“The Sopranos – Peppers & Eggs (Music from the HBO Original Series)”

Album: The Sopranos – Peppers & Eggs (Music from the HBO Original Series)

Artist: Various Artists

Year: 2001

Genre: Pop, Rock

Grade: B+

Recently browsing the clearance rack of my local CD store (and if you’re a CD aficionado in Kenmore, NY, then I highly suggest you check the place out), I was thrilled to find a copy of The Sopranos – Peppers & Eggs, a relatively rare, two-disc, 26-song soundtrack featuring songs from The Sopranos’ first three seasons. For $3, no less. (And with original promo sticker still intact: “WIN a Walk-On Role on The Sopranos Instantly!”)

Money well spent. Peppers & Eggs is an entertaining encapsulation of the series’ eclectic musical tastes, from catchy pop songs to obscure deep cuts. Even if you’re not familiar with the show, there are still enough good songs here to make the album worthwhile. The diversity of genres alone might be enough to compel you to start the series.

But the mixtape’s primary target audience is the Sopranos superfan, the one who can correctly identify the episode and scene where each song is used, unable to separate the music from the TV. The songs gain an additional power when remembering how they were used in the series: a poignant cut-to-black, a tension-filled cliffhanger, an ambiguous moment of irony.

No other show mastered the needle drop like The Sopranos, and every tune is a fun trip down memory lane: Van Morrison’s 1964 garage-rock anthem “Gloria.” Elvis Costello’s alt-rock hidden gem “High Fidelity.” Sacred steel from The Campbell Brothers. Dramatic R&B from Ben E. King. A Cake song called “Frank Sinatra.” A Frank Sinatra song called “Baubles, Bangles and Beads.” A forgotten 1980s Kinks song performed by Dave Davies. A forgotten 1990s Rolling Stones song performed by Keith Richards. An aria from a Vivaldi opera. An amazing acoustic guitar solo from Nils Lofgren. An energetic rocker from E Street guitarist Steven Van Zandt (a.k.a Silvio Dante).

But the best selections are the ones that can’t be found anywhere else: the perfect mash-up of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and Henry Mancini’s Peter Gunn theme song, used perfectly in the season three premiere; Bob Dylan’s cover of Dean Martin’s “Return to Me,” which was recorded specifically for the show; and a heartfelt rendition of “Core ‘ngrato,” performed by Uncle Junior without an interruption from Meadow.

And, typical of The Sopranos, the Peppers & Eggs collection concludes with its most memorable moment: “Dialogue from The Sopranos,” a hilarious five-minute sound collage that features such iconic quotes as “Why don’t you get the fuck outta here before I take your quotations book and shove it up your fat fucking ass,” “The federal marshals are so far up my ass, I can taste Brylcreem,” and “What kind of animal smokes marijuana at his own confirmation?” (That last Carmela quote is repeatedly interwoven throughout the collage, each time funnier than the last.)

In the end, Peppers & Eggs is a luxury, not a necessity. It’s a rewarding piece of Sopranos memorabilia that could’ve benefitted from better sequencing and less glaring omissions (some of the best songs used in the series aren’t included), yet remains an enjoyable listen nonetheless.

STRAY ROUNDS

• Why did they call this Peppers & Eggs? I’m sure Tony Soprano could eat peppers ‘n’ eggs by the carload, the release might still be in print if it was called Gabagool & Moozadell.

• Songs I wish Peppers & Eggs had included: “Look On Down from the Bridge” by Mazzy Star, “Rumble” by Link Wray, “Goodnight My Love” by Ella Fitzgerald & Benny Goodman, “Con te partirò” by Andrea Bocelli, “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” by Johnny Thunders, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” by Les Paul, and “#8” by Aphex Twin.

• I actually think series creator David Chase got even better at music selections from season four onward. It’s a shame there was never a sequel soundtrack.

• Another Sopranos soundtrack CD (simply titled The Sopranos: Music from the Original HBO Series) was released in 1999 and comprises songs featured in seasons one and two. None of the selections are duplicated on Peppers & Eggs, which is why we don’t get to hear Frank Sinatra’s “It Was a Very Good Year,” Nick Lowe’s “The Beast in Me” and “State Trooper” by Bruce Springsteen.

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