The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs (Music From the HBO Original Series) [PA]

Performer: Original Soundtrack/Various Artists
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: PEPPERS & EGGS was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media. This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players. PEPPERS & EGGS was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media. At the end of each episode of The Sopranos, a different song plays under the credits. Sometimes the song has been featured elsewhere in the episode, sometimes it is first heard at the end. What the songs have in common is that none of them are mentioned in the credits. Viewers may recognize the familiar ones, a song by Otis Redding, say, or Them's "Gloria." But many are unusual even if the artists are well known, and others are hard to identify. Some, in fact, are special to the series. Now, puzzled and intrigued viewers can be satisfied by this two-CD set, the second collection of music from The Sopranos, which ranges from opera singer Cecilia Bartoli performing a Vivaldi aria to Bob Dylan turning in a shambling, newly recorded version of the old Dean Martin hit "Return to Me," complete with a verse in Italian. As was true of the first album, this one is full of artists like Dylan who rarely agree to let their material be licensed, among them the Rolling Stones and the estate of Frank Sinatra. Some of the songs bear at least a glancing relationship to the subject of the series, such as the Kinks' "Living on a Thin Line" and the remarkable opening track, a medley of the Police's "Every Breath You Take" and Henry Mancini's "Theme From Peter Gunn." Others are just terrific, or at least ear-catching works. The moral contradictions of the series are exemplified by the segue from Pigeonhead's "Battle Flag" that makes prominent use of a 13-letter word that helps earn the album a parental advisory sticker, to the Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson's "I've Got a Feeling," a gospel number. As on the series, somehow it all holds together without anybody getting hurt. Most of the time, that is. ~ William Ruhlmann For the second installment of songs from his hit series, SOPRANOS creator David Chase once again casts his net far and wide in compiling a fascinating cross-section of artists. Kicking off with an inspired fusion of the Police's creepy stalker ode "Every Breath You Take" and Henry Mancini's classic noir instrumental "Peter Gunn," Chase wanders all over the musical map, taking in styles as varied as Kasey Chambers' alt-country "The Captain," the classic soul of Otis Redding's "My Lover's Prayer," the lush, Dido-flavored electro-pop of "Certamente," and Cecilia Bartoli's impassioned performance of Vivaldi's "Sposa Son Disprezzata." Chase keeps the Rat Pack vibe going by including Cake's rumbling tribute to the Chairman Of The Board ("Frank Sinatra"), while Hoboken's favorite son himself delivers the Brazilian-flavored "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," and Bob Dylan cuts a bouncy take of Dean Martin's "Return to Me." Loyal soldiers and series cast members Miami Steve Van Zandt and Dominic Chianese also contribute to the musical proceedings. The E Streeter and his band The Lost Boys rip into the Boss-like rocker "Affection," while Chianese croons and whistles his way through the Italian folk song "Core'Ngrato."

Q (Summer/01, p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Eclectic doesn't even begin to describe the delights on offer..." Uncut (8/01, p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "A catalogue of quality veterans....High, wide and timeless..."

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