Customer Reviews

The Sopranos: Music From The HBO Original Series

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great album, not a single dud in sight. There is a song on here for everyone. The first two songs cover the funk, Frank Sinatra is on the album, Bruce Springsteen (hey the show's about New Jersey) and Bob Dylan are here for the rock people, there is British rock (Cream and Elvis Costello), and there is even hip hop (Wyclef Jean). This album will not disapoint anyone. The music is just as good to listen to as the show is to watch. It was fun (for me anyway) to try to remember what episode each song is from. Buy this album, if you don't you'll have to answer to Tony.

Unlike many soundtracks, which rely on heavily pimped singles and bands everyone knows and loves in order to make back money for a movie that may or may not be a hit, the Sopranos was already a hit when the soundtrack was compiled. So instead of hits by today's flavor of the months, we get a great compilation of largely funky and bluesy, really fun to listen to cuts. Of special greatness is A3's "Woke up this Morning" (A3 also did the best track on the "Life Less Ordinary Soundtrack" a great funky paen to mournful country called "Peace in the Valley").

Just about everything else on the album is really great. Frank Sinatra's "It was a Very Good Year" seems a bit out of place with the energetic, generally rhythm-based quality of the rest of the album (but hey, it's Sinatra, right?). The one song that really doesn't work is the one song I thought never worked on the show: Nick Lowe's "The Beast in Me". It's just a boring lament that made me wish for more the more skilled self-depreciation of Tom Waits. The new Eurythmics track is also an unexpected treat. Pick up this great album today.

I, a 40 year old woman, a total girly girl, walk around the streets of New York City with my DiscMan on and I AM Tony Soprano. I am tough, nobody messes with me. It's the ideal soundtrack for life. With the one exception of the Annie Lennox song on the last track, every track on this CD is a gem, pure and simple. While I prefer A-3's original "Woke up this morning" off their Exile album, but I think the remix is somewhat more fitting to this collection. Frank singing When I Was Seventeen, Bruce with Mr. State Trooper, Bo Diddly's I'm A Man. You just can't beat this thing. I gave almost everyone I know this CD as their Christmas present. I think the fact that only one person didn't like it says an awful lot.

Even if you've never seen the show, you really NEED to buy this. Then you too can walk the city lost in a world of tough guys and savvy chicks. You'll get that bop to your walk, the attitude. You will, if only for once in your life, be so cool it hurts.

Ask yourself this question--could an album with songs by Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Cream, Bo Diddley, and the incomperable Elvis Costello NOT be fabulous? Of course not. This is a great album, a fun album, and even if you've never seen the show the songs are so good on their own that you'll still love it.

The theme song by A3 is one of the most arresting TV songs in a long, long time (not that there's been much competition, but ask anyone who's seen the show what drew them in to start with, and they'll say the opening credits and that theme song).

Still, this isn't a collection of your usual Mob Hits (sorry, I couldn't resist. Probably should have, tho). The Sinatra song is the wistful "It Was A Very Good Year", the Springsteen tune the haunting "State Trooper". The song by Little Steven (who plays the funniest of Tony's crew on the show) delivers a kickin' song of his own. My favorite song on the show was Elvis Costello's "Complicated Shadows" and as usual EC is at his incomperable best.

But my favorite song on the album is the closing track "I've Tried Everything" by Eurythmics. This is a song off their new album and I listened to it like 10 times in a row, it got to me so bad. I would gladly listen to Annie Lennox sing random pages out of the phone book, but this beautiful, sorrowful song was a shock at the end of the album. I haven't heard this song on the show yet and don't know in what context it will be used, but wow, it is a real punch to the stomach. Not the kind of song you would expect to find on a soundtrack for a show about a crime family, but much of The Sopranos has gone against stereotype, and thank Goodness for it. This song, and this album, are up to the standards set by the show.

