Moonlight Sinatra [Standard Jewel]

Gets better and better the more one hears it - oh, if only they'd added "Blue Moon" and "Moon River" to the CD as bonus tracks - would have made the crisp ten into an apostolic twelve! But no matter, Sinatra at this period was so very good, and now, years on, so inspiring.

As expected, brilliant collection of Sinatra at his best.

It's Frank, 'nuff said

Being a Frank Sinatra fan and have had the enormous priviledge to see him live 4 times, all great. His voice is unique and even though his is no longer with us, his music lives on in millions of hearts.

The lyric "All dressed up to go dreaming" is from the opening song Moonlight Becomes You, on this 1966 album of moon-themed numbers from the dream team of Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle.No one arranged & conducted a song quite like Riddle, and when he had Sinatra at the microphone the results were invariably like a string of precious jewels.Frank's 'comeback' after his years in the doldrums was by now well underway, with successful films and hit records galore to his name. It's the albums he made in that unmatched period from 1953 to the mid-sixties that make him THE singer of popular songs of the post-war years. (This LP's follow-up was Strangers in the Night, the beginning of his later, arguably more commercial period - it all seems so long ago, doesn't it?)You might think that ten songs with a lunar motif might be stretching it, but when said songs are by the likes of Burke/van Heusen (Moonlight Becomes You & Oh You Crazy Moon), Irving Berlin (Reaching For the Moon), and Mac Davis (the tenderly sweet, wonderfully tuneful Moon Love) such fears melt into vapour.Also on the set list are The Moon Got In My Eyes, I Wished On the Moon, Moonlight Serenade, and the splendidly if dottily titled The Moon was Yellow (And the Night was Young), which closes this moon-drenched record in fine style.Considering its theme, this isn't one of Frank's haunted ballad albums. Far from it, several of the songs are mid-tempo, while even the slower numbers have a more upbeat quality than the tracks on, say, Only the Lonely or All Alone.This isn't perhaps quite a classic of the calibre of Nice 'n' Easy or In The Wee Small Hours, but it's still Sinatra at his peak, and that's The Best.All the post-40s Sinatra albums are now beautifully remastered, and sound suitably pristine, as befits a singer of the unbeatable brilliance of the man from Hoboken, NJ. What a long way he'd come - with so far still to go...Essential.

This rather short CD of only 10 tracks is still worth the money, featuring as it does Frank Sinatra backed by the Nelson Riddle orchestra. It was released in 1966 on the Reprise label. It comprises love songs about the moon, including `Moon love' based on a melody from the Andante 2nd movement of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. It also includes the ever-popular `Moonlight becomes you' and `Oh, you crazy moon' from van Heusen & Burke, Berlin's `Reaching for the moon', Glenn Miller's `Moonlight serenade' and Fred Ahlert's `The moon was yellow'. But there are some less often heard tunes too: `Moon song', `The moon got in my eyes' and `Moonlight mood' that I hadn't heard before I bought the LP. The disc might have been Sinatra's response to the Swingin' On The Moon LP from Mel Tormé of 1960, based on the same idea of love songs about the moon, but where Tormé's is swinging, as the title indicates, Sinatra's is much more relaxed and sensuous.

Being a massive Sinatra fan, a owner of ever studio album he ever produced, a singer, a cancerian (we are very effected by the moon ok!) and a man with a keen interest in cosmology this album is the quintessential embodiment of perfection to me.An album best enjoyed after dark, this is without question the most achingly romantic album Sinatra ever produced. In his career we saw albums of reflection, heartache, swing, dance and travel yet we see very few of pure romance and they do not come any better than this.The song selection is inspired. So easily it could have been an obvious replica of previous moon based songs e.g. "Fly Me To The Moon" or "Moonlight on the Ganges" as Sinatra often did under reprise, however we see a fantastic selection of songs not recorded under capitol or even recorded by Sinatra before this album. Sinatra at aged 50 is a debated topic. Some would say it was the beginning of the decline in his vocal flexibility, however for me as his flexibility declined his voice gained incredible warmth and no where is this warmth more applicable than on this album. This was Sinatra at his best blend of flexibility and warmth (listen to "September of My Years" if you are in any doubt).The theme of this album is the best of any concept album ever. The title is clever, a play on Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and an album purely about the moon is a recipe for romance. Very few artists could have pulled this off with the same mysterious romance that is produced by Sinatra, I doubt even Crosby could have made it work (and I am a massive Bing fan).Possibility not Sinatra's best sung album. Not his most critically or commercially successful album. Not the highest quality album, but without question his most romantic, and one I have the most feeling for. Who can explain love, all I know is that I love this album more than any other. Whether you have a love in your life, or are in search of one this is an album everyone can relate to. Under the right circumstance and setting, there is no other album you will want.Go for a quiet walk at night with a full moon in the sky and have this on your portable music player, you will experience something magical.The star track off this album for me is "Oh You Crazy Moon", a whimsical blend of romance, tenderness, brashness and playfulness however all the albums songs work so well as a package it is a crime to listen to them individually.

This is a lovely Sinatra album and a must have for any true Sinatra fan.The orchestration, the lovely songs, the voice and the romance are all herein this gem of an album.Songs like Moonlight Becomes You and The Moon Got In My Eyes are achingly beautifulsung by Sinatra the master of his craft.