Disco de Tina Turner: “Platinum Collection”

I think I should start off by saying that I have been a huge Tina fan since I was four, and I recently decided that I had to have every recording that this woman has ever done (minus the Ike and Tina stuff, I just can't get into it). As such, most of these songs I already had, sometimes on three or even four releases.

Of the six compilation albums that I can think of off the top of my head (and I'm sure there are more), only this one and 2004's

could really be considered "definitive." And so for the Tina fan that already has All the Best, should they go ahead and get this one too, or give it a pass? The truth is, for a woman as talented as Tina is, neither album really does her justice. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but its sad that a truly definitive collection would actually be somewhere in between the two albums.

What this album does right:

-With three CDs and 42 songs all her hits are here, and its definitely better then All the Best's two CDs and 33 songs. Three CDs still might not be enough to really represent Turner's talents, but it will have to do. One of the great things about this album is that it has (aside from a few songs from All the Best) everything unique to all other of Tina's compilations. It even has all the Tina songs that you can only find on

. This means that if you are an obsessive Tina collector like I am, then this and All the Best are the only two compilation albums that you have to buy.

-We FINALLY get "One of the Living" on a Tina release! This has been a fan favorite for years, and Tina even won a Grammy for it, but for some reason it has always been really hard to find. It's really great to see it here. Two other somewhat rare tracks are also here, "Acid Queen" and "Tearing Us Apart" with Eric Clapton, and its nice to see these as well.

-Its great to see some of the other fan favorites that didn't make All the Best, probably because of lack of space. "Break Every Rule" sounds really great here (I think its been remastered because it sounds better then the original album version). "Show Some Respect", and "Whatever You Want" are some other great ones (it should be noted that the versions of "Whatever You Want" and "Open Arms" sound slightly different from the originals found on

and All the Best respectively. It took me a few listens to catch it, but it's there.)

-Two New songs! Ok, they're not exactly new; they were both released on 2008's

, but because the album was just a rehash of old hits except for the two new songs, I had to give it a pass. Anyway I get them here, which rocks! "I'm Ready" has quickly become one of my new favorite Tina songs, and "It Would Be a Crime" is really great too.

Things that could be better:

-Remember how I mentioned that there were a few songs from All the Best that aren't here? "Great Spirits" can only be found there and on the

soundtrack, and "Complicated Disaster" and "Something Special" nowhere else. While they might not be considered "Hits," they really should be here. Also, what happened to "Paradise Is Here?" It's one of my all-time favorite Tina songs, so why not include it here?

-I already mentioned that I'm not a fan of the Ike and Tina days, so the four recordings of "I Want To Take You Higher," two Beatles covers, "Get Back," and "Come Together," and an older version of "Proud Mary" are all new to me. They have all been remastered, and sound great. I actually wasn't sure if I would like them, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself rocking out to them on several occasions over the past few days. And yet, I can't help feeling that they are out of place; this is a TINA release after all, not an IKE and Tina release, and if we cut the first three it could make some room for some of the other Tina hits that didn't make the album. As for "Proud Mary," as much as I love this song, and as much of a "Tina" hit as it is, this version does sound somewhat dated. They could have used the 1993 version from

, or better yet, this song has always been better live; the version that should be on here is from

(they used live versions from Live in Amsterdam for two songs on

, why not do the same thing here?).

-For some reason the songs are organized in (a somewhat) chronological order, which, at least for me, just doesn't work. One of the great things about All the Best is that the songs are organized in a way that works musically, which lends a sense of timelessness to the music - which is really something that Tina, who has been rocking out for 50 years, deserves.

In conclusion, this is a really great album and I will always love this woman. You can't really go wrong with either this or All the Best - although before you settle on either you should really check out the song "One of the Living" if you're not familiar with it. After you're done, go check out something live by Tina, maybe

]. You have to see how much energy she gives off on stage in order to really experience this woman.