Masterful Movie

Good idea lost in the noise

Absolutely Fantastic

Absolutely Brilliant!

As a former record producer at the top end of the international rock / pop business who came a generation later than the protagonists of Vinyl, who knows intimately the reality of the music scene that the show documents, I found it superb.I can only laugh at the ignorami bleating "cliche" and thinking they're clever for it. Clichés typically become clichés because they're accurate and true...I can't even begin to count the people I've met irl who could so easily be characters in Vinyl. This show totally hit the nail on the head, which makes it even sadder that HBO couldn't see the value in it, and cancelled. But they do that with almost every single decent show they produce, so no surprise there.The energy, the momentum, the desperation to stay afloat... it's all there. The direction and performances are top-notch too. 10/10. RIP.

Way too ambitious. Lost potential. So much history to portray for future generations. Mad men portrayed the 60's and 70's so well. Sopranos portrayed the mob world so well. Donnie Brasco/Goodfellas/Sid and Nancy also portrayed this time period so well. This series is trying WAY too hard. As a gen-X who lived through the period but was too young too understand the history, I love watching the history behind it. I love the backstory/history but the plot and acting are awful. Let's face it Bobby Cannavale and Ray Romano are not exactly Oscar worthy actors. I had high hopes but did not deliver.

I have no real criticisms of this production. It's a tale of excessive cocaine use by a music executive and his downward spiral, which sports a beautiful array of gravitational incidents of both luck and ill luck, and very human fallibility that portrait the lead as basically a good enough fellow, though when he does something underhand the viewer is suitably and entertainingly dumbstruck by both his stupidity and his bravado. But his aim is not underhand, and a genuine love of music, and to save his company as a beacon of that music, always shines through sufficiently to help us want to watch the next episode.The soundtrack is beautiful. I personally loved the raw power of both the blues-man and the punk rocker the lead takes under his belt. New and old, the soundtrack is sophisticated and, though a tad incongruent and perhaps not always the best choice for an overlay (though usually it is), it is refreshing and also entertaining.I read some reviews that criticize the acting. The acting is brilliant. It's HBO. The characters are complicated and well-portrayed.It's odd that a story of addiction and its consequences should rivet such interest, but, like other good movies such as Blow, Scarface and Goodfellas, it does. The production is also big budget quality.My only small criticism is perhaps the cover of the DVD box, which radiates a certain serenity amid chaos and is misleading. There is no serenity and the chaos is the fun with this show. It's a tale about music and if one is a music lover you should really enjoy this. I eagerly look forward to a sequel.

Now, I only started watching this for one reason- John Cameron Mitchell as Andy Worhol, and he appears in three episodes. I thought it would be best to start from the first episode so I could follow the story, but to be honest I had given up by the end of the pilot and watched the second episode with little interest. I ended up just skipping through to the episodes and scenes he appeared in. There wasn't a gripping story line (which is usually established in the first couple of episodes to keep viewers hooked) it was just shouting, drugs and sex. Very stereotypical for a show set in the 70s, with this great cast something more original should have been done with just hints of what we actually see. As I said, I only watched 2 full episodes and the scenes with John CM, so I didn't even finish the series. The only redeeming qualities are John Cameron Mitchell, Olivia Wilde and the music, but even then it's not enough to keep me watching.3 out of 10 stars.