Product Details
Capitol Records Concept Albums

Capitol Records Concept Albums
From Capitol Records

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Product Description

For the first time ever, you can own the ultimate music collection from the greatest vocalist in history - Frank Sinatra: The Concept Albums. 14 CDs with 189 songs from the Capitol years, all of them specifically chosen by Sinatra himself and put together to tell the story that he intended. These concept albums represent the most innovative and transforming period in music history, the pinnacle of Frank Sinatra's career. A time that will never be repeated, but can be relived again and again because now, Frank Sinatra: The Concept Albums is available.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

  1. Just One of Those Things
  2. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
  3. Sunday
  4. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
  5. Taking a Chance on Love
  6. Jeepers Creepers
  7. Get Happy
  8. All of Me
  9. My Funny Valentine
  10. Girl Next Door
  11. Foggy Day
  12. Like Someone in Love
  13. I Get a Kick out of You
  14. Little Girl Blue
  15. They Can't Take That Away from Me
  16. Violets for Your Furs

Disc 2:

  1. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
  2. Mood Indigo
  3. Glad to Be Unhappy
  4. I Get Along Without You Very Well
  5. Deep in a Dream
  6. I See Your Face Before Me
  7. Can't We Be Friends
  8. When Your Lover Has Gone
  9. What Is This Thing Called Love
  10. Last Night When We Were Young
  11. I'll Be Around
  12. Ill Wind
  13. It Never Entered My Mind
  14. Dancing on the Ceiling
  15. I'll Never Be the Same
  16. This Love of Mine

Disc 3:

  1. You Make Me Feel So Young
  2. It Happened in Monterey
  3. You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me
  4. You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me
  5. Too Marvelous for Words
  6. Old Devil Moon
  7. Pennies from Heaven
  8. Love Is Here to Stay
  9. I've Got You Under My Skin
  10. I Thought About You
  11. We'll Be Together Again
  12. Makin' Whoopee
  13. Swingin' Down the Lane
  14. Anything Goes
  15. How About You?

Disc 4:

  1. Close to You - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  2. P.S. I Love You - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  3. Love Locked Out - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  4. Everything Happens to Me - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  5. It's Easy to Remember - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  6. Don't Like Goodbyes - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  7. With Every Breath I Take - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  8. Blame It on My Youth - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  9. It Could Happen to You - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  10. I've Had My Moments - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  11. I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra
  12. End of a Love Affair - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra

Disc 5:

  1. Night and Day
  2. I Wish I Were in Love Again
  3. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'
  4. I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan
  5. Nice Work If You Can Get It
  6. Stars Fell on Alabama
  7. No One Ever Tells You
  8. I Won't Dance
  9. Lonesome Road
  10. At Long Last Love
  11. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
  12. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
  13. From This Moment On
  14. If I Had You
  15. Oh! Look at Me Now

Disc 6:

  1. Where Are You? - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  2. Night We Called It a Day - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  3. I Cover the Waterfront - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  4. Maybe You'll Be There - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  5. Laura - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  6. Lonely Town - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  7. Autumn Leaves - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  8. I'm a Fool to Want You - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  9. I Think of You - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  10. Where Is the One - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  11. There's No You - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  12. Baby Won't You Please Come Home - Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra

Disc 7:

  1. Come Fly with Me - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  2. Around the World - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  3. Isle of Capri - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  4. Moonlight in Vermont - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  5. Autumn in New York - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  6. On the Road to Mandalay - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  7. Let's Get Away from It All - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  8. April in Paris - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  9. London by Night - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  10. Brazil - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  11. Blue Hawaii - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  12. It's Nice to Be Trav'ling - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra

Disc 8:

  1. Only the Lonely
  2. Angel Eyes
  3. What's New?
  4. It's a Lonesome Old Town
  5. Willow Weep for Me
  6. Good-Bye
  7. Blues in the Night
  8. Guess I'll Hang My Tears out to Dry
  9. Ebb Tide
  10. Spring Is Here
  11. Gone with the Wind
  12. One for My Baby

Disc 9:

  1. Come Dance with Me - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  2. Something's Gotta Give - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  3. Just in Time - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  4. Dancing in the Dark - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  5. Too Close for Comfort - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  6. I Could Have Danced All Night - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  7. Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week) - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  8. Day in, Day Out - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  9. Cheek to Cheek - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  10. Baubles, Bangles and Beads - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  11. Song Is You - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra
  12. Last Dance - Billy May & His Orchestra, Frank Sinatra

Disc 10:

  1. When No One Cares
  2. Cottage for Sale
  3. Stormy Weather
  4. Where Do You Go?
  5. I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You
  6. Here's That Rainy Day
  7. I Can't Get Started
  8. Why Try to Change Me Now?
  9. Just Friends
  10. I'll Never Smile Again
  11. None But the Lonely Heart

Disc 11:

  1. Nice 'N' Easy
  2. That Old Feeling
  3. How Deep Is the Ocean
  4. I've Got a Crush on You
  5. You Go to My Head
  6. Fools Rush In
  7. Nevertheless
  8. She's Funny That Way
  9. Try a Little Tenderness
  10. Embraceable You
  11. Mam'selle
  12. Dream

Disc 12:

  1. When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)
  2. Blue Moon
  3. S'posin'
  4. It All Depends on You
  5. It's Only a Paper Moon
  6. My Blue Heaven
  7. Should I
  8. September in the Rain
  9. Always
  10. I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me
  11. I Concentrate on You
  12. You Do Something to Me
  13. I've Got the World on a String [*]
  14. Learnin' the Blues [*]
  15. Young at Heart [*]
  16. Love and Marriage [*]
  17. Witchcraft [*]
  18. All the Way [*]
  19. (Love Is) The Tender Trap [*]
  20. Put Your Dreams Away [*]

