#1 In The Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra

Right, here we go with the first album on the list; Frank Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours.
I’ll be honest that before this all I knew of Frank Sinatra was his connections to the mob, the fact that he has won an Oscar and could only name two of his songs off the top of my head. No prizes for guessing that I am referring to New York, New York and My Way. However, I am trying to keep my mind open here and seeing how I find these albums.

Needless to say that I was caught completely off guard. I was expecting some crooning that was only a slight improvement on Ray Quinn, if you haven’t heard of him then I am incredibly jealous, and I’ll put my hands up and admit that I was wrong. I will also admit that I was fending off tears for the majority of the time that I first listened to the album all the way through with some creeping out just as the opening track In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning began to play.

What we have here is an album composed entirely of ballads. Something that you wouldn’t be able to get away with nowadays unless your voice is powerful just like Mariah Carey or Leona Lewis, and even then the critics would still paw merciless at you demanding for something a bit more upbeat (unless it is deemed moody and artistic like White Chalk by PJ Harvey when all bets are apparently off).

With only one type of song present on this album it is a credit to Sinatra that this doesn’t feel at all dull. The saving grace of the album being the sheer emotionality of his voice, there is some warm velvet-like quality that is o-so disarming. When he sings of loneliness and heartache an instant connection appears to form. One that isn’t that disrupted by the annoying adverts that are weaved in by Spotify… not cool. In a way it’s almost like listening to a fluffy pair of slippers if they ever had recourse to sing, warm and cosy. Also, you have just got to love the fifties production style with the heavy strings and the occasional twinkle in the background. There is no doubt as to when this was recorded in that respects.

This is an impressive album and has already set the bar high for the next 1000 to follow.

7.0/10
(With 1000 albums to go it doesn't help to give a 7 to compare the rest against)


Fab Four:

In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
I Got Along Without You Very Well
When Your Lover Has Gone
Last Night When We Were Young