Straightforward but stunning,
The Platinum Collection is an almost indispensable one-stop guide to
Catatonia's glorious career, from the early days of "For Tinkerbell," "Dimbran," and "Sweet Catatonia" through to the final gasps of
Paper Scissors Stone and peaking, of course, with that run of almost breathless hits that rendered the mid-'90s so memorable. Less cluttered than the
Greatest Hits collection released in 2002,
The Platinum Collection was certainly compiled with the average consumer in mind -- there's nothing here to lure in the collector, no hidden treats or labor-saving B-sides. But "Mulder and Scully," "Strange Glue," and "Road Rage" are still worth the price of admission on their own, and only the inexplicable absence of "Dead from the Waist Up" prevents this from proving the last word in catatonic compilations.