Frank Sinatra - Live From Las Vegas
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Free Music Notes for Live From Las Vegas
Free Music Review: Frank Circa 1986
Hit: 3 Stars
By 1986, Frank Sinatra's recording career was essentially over; he had not released an album in 2 years (1984's "L.A. Is My Lady" was greeted by mediocre reviews and sales.
Thousands of fans from all over the world however, still were willing to pay top dollar to see Sinatra perform in concert.
This package features highlights from a Sinatra engagement at the Golden Nugget in Vegas in late 1986.
By this time, the Sinatra voice had lost a huge amount of lustre, yet Sinatra's impeccable timing and phrasing are still evident, especially in the up-tempo numbers ("Luck Be A Lady" and "Under My Skin" are particularly effective).
Sinatra even attempts some big show stopping ballads ("I Have Dreamed" and "My Heart Stood Still") with mixed results.
It's also worth noting that the mixing on the set is puzzling...some of the tracks are in stereo; others in mono..on a few selections, Frank's spoken intro to the songs are in monaural, then there's a switch to stereo when the tune begins!
Sinatra fans will certainly want to add this package to their collections, but considering some of the live Sinatra performances from the 60's and 70's that were recorded but remain unissued, "Live From The Golden Nugget" is only a slightly mixed blessing.
Free Music Review: Only for the completists
Hit: 2 Stars
As others have noted, very uneven audio quality - I suspect the audio was recorded on videotape, that's the way it sounds to me. Song selection below average and performances are so-so. As a piece of history it's nice to hear him sound so ... well, so glad to still be around and appreciative of an audience. But he's not Mr. Ring A Ding Ding anymore, he's an old singer on his way to the lounge.
Sinatra at the Sands ... now THAT's the way to remember Francis Albert. This album is part of a Capitol Vegas series and is an obvious attempt to wring some dough out of Sinatra fanatics and those who see it at Target (like me) and think, "What the hell ....."
EDIT: I've let this CD rest for a few months and returned to it. Upon further review (as they say in the NFL), and in a different setting, I enjoyed the performance after all. This time I listened in my car, and the lower fidelity helps mask the poor quality of the recording and the thinness of Frank's voice. I was frustrated initially that his rich, deep baritone was missing, either by poor recording or Frank's condition at the time of the performance I'll never know. But even thin Sinatra is better than most people on a really good day. He's so darned cheerful and effusive this night, it almost gets maudlin. He's always so careful to credit composers and arrangers of his songs. So how ironic that after all that banter the concert just suddenly ends with a fade, I'm sure he had quite a bit to say before he left the stage.
So my earlier preference for Sinatra at the Sands still stands (where both he and the Basie band are in tip-top shape). The band this night is pretty good but not top-shelf, like Francis himself, but as an alternate view of Frank later in life this CD, if not listened to on audiophile-level equipment, can still be satisfying. Apparently I can't revise my star rating, so consider it raised to 3.5.
Free Music Review: Live from Las Vegas-Sinatra
Hit: 2 Stars
Poor sound quality, not professionally prepared. Some bits and pieces of a Sinatra live performance but hardly worth listening to unless you're a die-hard fan that cannot get enough of Sinatra.