Frank Sinatra Albums - Worst to Best (DISCOGRAPHY RANKING)
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- Опубликовано: 24 сен 2023
- Ranking all 55 albums by Frank Sinatra, from worst to best.
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Editor's note: because some people are leaving the same comments over and over again as if they're the first ones to point these things out, I want to pin this comment and acknowledge two errors from the video (both the products of incomplete notes and memory lapses, forgivable offenses for a discography that is 55 albums long):
- 1961's I Remember Tommy is arranged by Sy Oliver, not Axel Stordahl. This does not change my evaluation of the record as a piece of effective '40s-era nostalgia nor does it change its place in my ranking.
- Nice 'n' Easy is not really a mixture of fast and slow songs but rather is full of slow-tempo songs for the most part. This does not change my evaluation of the record as a slightly lesser release from Sinatra's Capitol years nor does it change its place in my ranking.
That period from the mid-50’s to 1962 is Stellar Sinatra, both in the studio as on stage, vocally and in terms of arrangements/musicianship.
Facts.
Love your discography. I agree with most of your choices. Especially Where Are You being near the top. Fantastic album with top song choices. No fillers on that album for sure. Thank you
I recently finished James Kaplan's two volume biography of Frank, and I've been immersing myself in the music the last few months. I've always loved Sinatra, but I'm in my fifties now and it's been such a rich experience for me. If I wasn't already convinced that Sinatra is one of the two or three most important figures in American music, I am now. Really enjoyed your video. Thanks.
That biography is my favorite book; definitely gave me a wider appreciation of Sinatra
Frank was a true artist, no one will ever come close to his greatness as a singer or actor.
Really appreciate your deep dive here. My order may be a bit different but I thank you for taking the time to make this content! Awesome.
ONLY THE LONELY is Frank's favorite too. I put IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS first, partially because of the rawness of it. Frank is just in the depths of what he's singing about presently, and its something that could not have been captured during any other time. I understand why one would choose ONLY THE LONELY over it though.
Some of the material you have ranked lower took some time for me to really get.
I always liked the first record of TRILOGY...THE PAST. I find THE PRESENT hit and miss. I love its best moments (it took me time to get "Something" from it, but one day my heart was open to it and it never left). THE FUTURE used to get me to scratch my head, but when I look past some of the, uh, rather unique sections of it, I've come to like it a lot. At the least, give "I've Been There" a listen on its own...it's a post script to the SEPTEMBER album. They even released it on a single (I think it was a B side).
I love SHE SHOT ME DOWN. I like it even better than NO ONE CARES, and probably at least as much as WHERE ARE YOU?
'OL BLUE EYES IS BACK I've come to really like...for years it was something that overall I thought was just ok, but over time it hit me well. "Dream Away" is too long for me, but other than that I can't fault it.
I can't fault either the Capitol or Columbia christmas albums. A JOLLY CHRISTMAS is my favorite Christmas album of all from anyone, especially side one. I worked on the current hi res release of the Columbia CHRISTMAS SONGS BY SINATRA, so full disclosure.
I like CYCLES a lot...like 'OL BLUE EYES IS BACK, it took me some time for me to warm up to it, but I can say that for a lot of the less traditional "Sinatra" material through his career for lack of better term. Aside from "Moody River" (which I think is bottom five of his career) and "Gentle On My Mind" (which is ok, but a bit half-baked), I can't fault the album.
A MAN ALONE is another I love, but it needed to grow on me. It took some time, but I came to really appreciate it.
I love THE VOICE OF FRANK SINATRA and FRANKLY SENTIMENTAL, especially the first one. Just beautiful material. The material on FRANKLY SENTIMENTAL was recorded between 1946-47.
MOONLIGHT SINATRA is among my favorite albums Frank ever did. Again, just beautiful.
I am glad to see you give SING AND DANCE WITH FRANK SINATRA the place you have. I worked on the current release of the album from Impex Records and we are exceedingly proud of it.
SONGS FOR YOUNG LOVERS had arrangements from George Siravo on six of its eight songs. These were done by George for Frank while on the road before he worked with Nelson, and he never got his proper credit on the album. The album only had one arrangement from Nelson Riddle - "Like Someone In Love". "Violets For Your Furs" was arranged by (IIRC) Dick Jones.
I enjoyed your video...
thank you for your opinions and for the clarification on SFYL - very cool that you worked the 70th anniversary edition of Sing and Dance, you should be proud of it!
@@musicdeepdive Thank you. I am, and each of us are very much so. It makes us happy when we see other people love it.
-Martin Melucci
found Watertown the other day, it's amazing
Outstanding work. And I know this did indeed take a lot of work on your part to be able to package a review of all of Frank's records in one video. Although I'm guessing it was a labor of love because your passion for his music came through in spades. I want to thank you for providing the transcript - it will help me a lot in making notes, and to listen to these albums. I subscribed to your channel. Much respect to you from Larry.
