Malingerer, I wish I had 10 likes for your comment.  The middle class (and especially blue collar) experience has been obliterated from scripted pop culture.  The exceptions that are out there (Breaking Bad, parts of Southland) conflate not being rich with criminality.

Vincent Curatola is so good on this show.  His breakdown at the end- like a synthesis of Calculon and Donbot.

Finally a mashup of my two favorite movies, Dan in Real Life and Children of Men!

It's also on In Time, the greatest hits album that came out in 2003.  The version on In Time should actually be the canonical version, IMO, because it's almost a minute longer and therefore ends less abruptly.

Mills's harmonies are so important, their absence hurts quite a few of this band's songs (a lot of Document, I think).  Stipe can sound sort of, I don't know, grating at higher pitches.  It's trouble when he's not accompanied by Mills or backed by loud guitars.

Pushed to shove, I'd say that Fables is their best, their album where the average song quality is the highest, without an obvious weak link song or a song that's just a diversion or palate cleanser (ok, maybe Old Man Kensey), an album that pulls off the feat of combining some amazing pop hooks with a world weariness…

Orange Crush, c'mon, that riff, and those drums are great.

Great minds…

So 18 (shudder) years later, everyone knows that Monster is a "rock" album, cynical, dark, infused by glam rock , etc. etc.  Well, Reveal is just as much a "fun" "summer" album.  It's too edgy to relax to, to slow to be propulsive.  It doesn't sound like Stipe and Mills and Buck are all on the same page.  I never feel…

Yep.  Fitting for a book to read hastily.

Zach, we already saw what Tony getting shot in the head looks like- it looks like the Phil Leotardo whacking mixed with the Gerry Torciano whacking.

My guess is that once the writers had the monastery, they shaped the name to sound like the character.  I'd be surprised if they built the subplot around the character's name.

Nothing much to add except that the Inn at the Oaks reminds me a little of the lake house in Sopranos Home Movies, specifically the scene when Bobby runs out to his car.  I love the Ojibwe saying and wind motif, and the mystery / supernatural aspect of how the card got in Tony's room.

8) that's a great catch.  It has to be deliberate.

"Soprano Home Movies" is an amazing hour of television, no doubt about it.

Untruth.

SPOILERS I guess

Ah, "The Ride", perhaps the best episode in the entire series.  Especially because it finally explained who was and who was not affiliated with The Vipers.

I just want to say how incredibly excited I am that these write-ups are back.  Sopranos 6a is the best season of television I have ever seen.  Todd, a sincere "thank you" for your work.

For whatever reason, Document just never did it for me, at least relative to their other albums. I see it as Pageant without some of the charm (how's that for vague criticism?), though I certainly think it's far above ATS. There are R.E.M. albums I think might be their best, ones that I don't think are their best…