Enigma, The Platinum Collection

This really isn't well thought-out: it's an instant Enigma collection for the mythical someone who really likes Enigma enough to listen to three discs of it, but doesn't already own any of their albums. Now, it's not all bad, because you get all the big hits on the first disc like "Sadeness (Part 1)," "Return to Innocence" and "Gravity of Love," though you also get a fair bit of the droney crap as well. But then again it's mostly bad, because the second disc of remixes all suck, every one. What rescues this overstuffed wannabe boxset is surprisingly the third disc, the cast-off and largely untitled "Lost Ones." While the liner notes downplay them as the equivalent of musical sketches, and some do truly seem to lack sufficient exposition, they're all well-produced and eminently listenable even if they run a little short. So let's look at the set this way: if you can find it cheaply you're getting a great bunch of unreleased ambient tracks, with some reminiscent of their hits, plus you get those hits besides and you can sharpen your garbage disposal's blades on the disc left over. There's some value there, right? (Content: no concerns.)

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