Sings For Only The Lonely [Vinyl]

For an artist of Sinatra's stature, an artistic peak is a thing of no uncertain majesty. Such a peak was reached on ONLY THE LONELY, with the invaluable assistant of arranger Nelson Riddle. Foreshadowed by the glorious sob-fest of IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS, this album is a case of serendipity, where songs, arrangement and performance all combine for an unrelenting dose of heartbreak.
The ominous, film-noirish flatted-fifths of "Angel Eyes" set the scene for a cuckold's tale, which ends with Sinatra's evanescently graceful bow-out, "'Scuse me while I disappear." The timeless "One For My Baby," one of the songs most closely identified with Sinatra, finds him pouring his troubles out to a bartender, who simultaneously pours out the much-needed antidote to the singer's pain. ONLY THE LONELY is a devastating, perfectly rendered account of a man unable to escape the cage of his own shattered dreams .