The variation of notes is an acrobatic feat for the vocalist. There is no assistance from a string section. Just the opening chord of a piano and the afterthought of a glockenspiel. And Sinatra hits each phrase with remarkable precision. When the remaining orchestra does join in, his voice simply blends into the greater scheme. "In the Wee Small Hours" as a tribute to love lost became an idea adopted several times over throughout popular music. The Reverend Al Green did as much for "Let's Stay Together" and Lenny Kravitz followed suit after his break with Lisa Bonet. Perhaps the greatest achievement of this album, however, comes from it's very thematic nature.

"In the Wee Small Hours" marks the first ever "concept album." At the time, an album's purpose was to fit as many singles as possible without necessarily any rhyme or reason. Sinatra thought a series of interconnected ideas would resonate better with the public. And it did. And no record by a serious artist would ever be the same.

Four years later, Frank was back to his old self, almost over Ava Gardner, still starring in motion pictures, and palling around with Sammy and Dean and, sometimes, Peter and Joey. Las Vegas was his playground. And the mood could not have been better captured than in 1959's "Come Dance With Me". The original album contains not a single slow song. From the opening blast of brass of the title song to "This Song is You," the beat is unceasing, the mood is vibrant, a celebration of life - a mirror-reflection of his larger than life persona. As conductor and arranger, Billy May is the anti-Nelson Riddle. Far from the perfectionist calculations of the latter, May's work is frenzied, the energy unbridled. It might have been disastrous for May to have arranged In the Wee Small Hours, but for the purposes of this recording, it could not have been more appropriate.

Admittedly, songs like "I Could Have Danced All Night" and "Day In-Day Out" now seem tiresome. Still, other numbers like "Cheek to Cheek," while tiresome even in 1959, are given new life by his inimitable vocals. Imagining what it is like to hear these feverish compositions for the first time, it is not surprising to see how "Come Dance With Me" became one of his most successful albums, winning the Grammy award for Album of the Year and remaining in the charts for the next two years.

Capitol Records has also generously added four additional tracks, some being rarities. Two of the songs, "Nothing in Common" and "How Are Ya' Fixed For Love," are duets with Keely Smith. It is almost disarming to hear her smooth Virginian vocals alongside those of the suave Sinatra as opposed to her typical duets with the raspy voice of her rapscallion husband, Louis Prima.

Of the eighteen albums to be rereleased, "In the Wee Small Hours" and "Come Dance With Me" offer the starkest contrast in Sinatra's sometimes manic, sometimes depressed way of living. And whether he is down in the dumps singing "Last Night When We Were In Love" or giddy with glee crooning "Something's Gotta Give," (so giddy he gets caught up in the moment and yells, "C'mon, let's tear it up!") the performance is never short of masterful.