It's like this, see: if you ever had any doubt about the heaviness of parallel universe crime family The Sopranos, you can send it to sleep with the fishes. Sunday's brilliant two-hour season premiere showed just how heavy Tony and company are on every level, as the increasingly sinister Anthony, Jr. (actor Robert Iler) prominently sported a Pantera shirt while hanging out with his buds in an extended scene. Turns out that the real-life Iler is a huge Pantera fan, and he just attended two of the band's three sold-out shows at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. (No word on his cut of the door.) But back to the show: after rewinding that same scene several times and watching in slow motion, we on the Hot News staff are almost positive that one of Anthony Jr.'s friends was wearing a Staind shirt. We see the "S," we see the "D"... now if only the damn kid would turn and face the camera! But wait, there's more. Let's go to T. himself, or the man that plays him, James Gandolfini. In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Gandolfini explains that when he needs to get the juices flowing, nothing is more inspiring than some loud AC/DC. "Especially in the morning, if I have to be ****ed off, I'll put on a little AC/DC," he says. "Bang my head against things." And as if all that isn't enough, Drea de Matteo, better known as Christopher Moltisanti's girlfriend Adriana, has the AC/DC logo emblazoned as a tattoo a few inches south of her pierced belly button. Mamma mia.
Pantera is on tour now. Staind's highly anticipated new album Break The Cycle, featuring "It's Been Awhile" and a studio version of "Outside," will be in stores May 8. And AC/DC's No Bull DVD is in stores now, and the band starts the next leg of the Stiff Upper Lip tour on March 18.
