[yasr_overall_rating]

The pilot for Vinyl, the new HBO series from Boardwalk Empire and The Wolf of Wall Street collaborators Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter, is essentially a movie itself, taking us through two hours of music mayhem through the eyes of Richie Finestra, played to perfection by Bobby Cannavale.

Finestra is the chief of American Century Records, a label trying to stay afloat in the ever-changing 1970s music scene. In the pilot, he hopes that a deal with German record executives can revive the company and a deal with Led Zeppelin would certainly help. But we know that something doesn’t work out right because this is all set up in flashbacks. The show actually starts with Richie sitting in a car, getting high as teens suddenly stampede over him. He then takes us back to five days earlier to introduce us to the crazy bullshit that brought him to that point.

Seeing as the pilot was directed by Scorsese, who will likely direct a few more episodes down the line, it feels like the perfect follow-up to The Wolf of Wall Street, another movie about a filthy rich guy who acts as our unreliable narrator. Finestra is a little less showy than Jordan Belfort and there’s a sense that he would rather live his life as a music executive quietly. But that’s precisely his problem. He’s gotten too comfortable with skating by, taking advice from lackeys who tell him how to fix numbers. Someone or something needs to remind of the reasons for why he got into the music business in the first place.

Jamie Vine (Juno Temple) might have the answer to American Century’s problems. She’s convinced that a group called the Nasty Bits can be a hit, even if their lead singer (James Jagger) doesn’t give a f**k about anything. The pilot sets her up as the young hotshot who will help reinvigorate Finestra... or drive him crazy.

However, Vinyl does provide us with yet another series that focuses on a single man and his demons so you can be excused for seeing some things in common with Mad Men. Like that other period drama’s famous pilot, this one also marginalizes our hero’s wife. While Betty Draper did eventually become a strong character on that series, we will have to wait longer for Olivia Wilde’s Devon Finestra to become more than a two-dimensional character. (Based on the preview for episode two, it looks like she was a member of Andy Warhol’s circle of influence, so that sounds exciting.)

The pilot also didn’t focus much on the music, but that was likely because so many characters had to be introduced. That’s the one thing that can make this show more than just another one about a guy with something to hide (specifically, the murder of Andrew Dice Clay’s gone-too-soon character), so hopefully we get to see more now that we know who these characters are.

As a Scorsese “film,” the pilot featured plenty of the master filmmaker’s traits. ‘70s New York is portrayed like a dirty heaven, just the way Scorsese likes it. His camera, manned by The Wolf of Wall Street’s Rodrigo Prieto, is always moving - the scene of Max Casella on the phone will make you dizzy. And the music performances that are included are wonderfully directed. If only Scorsese would direct all music films.

Vinyl’s pilot had an incredible load to carry, even in two hours. At the end, we find Finestra back at the beginning, following those teens into the Mercer Arts Center, which collapses around him. The show could collapse too if Winter doesn’t ensure that Finestra isn’t the only interesting character to watch.

Vinyl airs Sundays on HBO. The show has already been renewed for season two.