Brilliant review!
"Sinatra sounds horny as shit" is a sentence I didn't expect to hear, but here we are 😂
I wish I knew more about Sinatra, but 55 albums is definitely a lot. Only really know a lot of his big singles. I'll give some of those top albums a listen though.
Edit: also I will never tire of the aesthetic of those old 40s albums
listening to that song will demonstrate how accurate that "horny" statement is, I fear 😅 thank you and very excited for you to hear more of his stuff
Great job! I discovered this just as I was in the midst of a review of my own 47 album Sinatra collection.I have just a few quibbles.
In my view “Nice and Easy” should be in the top 10, maybe even top 5-just beautiful.
As a fervent Sinatra and Basie fan, I feel your Basie ranking should have been reversed-”it Might as Well Be Spring” is much superior to “Sinatra-Basie/A Historic First.”
Too bad that you followed the Wikipedia album grouping and thereby left out “Sinatra at the Sands” which surely would have been a top 10 contender (and better than either of the above Sinatra-Basie combos).
Another live recording falling outside your criteria which I’d strongly recommend is Disc 1 of the “Vegas Live” box set.
Now I just have to decide if I need to add a couple of additional albums to my 47.
I'm a little confused about your comment about Nice N' Easy. You say it has both slow and fast songs on it. It makes me wonder if you actually listened to it. The title track, which is considered a "slow swing", is the fastest song on the LP. Everything else is a slow ballad. Please clarify.
Listened to your every word. I am a DEEP Sinatra fan, and you get him. Might give "Point of No Return" a little bumb, though.
Really enjoyed your list, and I probably agree with you on about 95% in terms of one release relative to another. I would have slid "Moonlight" up a little higher. I love the sound of Frank's voice fraying a little in spots, yet not losing any musicality. I also like Riddle just using strings and winds (I think there's brass on the one uptempo song). I'm not a fan of "Watertown," and I'd put "Point of No Return" higher. Even at the end of his Capitol tenure, he was releasing albums that are among my favorites just in terms of enjoyment ("Nice 'n' Easy," "Swingin' Session!!!," Point of No Return," etc.). "Where Are You" has a sameness to me that I don't like as much as the other two Jenkins records. You put a lot of work into your video and did a fabulous job! I will pass along your video to people who are looking into Sinatra for the first time.
I need to make a correction: “I Remember Tommy” was arranged and conducted by Sy Oliver (who also joins the vocals on ‘The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else’), NOT Axel Stordahl. Sinatra’s final collaboration with Stordahl was “Point of No Return.”
thank you! this was a misspeak on my part that I didn't catch until after the video upload so I'm glad someone named it. important clarification, although I think Oliver's collaboration serves the point about I Remember Tommy being well-done nostalgia about as well as a Stordahl collaboration would have (if not more so).
Great presentation! I believe Neal Hefti was the arranger on the first Sinatra-Basie album.
Really enjoyed your list.
My favorite Sinatra songs are
Forget to Remember
Come rain or come shine
All my tomorrow’s
I actually prefer the arrangement of “All My Tomorrows” done for the film “A Hole in the Head” (1959), which can be found on the wonderful “Sinatra in Hollywood” CD set, over his solid later version at Reprise.
Fantastic video, and you touch on an issue that plagues a lot of Sinatra conversations. Jenkins could be corny, but there’s more than a solid argument that he’s the guy that Sinatra is best with for ballads. I personally place him above Riddle in that regard, and I think I think it shows when Riddle’s arrangements were often being truncated or altered in live performances for more even and leveled renditions that don’t interfere with the song. It’s not a contest though, just a comment on how the Sinatra estate and maybe even fanbase as a whole robs the fans of the best Frank gave because Riddle’s arrangements were more marketable.
Edit: also, gonna have to disagree about “Sinatra and Swingin’ Brass”, I hold it as his best “intro” album for new fans. He shows his swinging side that often encapsulates new fans and gives a very good taste of his ballad roots on “Serenade In Blue”.
Nice video overall, I learned a lot. Thanks for making it!
"That's Life" --> The title track is ok....
The title track is more than ok IMO, although I don't know much about the rest of the album. ^^
A swingin' affair is SO GOOD!
Great video, and I agree with '....Only The lonely' as number one, it's a devastating album, magnificent
Just watched your video. I too have recently listened to just about every song from 1939 - 1984. (Skipped duets). I created a Greatest Hits that I painstakingly narrowed down to a meager 250 songs. I mostly agree with your ranking. I like Ol' Blue Eyes is Back more than Francis A and Edward K, so I would have switched those. Glad you gave proper love to Watertown. I agree Where Are You is so good and underrated.
