HBO’s Vinyl season 1 premieres tonight.
We have a completely spoiler free review of the first couple of episodes.
HBO will air the premiere ofVinylthis Sunday.
A lot of the words to this tune will be written by author Rich Cohen.
The first episode ofVinylis a full length Martin Scorsese movie, a few minutes longer thanMean StreetsorKing of Comedy.
It sets the scene and digs into the history of the characters and the world of rock n roll.
It is structured like quite a few of Scorsese movies afterGoodfellas, which works to set a firm foundation.
Scorsese is also equally generous with the music, which comes from all genres.
The Scorsese artistry doesnt end there.
Rock music label owner Richie Finestra, played by Bobby Cannavale, is a long time music man.
He has an ear thats hungry for music and a nose with its own appetite.
InVinyl, Finestra is about to give up ownership of American Century Records, the label he founded.
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Radio rock was getting stale in the seventies.
The bands were rich and the A&R guys were lazy.
Along the way, HBO treats us to some great parties, good weed and bad deals.
When Jagger started out, the Rolling Stones were blues purists.
The cast is stellar.
The head of promotions at American Century Zak Yankovich is played by Ray Romano and everybody can love that.
Casella is the guy who has to get bands ready to be heard over the racket they make.
Hes brutal and you just love him, even if he just doesnt quite get it.
Hey, rock reviewers in the seventies thought the New York Dolls sounded like lawnmowers.
Daniel J. Watts funks it up as Hannibal.
Vinylwill also portray some of the musical artists of the day.
We go for a drive with Karen Carpenter.
Vinylis exciting and fun.
It blends the humor with the drama and the acting is nuanced and tight.
Though there are a few anachronisms, it is pretty faithful to the times.
