"The exciting new sound of
Nelson Riddle...a new sound breakthrough," proclaimed the cover of this album, recorded at the end of
Riddle's tenure with Capitol Records before he decamped to rejoin
Frank Sinatra at Reprise. That exciting new sound seemed to derive from
Riddle's recent successes on the large (Lolita) and small (Route 66) screen, and to have been influenced by
Henry Mancini's similar success, leading to a more prominent rhythm section and a jazzier feel than one usually associates with
Riddle's charts. The conductor's feel for melody was not extinguished by any means but, probably due to his recent experience, his arrangements and (on three tracks) compositions had a far more cinematic flair, which gave them an early-'60s contemporaneity and brought him out of the '50s just as he was moving on to new challenges.