Point Of No Return – FRANK SINATRA****

When The World Was Young/I’ll Remember April/September Song/A Million Dreams Ago/I’ll See You Again/ There Will Never Be Another You/Somewhere Along The Way/It’s A Blue World/These Foolish Things/As Time Goes By/I’ll Be Seeing You/Memories Of You

Point Of No Return was the final Capitol album of new Sinatra material. Some critics suggest that as it was only recorded to fulfil his contract his heart was not really in it. (US:19)

“This, the last Capitol album, reunites Sinatra with Alex Stordahl. An uneven record, but the highlights are very good. It's a treat to hear Sinatra take on These Foolish Things, As Time Goes By and I'll Be Seeing You."

“An underrated gem, Point Of No Return features an absolutely sublime reading of As Time Goes By, a rather overplayed chestnut that gets an unusually subdued, nuanced performance from Sinatra. Also noteworthy is his reading of When The World Was Young. Superb.”

“This is Sinatra's contractual obligation album, to finish off his career with Capitol, and though it may not be up there with some of the classics he recorded for that label, it's still a fine, underrated album.”

“This album long suffered the reputation of being, if not the black, then at least the grey sheep among Sinatra's Capitol long-players. It was recorded mainly to fulfil the singer's lingering contractual obligation to Capitol Records, and Sinatra's heart wasn't really in the project. The album as a whole lacks some of the passion with which Sinatra had almost invariably approached his Capitol studio sessions.”

“Out of all of Sinatra's Capitol concept album, this one is the weakest. Yes, it's filled with standards, but at this point, Frank had already started his own label, Reprise. He was avoiding recording for Capitol but he was still contractually obligated to provide one more album. This is the result. You can tell that Frank is not particularly interested in the recording. He seldom comes to life and just goes through the motions.”

“As his last album for Capitol Records, you'd think Frank would have supplied this 'contract filler' with a batch of leftovers and throwaway tunes. I was extremely surprised when I first heard this album, it is absolutely beautiful.”