Although it was technically 's first album, wasn't really an LP effort on his part so much as a cash-in effort by in the wake of 's later success on with etc. And understandably, the sound is very retro for 1960-1961, comprised as the record is primarily of the and hardcore numbers that he cut for in 1956 (with his original group ) and 1957, including the -authored the / collaboration and ' Not everything is quite as briskly paced as those two numbers, but even the , such as and the melodic have an edge to them -- they stand midway between the that was happening in 1956 and the more lush and dramatic sound that would perfect at from 1959 onward. All of the material is fascinating as a sort of alternate-universe version of where might've headed musically, and most of it is downright bracing and exciting, though it's easy to see why it never succeeded at the time -- numbers like were a little too intense and ambitious as , with too many changes and involved lyrics, to hold that audience en masse. It was some of the best and most intense you could buy in 1961 this side of , however, and heard today the album is a fascinating curio from what's usually thought of as a fallow period in history. ~ Bruce Eder