramm = 1 good CD

Made in AUS in 1999, Serial# 7567-80949-2, Playing Time 73:22

This compilation features songs up to their "The Very Best... And Beyond" album (track 12). Foreigner sold millions of albums... If you listened to rock radio in the 80's you know (probably by heart) half of the songs on this CD.

I am somewhat puzzled by the track selection: I can think of at least great 40 songs to put on a CD, but they wouldn't all fit; so why choose 3 from Lou Gramm? I would have preferred a 2-disc set with 1 disc of ballads, 1 disc of rockers.

I'm not sure why anyone would buy this: I would have left out some of the songs to leave room for some others. Maybe some of those were very popular in Australia, where this disc was made.

If you don't own most of their albums, get "The Very Best... And Beyond" instead; and shame on you for missing out on these icons of the 1980's.

Better Than DEFINITIVE, But Still Not Worth the Import Price

What the title of PLATINUM COLLECTION is supposed to truly represent is anybody's guess, but it is set up pretty much the same way DEFINITIVE was- the tracks are in non-chronological order, and the selections almost seem to be a random picking among their key hits and album tracks (though it does not seem that way as much this time). Once again, Foreigner starts out as a ballad group with "I Want to Know What Love Is" and "Waiting For a Girl Like You," and the first true hard rock ditty does not come until track six ("Cold as Ice"). But the big difference between DEFINITIVE and PLATINUM COLLECTION is that it takes three of lead singer Lou Gramm's solo hits- "Midnight Blue"; "Just Between You and Me"; "Until I Make You Mine"- and scatters them throughout the nonchronogical hodgepodge. Purists could complain about the inclusion of these hits, but it is nice to have them here (even though it would have been nice to have had "Ready or Not" or "True Blue Love" here as well). As the fourteen hits of Foreigner itself, most of them rank among their biggest songs, yet it is puzzling why "A Love in Vain" and "With Heaven on Our Side" made the cut instead of "Double Vision"; "Head Games"; "Long, Long Way From Home"; and "Blue Morning, Blue Day."

So basically, PLATINUM COLLECTION is kind of a mixed bag- it represents both Foreigner itself and Lou Gramm's solo career, but both areas come out as incomplete. Casual fans that are looking for a collection that has both the hits of Foreigner and solo Lou Gramm would be better off with JUKEBOX HEROES: THE FOREIGNER ANTHOLOGY, since that collection actually puts the songs in chronological order and gives both sets of hits a more effective overview. But if you could not care less about Lou Gramm's solo career, then your preferred purchase should be either COMPLETE GREATEST HITS or THE VERY BEST...AND BEYOND.

The Ultimate Foreigner Collection

This CD is a great compilation. It's got a lot of familiar Foreigner hits, but what really sets it apart are the tracks from Lou Gramm and some lesser known Foreigner material. The sound is exceptional as well. I don't know if there was any remastering done or not, but it sure sounds like it. A lot of these songs have never sounded better. It is pricey though.