Vic Damone: Closer Than A Kiss & This Game Of LoveCloser Than A Kiss was an LP of 12 tracks arranged and conducted by Frank Devol and recorded in 1958. The title track is by Jimmy van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn whose lyrics contain many clever graphic metaphors of `closeness'. And talking of lyrics with clever metaphors, how about those that Dorothy Fields created for Sigmund Romberg's `Close as pages in a book'. There are so many great tunes here that with the voice of Vic Damone and the stylish arrangements of Frank Devol, the LP couldn't miss being a hit. The great tunes include `Out of nowhere', which Vic also recorded on his LP That Towering Feeling; `We kiss in a shadow (originally `We kiss in the shadows') from Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I; Duke Ellington's `Prelude to a kiss'; Irving Berlin's `How deep is the ocean' - not a bad line-up!The companion LP is This Game of Love with Vic Damone accompanied by the orchestra of Robert Smale, who uses some quite exotic and generally more intimate and sparse arrangements. I would have been more comfortable with a slower tempo for the opening number Schwartz and Dietz' `Alone together' - but then I guess I've been spoiled by the Bob Manning version. But the next track, Rodgers and Hart's `My romance' is stunning with accompaniment featuring flute and harpsichord! There are some nice vibes on `Ain't misbehavin''. Vic does a great job on `But beautiful' that van Heusen and Burke wrote for Bing Crosby in the 5th `Road' film, Road to Rio. Ed Redding's `The end of a love affair' has an intimate small combo interpretation on Sinatra's Close To You CD which I relate to better, but if it's the big band sound you're after, there's a fine version by Kenton on The Ballad Style of Stan Kenton. Smale's drummer and guitarist come into their own on `Am I blue' and he keeps his guitarist on the stand with the vibes player for `I'll be around'. From these details you can see there's a variety of inventive arranging here. Highly recommended.