Thanks for the admirable work in voicing your sensitive opinions on Sinatra’s greatest work. Perceptive analysis of Sinatra’s work is important as most think of his best records as “My Way” and “Strangers in the Night”.
As one who grew up with and heard all the Capitol albums as they were released in the 1950s( born in 1946), they were a big part of my musical and emotional development. The experience of hearing these recordings for the first time as they were released in the 1950s is different from hearing them in the 21st century. I cannot agree with all your choices (“Where Are You?” above “Wee Small Hours”?) and was never a fan of Jenkins’ work (classically influenced and often trite) compared to the more modern, impressionistic and jazz -influenced Riddle. My father loved the Jenkins albums, so partly it’s generational.
I’m not sure you were always able to articulate WHY you loved these albums; the word “mellow”, used often, was unfortunate. In general, IMO these albums resonate as great because Sinatra was a musical genius, had immaculate phrasing and a jazzman’s sense of timing and rhythm, a singular, original and evocative voice, a tremendous respect for the lyric, and a deep emotional connection to almost every song he sung.
Thanks again, enjoyed your take! BTW, it is well-known that Sinatra considered “Only The Lonely” his finest album, so you are in good company in your #1 choice.
(FYI, a small nitpick - “Nice n’Easy” album had ONE fast song and the rest ballads, not an album of “slow and fast” songs.”. It is a very fine ballad album. Also, lyric from “It Was a Very Good Year” mentions “vintage wine”, not “summer wine”.)
Will Freidwald describe the Bono track as “live vivisection.”
The only decent track on Duets 1 that has any offering is Lady is A Tramp with Vandross.
An impossible task. I love everything from the Capital years and most things from the Reprise years. I was pleasantly surprised by a recent listen to Sinatra’s 80th live. He was in good voice and the arrangements and sound were great with a nice selection of songs. I agree that Christmas music was not his thing particularly but I do like A Christmas Waltz . I love Sinatra and Strings even though one of his biographers called it elevator music. Thanks for your opinion, it was a fun listen .
Extremely well placed ranking. I would probably rank Moonlight Sinatra and All Alone a bit higher.
Would love to get your rake on the Ella Fitzgerald discography next.
thank you! both of those albums are ones that have room for growth for me, Sinatra's catalog is so packed with strong records that it's a really hectic fight for those middle spots.
funny you should mention Ella...all I will say is stay tuned to this channel and you'll get your wish sooner than you might expect :)
I very much enjoyed and agree with your assessments of each album. Alot of work went into this! My only disagreement is with order of rankings of the top 3 albums.
Those LPs are all very sad like you had stated. The body of work Frank produced was weighted way more toward the swinging side, wouldn't you say.? All of his uptempo charts blew everyone away in the late 50's and 60s. I think people know him for his swagger and energy on stage when he swings.
You could have at least put Songs For Swingin' Lovers at #2.
37:02 I remember Tammy is not arranged by Axel Stordahl. It’s arranged by Sy Oliver.
Thinking about #7 (Swingin’ Lovers) and your comments:
One ? I have wondered about Sinatra is when he was at least halfway into the material, did he have some kind of “Brian Wilson” thing in his head about how the record “should” sound or was it more about precision/technique and if a take was off, he couldn’t avoid insisting on a redo?
I just listened again to Vegas LIve (Disc 1) and my recommendation was not strong enough-I think it is my all time favorite Sinatra recording. Frank was in prime voice (1961), well recorded,
a great, varied selection (20 selections), Including a superb rendition of “Moonlight in Vermont.” Just too bad that you probably have to buy 3 other discs (box set), and only Disc 2 (1966) is prime.
Thanks for the reviews, I have most of them and agreed with a lot of your comments. I'd have put 'I remember Tommy' a lot higher and would have had 'a swinging affair' at no.1. A couple which are missing I think are 'This is Sinatra' which I'd have put in the top 10 and also Sinatra at the Sands (with Basie) on which his voice isn't fantastic on some numbers but the atmosphere on the album I like and of course Basie's band is great. as is Sinatra on some.
thanks for watching! This Is Sinatra is a compilation and Sinatra at the Sands is a live record so they wouldn't have fit in a studio albums-centric video, but they're both excellent!
Thanks Alex, Just for anyone not that familiar with Sinatra, the compilation is of his previously released
singles and B sides (on Capitol). As far as I'm aware none had been on a previous album. It was my first
Sinatra album (in the 50's). The version of Don't Worry 'bout me' is a masterpiece.
Gonna have to disagree with “A Swingin’ Affair”, it felt like Riddle was repeatedly trying to replicate the “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” crescendo and in turn became pretty one-note. It has some damn good songs, but the album overall feels very hashed in.
“This is Sinatra” and “This is Sinatra, Volume 2” were part of a series Capital put out of tracks from the studio’s artists that had previously been released either on other albums or as singles. None of them were recorded specifically for the albums.
