Few people credit it to him now, but Frank Sinatra was one of the key figures in inventing the concept album. Sinatra's themes here were brooding, suffering, the aches of a love affair gone wrong and the late night isolation that follows it. Pretty much every track is a searing ballad. Legend has it, this album was a response to his break-up with Ava Gardner.
Sinatra's voice has never been so deeply emotive, and it isn't all just him either. The sumptuous arrangements from Nelson Riddle and his orchestra builds around a spare rhythm section and aching strings. While his previous concept album triumph 'Songs for Young Lovers!' was jovial and romantic, this is introverted and lonely but never depressing - just a perfect album to put on in the background during the wee small hours.
