Let’s start by talking about the music. When this sound quality review commenced, I was firmly in the camp that views this as a sub-par Sinatra album, but I have to admit that, having now played it probably 50 or more times over the course of a couple of months, it has grown on me significantly. Just the fact that I’ve played it that much in that amount of time and don’t cringe at the thought of playing it again speaks well of the musical content within. Yes, it sounds rushed and yes, some of the songs are not exactly top tier standards, and yes, there is a certain sloppiness to the musical execution in places, but there is, I’m finding, a certain joie de vivre about the whole affair that counters some of those other shortcomings. I still don’t view this as true top-shelf Sinatra, but it’s a fun little album as far as the performances go, I have to admit. (I still prefer Come Swing with Me, but the chasm between the two is, for me, greatly diminished now.)
On the other hand, sadly, there’s the sound. As many of the four people who actually read these ramblings already know, I’m no fan of United’s recording style of this time period, so right there is one strike against this album, sonically. One of my great sonic laments is that Sinatra didn’t record all his albums at Capitol or at Radio Recorders, as either of them, in my opinion, would have supplied superior sound quality to what came out of United, despite all the hot air hyperbole that came out of the United camp to the contrary. Then, on top of the recording style undertaken at the sessions, there are the original mono and stereo mixes, which were done at United, as well -- kind of a double-blecher sandwich: Blech on the recording, and more blech added on the mixes, stereo and mono. The mono mix seems to have little to recommend it, at least to my ears, and the stereo mix has some really odd balance and tone issues, so even if you go back to the absolute first-generation stereo mixdown tapes, you’ve got major sonic limitations hampering your efforts.