A Great Appetizer For Beginning Sinatra Fans

As a huge Frank Sinatra fan, I must say that this album ranks maong the best he's ever done. I can't seem to find my original copy of the cd, so I'm going to buy a new one next time I go to Barnes and Noble. I remeber the recording vividly, and I remeber the very first time I listened to all it all the way through - on a long car ride in Long Island about 7 years ago.

This 1966 album marked a comeback of sorts for Frank Sinatra. He hadn't had a number 1 album since 1960's "Nice And Easy", and hadn't had a big hit single for quite some time. The "Strangers In The Night" album all changed that. The album went to number one and spawned a pair of hit singles: the title track, which knocked "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles off the top of the charts, and "That's Life", which became a number 4 hit in Decmeber, 1967. And though it wasn't a hit, "The Summer Wind" became one of his most popular songs. There are more great songs here, too. He does an expertice cover of Petula Clark's "Downtown", and his reworking of his first hit, "All Or Nothing At All" (recorded when he worked with Harry James),as it is much more uptempo and his older - sounding voice gives the song more of an edge. His version of "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" ranks as one of his best vocal performances ever. The other songs are good but not worth mentioning.

This cd is a great cd for both noivice and expert Sinatra fans. I still think it's his best 1960s' album. I know it's one of my favorite albums of all time. Buy it today.

Solid album, but not a must-own; not his final work w/Riddle

This is a solid, but not spectacular, album by a one-of-a-kind singer and interpreter of song. Highlights include the title song, "The Summer Wind," and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." With the exception of this last song (which is terrific but does not appear on any single- or double-disc compilations), I do not think there is a compelling reason to own this particular album. The jazz organ is a bit overdone, as others have stated.

Also, I must correct a previous reviewer - this is not the final collaboration between Sinatra and Nelson Riddle. They recorded together in the studio a few times in the mid- to late-1970s and performed together live many times up through the early 1980s. However, this is the last of Sinatra's concept albums to primarily feature Riddle as the arranger/conductor.

Thanks to the legendary Bert Kaempfert from Germany........

.....who composed "Strangers in the Night" and popularized that music through the distribution of his own phenomenally-selling LP's and audiophile-quality reel-to-reels, not only in the U.S. but worldwide, prior to Sinatra's lyricized release, Frank's plummetting career skyrocketed, so any foolish talk about Frank not liking this tune is ridiculous. What's more, Kaempfert's "The World We Knew (Over and Over)" contributed in a likewise crucial fashion to further Frank's recording career resurrection.