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Sinatra fans have become the chairmen of the bored.
I hate to kick a great singer when he's down and out (OK,
he's dead) but I'm kind of getting tired of these Frank
Sinatra collections. Outside of Elvis, Sinatra's catalog
has been reissued, rearranged and re-released every couple
of years to rope in those that don't suspect that they're
not getting prime Sinatra. Assembling a collection like
this can't be an easy task and to producer Frank Collura's
credit, he does throw a few curve balls to keep fans interested
but, frankly, they aren't enough. ***
There's nothing wrong with a great collection but great
collections mix the predictable chestnuts with the unpredictable
numbers that challenge a fan's perception of the artist.
"Sinatra at the Movies" fails at the latter. It's not a
bad collection, it's just a collection for…the casual Sinatra
fan who only wants the song he's heard in the movies. As
a small and limited portrait of Sinatra, it's not bad but
it could have been a whole lot better if it had focused
on something other than just his movies because, frankly,
not all the songs he did for those movies he was in (or
where the his music was used) were the best to begin with.
What's more the focus isn't even on Sinatra's entire movie
career with his songs but just the material he did for Capitol
in the 1950's. ***
Frankly (pardon the pun), some of this material was
beneath him. "High Hopes" which is presented on the album
just doesn't work from its opening children's choir to the
last note it falls flat. Still, as with collections of this
sort praise should be passed along when they get more of
it right than wrong. The inclusion of songs that rarely
show up on Sinatra collections such as "Not as a Stranger"
or "C'est Magnifique" should be recognized because although
their inclusion is a bit less predictable, the smaller scope
of the album with its focus only on the 50's (admittedly
a prime period for Sinatra) robs fans of hearing both worthwhile
and quirky songs that they might otherwise have missed.
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Final Words:
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Although a bit predictable because
of its limited scope, "Sinatra at the Movies" is a decent
collection for neophytes to compliment a Sinatra "Greatest
Hits" or "Best of" compilation. I had high hopes for this
collection but once I heard the songs, I was a bit disappointed.
I was also a bit disappointed that Capitol didn't try to dig
some rare performances out of their vaults such as alternate
takes, etc. but, admittedly, the title IS honest about what
you're getting perhaps my expectations were a bit too high.
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