Orbital Album: “Halcyon: The Platinum Collection”

Not that far removed from their last best-of, their American label decided to release another package. The problem with this one is that, rather than picking hits, seems to have grabbed a bunch of album tracks at random, and sprinkled a few hits among them. True, this has Fahrenheit 303 - previously only available on the UK version of the first album - but if you were looking for this track, why not just get the UK version of the first album to start with? It has several other hard-to-get tracks. Frenetic and Halcyon appear on the other greatest hits album, so that's not really a selling point for this one either. Yes, all the songs here are good (it's Orbital after all), but this is a blatant cash-in, and not even a good one. Don't blame Orbital for this one; it wasn't their fault.

I thought that their Work collection was bad...but honestly it's much better than this. This one features the same sloppy edits as the former release, but at least that one had a good track selection. This release misses A LOT. I'd recommend instead just buying one of their albums from their good period, such as Orbital 2, Snivilisation, or In Sides.

Let me begin by saying that I am not a fan of "Greatest Hits" packages and compilations. I don't believe a band/artist's "hits" define their worth in the business. The Orbital duo deserve much, much higher accolades than a "budget-friendly" compilation of their well-known tracks.

Orbital is an entity whose magic lies in the whole rather than the sum of its parts. Albums like "Snivilisation" and "InSides" are perfect examples of how an idea can be spread across a handful of tracks to make one hell of an album. How you feel after listening to "Snivilisation" versus "InSides" or the "Brown Album" can be starkly different. Different albums, different feel, etc.

To mix and match tracks from their entire catalog and throw them together would be a sin. I didn't care for "Works" and I certainly don't care for this "Platinum Collection" either. Albums will always trump "best of" compliations. ESPECIALLY when the band or artist in question has made some of the most beautiful albums in history.

Tell me why we should buy that collection?

I think the first collection: "Orbital Work" is quite good because has a lot of songs, some difficult-to-find versions, a good selection and an unreleased track.

A collection like "Work" is also bought by people who have all Orbital's ablums (like me) and it's a good start for orbital newcomers... but this one is absolutly useless.

My suggestion is to start buying "The Middle of Nowhere" (imo the best Orbital album), or "The Altogether". You can also go for "Work" but... orbital's albums are really a musical experience you shouldn't miss.

here is spacey music for those of us who are Space Cadets. Far more beautiful than any Star Trek or Star Wars soundtracks, this music is for the times you want to be alone and sonicly propulse yourself through the galaxies of fine electronica.