Disc 13:

  1. Day by Day
  2. Sentimental Journey
  3. Almost Like Being in Love
  4. Five Minutes More
  5. American Beauty Rose
  6. Yes Indeed!
  7. On the Sunny Side of the Street
  8. Don't Take Your Love from Me
  9. That Old Black Magic
  10. Lover
  11. Paper Doll
  12. I've Heard That Song Before

Disc 14:

  1. When the World Was Young
  2. I'll Remember April
  3. September Song
  4. Million Dreams Ago
  5. I'll See You Again
  6. There Will Never Be Another You
  7. Somewhere Along the Way
  8. It's a Blue World
  9. These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
  10. As Time Goes By
  11. I'll Be Seeing You
  12. Memories of You

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #2543 in Music
  • Published on: 2004
  • Number of discs: 14
  • Format: Box set

Customer Reviews

Capitol is tough to collect5
First there was the original "Concepts" box set. Then a few years later they released another remastered (?) version of the same box set. And finally in 2004 they released this. Kind of. It was only available online or something? Also it's odd. Box sets of the "complete" type are typically for collectors. Yet this one appears to be more budget oriented and priced. Stranger still, this version is different from the prior two version because it doesn't include two albums: Tone Poems, and Jolly Christmas. Weird.

But hey, it's more for the mass-market right? Budget priced, smaller package. Well...actually this one is really more collectable...why?

Well, first of all it reproduces all the original LP jackets. Yes! Mini-LPs!! With all the original artwork, front and back -- Beautiful!! There's more -- there's no Concept busting bonus tracks!!! Hey, less is more. Remember these were Frank's concept albums. That means, the whole album was programmed from start to finish by Frank for damn good reasons. Bonus tracks, while nice, kill the concept. The other two versions of "Concepts - the box set" offered the exact same versions of these albums that Joe-Blow-not-the-collector could buy individually at any record store. The exact same ones. And those versions have bonus tracks and plastic jewel cases - Bleck - and big collector prices. They do NOT have the cardboard, mini-LP reproductions...with original artwork! They do not.

So, that's why Capitol records is tough to collect. They're a mess. Other labels appear to have a good grip on their artists' catalog and a solid knowledge of what their clientele want. Capitol appears to be running around like the building is on fire. I guess the MP3-boom gave them a beating...who knows, I really don't know. But much of their catalog gets shoddy treatment.

Anyway, this box set is great. It's affordable and has a collectors' charm. Its super slim packaging makes these 14 quintessential, must own, masterpieces quite handy. Put a copy in your glove compartment. Perhaps one in your purse. Sure, while I would have preferred a more luxurious and crafted package to house these works...hey...it's Capitol. More importantly, everything inside is done right. Well...

As for the mastering job on these albums...who knows. There's no documentation. I'm positive it's the same as the 1998-2002 Entertainer of the Century "Bob Norberg remasters," that appear in the second version of "Concepts" and individually in stores everywhere. But remember, in THIS version of the box set, you get mini-LP sleeves, original artwork, and no intruding bonus tracks!!! - Not available anywhere else but here.

So, they range from 20-bit to 24-bit and from "slightly-improved" to "slightly butchered." But hey, it's Capitol. You can read the reviews of the individual Capitol albums contained herein to learn more about the Norberg releases.

In a nutshell, I don't find the Norberg releases to be very pristine. There's no room, no ambiance, and in many cases the noise reduction so shades the high-end, that strings sound horribly muffled and indistinguishable. In some spots I could mistake a string ensemble for some voices humming. On some albums the hi-hats and brushwork almost disappear. I guess there's some added texture and definition, probably the result of higher bit-rates and compression, but these are not hi-end, or hi-fi remasters at all. Hopefully this set will land in the hands of a Chuck Granata and crew, and get professionally restored and packaged. But hey, it's Capitol, and for now it's all we got and probably the best version of these albums on CD to date.

(NOTE: The very first version of "Concepts," contained the versions prior to 1992, has better mastering then the Norbergs do, but uses older technology to do so...so it sounds a tad thin...but way cleaner. Yeah, fun isn't it? But they too use the same jewel cases, same bonus tracks as the Norbergs - and do NOT have the mini-LP sleeves.)

But these performances are beyond essential, and if you don't already have them all...you're missing things. And for the collectors who do have these albums -- do you have the original LP artwork restored and the no-bonus track - just the facts - versions of these albums yet?

You better get on it.

Great albums, but pay attention to the tracks...3
Unfortunately, the track information for each CD is not included in the Amazon summary, so it makes it hard to research this set. These albums are remastered re-releases of the original albums, which means that they are missing most of the bonus tracks that are on the 2000 box set and the individual releases. It might be that one or two albums had the full set, but most of the albums only had the originals from what I could tell.

This set is also missing the Christmas and orchestral albums that have been included in previous boxes, which may or may not matter to you.

That aside, both the packaging and the sound quality on this set are outstanding. The set is very compact, just a small black box with the fourteen CDs in reproduction sleeves of the original LP sleeves. I don't consider myself an audiophile or anything, but the sound was very clear and had the depth to it that is often missing in modern recordings.

If you're looking for good remasters of the original releases, without any frills or bonus material, then this is a great set for you. If you'd rather have all 16 albums with bonus material, then you might want to think about spending the extra cash for the older release, which is still floating around.