Frank Sinatra - Cycles

A few days ago I got a Frank Sinatra LP at the thrift store, which was "The World We Knew."

I went back today. They had the same records, but instead of being in a convenient box for browsing, they had them stacked up on top of one another. Making them impossible to look at in a decent way. Still, I pulled some out and got a few, including another Frank LP, this one called "Cycles."

It's in decent shape, the record. The cover, like the other one, has a big cataloging sticker on it, this one Number 340! So, someone kept track of their records that way ... or more likely they were part of a radio station's library.

When I got home I looked up "Cycles" on All Music and was disappointed to see this is supposed to be Frank's "weakest" album, a big 1½ stars. But that didn't discourage me, since I'm not personally as finicky as professional record reviewers. And I'm more likely to like it than some of these expert personages.

And that's the way it turned out. I think it's delightful. I'm not put off in the slightest, nor do I think the arrangements are boring, all that. It's good. What? It's really good.

The cover has an emotional kind of picture of Frank. It's a strange picture, since it was obviously from the same roll of film as the picture on the back of "The World We Knew." Same stuff setting around. But it seems to fit in with the record.

The pictures on the back of the cover are interesting in a different way. One is Frank with Tiny Tim! How classic! The other is Frank with George Harrison and Patti. It's hard to recognize George in the picture, but the liner notes fill in the ID. The liner notes, by the way, are more extensive, smaller print. I haven't read them entirely.

I like the album. Even "Little Green Apples," which is not always my favorite song in the world. Frank always sounds great.