The greatest of the Frank Sinatra saloon song albums
Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 04/28/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In the 1950s Frank Sinatra worked with two great arrangers, Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins. "Only the Lonely" was supposed to be recorded with Jenkins, who had arranged Sinatra's previous collection of ballads, "Where Are You." But Jenkins was busy on something else and Sinatra ended up using Riddle. The result was this 1958 album that is arguably his greatest collection of saloon songs. Certainly "Only the Lonely" is the bleakest of the bunch, with a dozen brooding songs of desperation and despair. Sinatra was great at a lot of different types of singing, but for me he was clearly at his best in this genre of self-pity.
It is totally fitting, therefore, that "Only the Lonely" has his best saloon song, "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)," by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. The unforgettable opening line establishes the melancholy mood ("It's quarter to three, There's no one in the place except you and me") as Sinatra sings to the bartender his tale of woe. Someone described this song as being the one that Humphrey Bogart would have been singing if "Casablanca" had been made into a musical the way Sintara was in "High Society," the musical based on "The Philadelphia Story," while he drowns his sorrows. The other great torch song on the album is "Angle Eyes," with superb vocals offset by subdued orchestration. The title song, specifically written for Sinatra, starts off the album and establishes the perfect mood, and "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" completes the quartet of four classic songs on this album.
The remastered CD offers up two more songs from this period, "Sleep Warm" and "Where or When," but this was already an essential Sinatra album without those additions and I have to offer a minor complaint that with the addition of that pair of tracks the album does not end as it should, with "One For My Baby." It might not be his greatest album, but it absolutely has to be on the first hand you use when you start naming what should be on that list. "Only the Lonely" is the ultimate late night Sinatra album, to be listened to with the lights down low as you wallow in the depths of despair."
Essential recording, but for collectors only
R. Riis | NY | 08/11/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The same 20-bit remastered contents of the regular CD issue in a five-inch square miniature recreation of the original LP sleeve, notes and all. The music is classic and the sound reproduction is exemplary, but only the most diehard collectors need opt for this version solely for the novelty of the packaging."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
