As I mentioned, I'm on an inexplicable kick to check out some earlier guys I've always liked, but whose albums I've never listened to. Lets start with a real early one.
Its the perfect title for an album full of slow, peaceful songs that echo off night skies. The opener sets sets the pace perfectly, and using a 2nd-person voice to really impart the heartbreak, and the sense of loss doesn't taper off much from there. These songs are present and interesting counterpoint to Johnny Cash's more lovelorn stuff: Johnny was flawed, so his girl left him. Frank never had the girl, he was born alone, with all the hurt built in, platonically heartbroken under infinite starlight. Never listen to this as a breakup album, it will sort of destroy you.
The production's good, and the singing's peerless for what it is. Heck, it even won me over, and I'm not a lyrics guy.
So, I mentioned things fitting perfectly. Perfect title, perfect opener. What I'm really saying is that that all the parts fit, the album's feel is consistent and whole, and it does not stray from it's path, which is its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. By the end, it gets to be a bit much, and Frank starts to lose his cool, sounding a little insufferable in his longing. After 16 tracks, it might be nice to see some progression, or at least some diversions. Still, it does what it does well, and with conviction, which is certainly good enough for 4/5
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