43:35 Nice and Easy is slow EXCEPT for the title track.
Think Sinatra peaked between 1956 (Songs for Swingin' Lovers) and 1967 (Sinatra & Jobim). His voice was in the zone, and many of the arrangements stand the test of time.
I applaud you for taking on such an ambitious project.
Obviously, when someone is ranking dozens of albums, you’re not going to agree with all the rankings.
I like Where are You but wouldn’t place it nearly as high as you have. I would have put Close to You and More much higher. It might be Sinatra’s most under appreciated album.
Ranking Watertown in the top ten is a bold take but one I don’t share. I like the concept of the record but often the songwriting is too MOR to capture the intended poignancy. Sinatra does elevate the material as much as he can, but I can’t honestly say this is of his ten best albums.
The twin towers of Sinatra’s recorded output are In the Wee Small Hours and Only the Lonely. I don’t care which you rank over the other. When you get to this level of greatness, it really doesn’t matter. Two of the best albums in popular music, and they alone would establish Sinatra as a great artist, even if he had not recorded anything else.
Only the Lonely I favor better than Wee Small Hours.
I disagree with a lot of your takes you need to lighten up a little, Some Nice Things I've Missed is one of his best, maybe not vocally but the up-tempo numbers are fantastic
“She Shot Me Down” was his last hat tip to the Capitol years I do firmly believe.
I don’t think he really rose to the momental occasion with Ellington or Basie.
I do like Sr and Jr with Chicago on Duets 2
An excellent survey of the complete Sinatra catalogue. I would put "Moonlight Sinatra" and "Sinatra's Sinatra higher just because I really appreciate the lower range in his voice at that stage of his career. I prefer "All the Way" on SS to the version in the movie "The Joker's Wild" and the single from the Capitol years. An alternate way to listen to the catalogue is to start with his later work (skipping the duets albums which are just unfortunate) and then move back in time. I like this approach because once you hear the Capitol work, it's so hard to move on.
agree with the latter point, although if Trilogy was one of the first Sinatra records I ever heard, I would probably jump off the ship at that point.
hmmm. I think to overlook all of Trilogy just because the Future is so wacky is to miss some pretty good stuff. The Past on Trilogy is quite good. "All of You", "I had the Craziest Dream" and "Shining Hour" are all fine performances. Also later on "LA is My Lady", "How do You Keep the Music Playing" was probably his last great work.@@musicdeepdive
Generally good takes, though can’t agree with your placement of either Strangers or That’s Life - I.e. simply not worse than Point of No Return
Watertown is the best, it paved the way for artists to become characters like MF DOOM.
I think that Sinatra and Jobim was Frank’s best studio work…
A good vid. I almost did a spit take at your comment on “Satisfy Me One More Time.” But it’s spot on.
In hindsight, it’s astounding that an artist like FS couldn’t assemble good records in the 70s.
My only difference is I would put “LA is my Lady” a bit higher.
I've only heard two...and it's a weird batch.
1. Watertown - 4
2. Sinatra's Sinatra - 3.5
Per the usual, great discussion as always!
weird batch indeed, should check out some of his earlier stuff to expand that '50s knowledge - thanks for the support fam :)
@@musicdeepdive I was planning to listen to all you give 4 stars or higher :)
Watertown is awesome
I find it interesting that so many people loved Watertown. I found it and his voice dull and uninteresting on my first listen years ago and never went back to it, but I will now with fingers crossed.
Don’t agree but nice effort.
TOP 3 = SONGS FOR SWINGIN LOVERS! - WEE SMALL HOURS - CYCLES
Completely missed frank Sinatra Tommy Dorsey album 1945
not sure what this is referencing - Dorsey had a couple of singles compilations from '44 and '46 respectively, but on both of them Sinatra appears on no more than 2-3 songs each so they aren't worth acknowledging for an album ranking like this. no disrespect to his material with Dorsey though, some great stuff in there.
Sinatra left Dorsey at the end of 1942, so anything released after that was probably on a compilation. Similarly, Sinatra’s “All or Nothing at All” with Harry James, was re-released in 1943 and became a big hit even though it was originally out in 1939. I would love to see a video detailing Sinatra Singles releases, beginning with the Harry James material and up to “Here’s to the Band” (1983)!
Jenkins arrangements are more "Wagnerian".
I wish I could enjoy listening to Frank, like I used to.. it was my favorite music and now it's just not interesting anymore.
It’s interesting…I’d rather listen to what you consider the WORST Sinatra albums than listen to just about anything that’s produced today. Give me Sinatra ‘65 over Taylor Swift any day!
Horrible. You know nothing.
@@saintcruzin You know nothing also.
totally agree,,,this guy knows nothing
Bro, what's your top 5? My personal no. 1 is "Song for Swinging Lovers".