Because I am a Sopranos fanatic, my wife got me the CD for Valentines Day (Thank you, Dear!). I mainly wanted it for the "Woke Up This Morning" track, but the more I listen to it -- like right now -- the more I like it. After about 2 or three more listens it should move up to 5 stars. "Inside OF Me", written by Steven Van Zandt of the Sopranos cast is a pleasant surprise. With Dylan, Springsteen, Cream, and Francis Albert it's gotta be great. Even "It's Bad You Know" is getting better the more I hear it. If you are a Sopranos fan, you should get this CD!

Wow. That is about all I can say. First time I saw the show, Woke up this Morning drug me in completely. I couldn't believe it when the soundtrack became available and I ordered it just to get the title track. But what a giant of a cd. It is as diverse and complicated and layered and gutsy as the show. I usually listen to it late at night with headphones while on the computer cause I headbang so badly my son and husband would think I have lost it. I knew Bruce's song was terrific, but what a surprise from little Steven! All in all, this is the best cd I have bought in a while, and I but a LOT of cds. If you don't have it and you like the show...get it!

"The Sopranos" soundtrack is an eclectic, entertaining mix of songs from past and present. You don't have to be a fan of the HBO series to enjoy this CD - especially when you have memorable tracks from Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Cream and Bo Diddley. A3's killer remix of "Woke Up This Morning" and R.L. Burnside's bluesy "It's Bad You Know" are particular standouts. Overall, this is one musical compilation that really delivers.

I almost never buy soundtracks unless they have a rare song by an artist I like. I bought this one mainly so I could have a copy of "Woke Up this Morning" and I have been pleasantly surprised by most the rest of the work on it. I can't give it five stars b/c it isn't perfect but my four star rating is uninhibitted.

Chief among this disc's virtues is the variety - there's something on here for almost any taste. That means, of course, that there are probably a couple of songs you won't like but it also means that you'll get some exposure to some good stuff you hadn't tried before. This was certainly the case for me. Not a bad deal.

There's a lot of music out there to spend your money on - you won't regret spending it on this CD.

Being a big fan of THE SOPRANOS, I just had to get this. And it was a brilliant buy!!

The great thing about this disc, is that you don't have to be a fan of THE SOPRANOS show to enjoy the music. What with great and classic names such as Bob Dylan, Cream, Them, Bo Diddley, Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen, what's not to love about it?

Myself, I prefer A3's original version of "Woke up this Morning", but that does not mean that the mix doesn't still rock. R.L. Burnside's "It's Bad You Know" is a delightful mix of mix and electronics(Another cool thing about this album, is that it gives you the chance to discover new music that you might want to investigate further into)

Sinatra's "It Was A Good Year" and Cream's "I Feel Free" are pretty self-explanatory. Both 100% gems and all-time classics. And Bob Dylan pretty much sums up "Gotta Serve Somebody" and The Sopranos with one line- "Well it may be the devil or it may be the law, but you gotta serve somebody"

I knew even two of the artist that would appear on this album even before I saw the full list. Little Steven just HAD to be on this album seeing as he plays Silvio Dante on the show. And "Inside Of Me" is a great song, got a terrific beat. And of course, how could you have an album based on a show set around New Jersey without a Bruce Springsteen song?! "State Trooper", Just Bruce and the guitar...doesn't get much better than this!!

Them- "Mystic Eyes", again pure classic music. Van Morrison's voice is just great! And Bo Diddley...The title says it all. "I'm a Man", listen to the song, and you'll agree with him!

Costello has always been one of my favorite artists, and this song, "Complicated Shadows" just reinforces my opinion of him. Nick Lowe's "The Beast In Me" is the where the disc fails though. It is it's only weak point. I just don't like it.

Los Lobos' "Viking" gets things moving again though and is a really cool song with heavy guitar. Wyclef Jean and G&B's "Blood Is Thicker Than Water"(Brilliant song title!) is a cool song with great lyrics. And lastly, The Eurythmics' "I've Tried Everything" is a nice, slow song to finish the album off. Annie Lennox's voice- as always- is beautiful.

I just hope this is the first Volume of many more to come...

ANY fan of this spectacular TV show will love this CD. Even without the show, the tracks are great. But when put in context with the various episodes, the album is even more sensational. This may even be a Soprano's collector's item someday!