Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sinatra's second best album, April 12, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Trilogy (Audio CD)
I remember being very excited when this album was first released. It had been a few years since his previous album and if memory serves me correctly, the single "Theme from New York, New York" was on the verge of being Frank's biggest hit in over a decade. I bought the original three record set for myself and as a gift to my parents, as well as treating myself to the three reel-to-reel set from Columbia House (oh, what memories!).My favorite of the three discs has always been "The Future." To this day the lush orchestration always puts me in a relaxed mood as my imagination always envisions what Frank is singing about (e.g. "I like to sit outside on a summer night with a drank in MY HAND"). I've never grown tired of this very long medley and can listen to it over and over.As for the rest of the album, the "Present" disc with such songs as "Something" and "Just the Way You Are" is nice to listen to (a cover of the Carpenters' "Close to You" is noticably missing somehow), and "Past" introduced me to another style of music I might never have known.This album was really up to date at the time and some twenty years later I still find the album very fresh and new. I've introduced the "Future" disc to some of my rock oriented friends who have since turned into Sinatra fans (really!). What can I say? The guy's cool.I highly recommend this album.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
There is another TRILOGY I've never heard?, November 23, 2002
This review is from: Trilogy (Audio CD)
Well,I confess that I'm amazed by the awful critics to this album. Maybe there is another TRILOGY album that I don't heard by now. What the hell? Figure it,it's the eighties,and here we have Frank trying to keep running against the times and crazy changes in music and world.He entered the studio and recorded a big number of songs,ones best suited than others to him and makes a great,grand-sounding album that through three discs -now two cd's- transports us in a wonderful travel trough forty years of music. It's a big and priceless effort of an old saloon singer in a time when his old pals and rivals vegetated in forgetness.Everyone seems to love the first part (aka THE PAST,perfect in its entirely) because obviously shows THE MAN at his best,melting himself with the old saloon songs and the sweet Dorsey textures,this time with Billy May arrangements. Well,that's easy and requires a little to appreciate it.But with the PRESENT and FUTURE sections the people shows a negative criticism that I don't understand at all. I agree with all of whom say that SONG SUNG BLUE or JUST THE WAY YOU ARE (from THE PRESENT,A&C by Don Costa,genius that conceived the glorious,glamorous and all that stand by -amorous SINATRA AND STRINGS) aren't between the Sinatra Classic Songbook,but renditions as YOU AND ME,MAC ARTHUR PARK,SUMMER ME,WINTER ME or of course,NEW YORK,NEW YORK,outweight the "weaker" parts.His vision of the current hits since the mid-sixties suffered the controversy from critics and some fans.Don't forget,thanks to this experimental side of Sinatra,we can enjoy NEW YORK NEW YORK,MY WAY,STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT and a lot more gems. And the suite that Gordon Jenkins created for Frank...I think it's simply thrilling and outstanding,a wonderful piece of music and lyrics,too deep and revelative.The occasional weakness in his voice only gives more dramatic sense and makes more credible the story he tells.It's a shame that Sinatra never did a television special or a tour based in this marvellous musical fantasy.It could be a peak in his career.FIVE STARS,NO DOUBT.But don't belive me,just hear it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic.....an almost perfect album, August 16, 2003
This review is from: Trilogy (Audio CD)
This album is NOT for the beginning or casual Sinatra fan but MUST have for the serious music critic. Perhaps one is overhelmed by the amount of music. Perhaps the fact that this album sold VERY well influences ones review. But I simply LOVE almost all the music on the PAST and PRESENT and I am amused by the FUTURE which was defintely influenced by STAR WARS which came out a few years before this album. Frank's singing on all albums is strong; his voice now older but still dramatic and very effective and romantic. The arrangements are ALL top notch and yes while some of them remind us of the 1940s a bit (so what??), they are updated and fresh which places them into the timeless category. Plus, the sound quality of 1940s recordings was of course nothing near what we had 1979 and since. Overall the sound is good; perhaps a bit bright but other than that, the albums sounds fat and solid..which it should, they're huge orchestras on here. If only DUETS I and II had sounded like this.... The songs themselves vary from classic (e.g. STREET OF DREAMS) to 2nd rate material (e.g. THAT'S WHAT GOD LOOKS LIKE) and some of the contemporary songs were already OLDIES by 1979 e.g. LOVE ME TENDER which came out in 1954. It just shows that standards are TIMELESS - a song can be written in the 20s and still sound fresh 50 plus years later when Sinatra sings it. JUST THE WAY YOU ARE on the other hand sounds dated by today's standards - it is an oldie reminding us of the late 70s - but a good one it is and Sinatra does one heck of a job swinging it hard. Perhaps when Sinatra sings a song it becomes a standard. YOU AND ME and MAC ARTHUR PARK are stunning and Costa outdid himself on the arrangmenents..same goes for SUMMER ME WINTER ME. SINATRA's heart is in all the songs whether they're from the AMERICAN songbook (1920-1965) or from the rock era. Granted, the FUTURE is a bit hard to digest at first but it will grow on you. Think of it as a movie on record....and then use your imagination......
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
