Frank Sinatra--The Greatest Artist of the Twentieth Century?

The booklet that accompanies this box set has a section entitled "Questions Without Simple Answers". These questions all seem to have a common thread--why was Frank Sinatra one of the greatest artists of the 20th century? I've listened to the music of Sinatra for over forty years, and I think I know the answer--his skill at interpreting the songs of other people allowed him to transcend generation gaps, bridge musical styles and tastes, and achieve a charisma that is unparalleled by any standard. Sinatra earned the respect and admiration of generations of musicians, writers, producers and everyone else connected with the music industry, making him a sort of a cult figure with a "larger than life" stature.

The Reprise Collection box set is a "must own" collection for any fan of Frank Sinatra. It was released in 1990, to commemorate his 75th birthday, and it's a compilation of music from 1960 up to 1986 from the Reprise label. For those of you who might not know, Sinatra formed the Reprise label so that he could have the artistic freedom that he felt was being denied him at Capitol Records, and his association with Reprise lasted up to his retirement.

There are a total of eighty one tracks in this collection, arranged chronologically on four discs. I've listened to this box set on numerous occasions, and I've never really timed it, but I would guess that there's around five hours worth of music in this set. As a bonus, there are eight previously unreleased tracks for your listening pleasure, and people like long time buddy Sammy Davis Jr. and daughter Nancy make appearances on a couple of songs. The one constant throughout this entire listening experience is the magnificent voice of Sinatra, who expresses all the passion, emotion, heartbreak and world-weariness that he's known throughout his legendary career.

I'm not going to talk very much about the songs in this collection--I mean, how do you adequately summarize a compilation of the best post-1960 work of an artist as charismatic as Sinatra? I don't guess you do, but I think I do know what I like, and many of my favorite Sinatra songs are on here. Swing tunes like Let's Fall In Love, I Get A Kick Out Of You, and The Way You Look Tonight capture some of Sinatra's boyish exuberance, while Fly Me To The Moon and Love And Marriage demonstrate his love for a playful romp. That's Life, My Way, and September Song depict Sinatra as a "man of the world", a little worn and weary, but none the worse for wear.

Many Sinatra classics (in addition to those already mentioned) show up here--You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You, Luck Be A Lady Tonight, and Strangers In The Night are all trademark songs listeners will always associate with this great singer.

But alas--I only scratch the surface. This collection is loaded with great songs by a great performer. I guarantee that when you hear it, you'll recognize a lot of the songs and scratch your head, wondering why you didn't know that Sinatra did them. It sneaks up on you like that.

The booklet that comes with the box set has some priceless photographs and an abundance of information about Sinatra and the music in the collection.

I recommend this for any music fan, simply because it appeals to us all. Remember, artists as diverse as Elvis Presley and Sid Vicious recorded My Way, so that tells you volumes about how this music touches us all.

Thanks for reading.