As mentioned, Vinyl has some great talent behind the camera, and that starts with the person responsible for creating it: Terence Winter. Even if his name isn't familiar, some of his past work certainly will be. He wrote and produced numerous episodes of The Sopranos, created Boardwalk Empire, and wrote the screenplay for The Wolf of Wall Street, for which he received an Oscar nomination. That means we should expect characters with rather dubious morals, a real feel for the period setting, sex and violence, and a general sheen of quality. His name alone adds credibility and interest to the series, but he's not the only star name involved in making Vinyl happen.