Warren Zevon - The Wind
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Free Music Notes for The Wind
Free Music Review: His finest Hour
Hit: 5 Stars
Warren Zevon died the day I bought this CD. It's a rather sorry comment on the music industry that most of "popular radio" and much of the "popular music" press had ignored Warren Zevon for years, and only seems to be interested in this CD BECAUSE he died.But, fortunately, in this case there is a lot of substance to the material, so the interest is unlikely to fade. Perhaps this will cause people to check out Warren Zevon's previous output as well.
One thing that has always been a bit frustrating about Warren Zevon's previous output (except for "Excitable Boy" and "Stand In The Fire") is that the songwriting seemed to be far stronger than the production and performance of the songs. As a result, the recorded music never achieved its full potential for being blockbuster hits. This may not be his strongest writing, but the performances more than make up for any of that. And unlike so many contemporaty CD's, with their heavy use of computer programs to reprocess music to make it "aurally perfect" (cold aural sterility), the tunes here have just enough raw edges and "natural" touches to give them life -- and warmth. The reason is obvious: the level of talent assembled here is high enough so that they did not need computer programs to process their music.
It is my contention that the reason sales of recorded music are dropping is not because of fans downloading songs, but because the major companies are putting out junk: they're trying to run a multi-billion dollar industry on really mediocre talent. Instead of going for big talent and strong content, they go for special effects and flashy image-mongering. As a consequence, tehy end up with great fgashion ads, but lousy music. SO, people download it for free -- paying what they think it's really worth.
Warren Zevon recorded this CD on a small independent label called ARTEMIS, because the major labels didn't think he would sell very well (In reality, I suspcect they are so clueless that they would not know how to market anything that was intrinsically great, like this CD). Sadly, it took Zevon's death to get a lot of people to listen, but they are buying--because they like what they hear. So, enough kvetching at the music industry: fire a few execs and things should improve.
This CD is a collaborative effort betweeen Zevon and just about everyone who is anyone in the music biz. Tom Petty, Bruce Spreingsteen, Emmy Lou Harris, Joe Walsh, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Tommy Shaw ... check the credits for full details.
To sum up:
Warren Zevon has gone Knocking On Heaven's Door.
Before he left, he invited friends over to create some Disorder In The House, and Party 'til the End Of The Night, reminiscing about Dirty Life & Times. A good time was had by all, and the fun really comes out in the music -- even the somber and reflective ones.
Warren Zevon said he died a happy man, with no regrets. An Excitable Boy (party animal and gonzo rock star) for many years, he settled down to lead A Quiet, Normal Life. He said, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", and raised a family. I'm sad that he is gone, but grateful for what he created and left behind. In the end, he left "The Wind", a CD of substance that will play for years in the cars and homes of fans.
Free Music Review: Coda--Rest In Excitement, Mr. Z!
Hit: 5 Stars
First of all, a personal note: I received this album from Amazon.com on Saturday, September 6th. The very next day he died in his sleep (to fellow fans: I'm avoiding the pun, here). I'm glad that it happened that way, because I was able to listen to hear the record for the first time as a piece of music by a dying artist, and not as an elegy. I just feel that's important.
As a piece of work, it's closest in nature to "Life 'll Kill Ya." The arrangements tend towards the sparse, without a lot of embellishment. It's mostly Warren's slightly weak but still potent vocals over some pretty basic tracks.
A lot's been mentioned of the guests on this record, but don't worry--it's still Warren's, all the way. In all cases, they enhance and expand, not control the song. Except in one case, the nasty, rude, cynical (and therefore beautiful), "Disorder in the House," a crunchy, dirty rocker with great lyrics ("I'm sprawled across the davenport of despair") lifted to new heights by the growling, howling guitar work of none other than Bruce Springsteen. Simply fantastic.
Other highlights include the tender "Keep Me In Your Heart," the dirty blues of "Rub Me Raw,", and the funniest song since "For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer," "Numb As A Statue."
But truthfully, my first indication that the album was a winner came in the first line of the first song: "Sometimes I feel like my shadow's casting me." A universal truth opening an incredibly personal record.
I'm glad that Zevon got to make the most of his remaining days, and that he was able to release this for us. RIE, Warren Zevon. I'm going to dry my eyes now.
PS> A REPLY TO ZEVON'S ATTACKER
Hi, I just want to say that I quite like "The Wind." And that petty crud has no room on Amazon.com. However, I felt I had to respond to this person's repeated personal attacks on Zevon. I never met Warren Zevon, and feel that these reviews should focus on the music. However, this fellow who spends so much of his time attacking deserves at least a brief reply. (I'll bet he thinks he's doing a sociology experiment.)
You see, Mr. Zevon hater...I don't envy you. You must have quite a grudge on to set up that many identities and either type a few lines of another review (while giving one star) or ripping into the artist in a way that you surely view as "satirical."
I have to wonder if you're ok. My advice to you is "live and let live." There will always be fans of things you don't like, and detractors of things you like. Learn to live with it.
Of course, I can't resist one small thing: your line about "Zevon was a lifelong smoker, asbestos was his cover up"? He never said that his lung cancer had anything to do with asbestos. End of story.
Oh, and one more thing: you're angry with Amazon for "attacking" you. I've personally sent you in as inappropriate a number of times. However, if you focused on the music and make a case for why you don't like it, it would be no problem. But you choose to make it a personal attack on people you don't like for some reason (I've also spotted your review of "Born In The USA").
Grow up.
Free Music Review: a bittersweet farewell
Hit: 5 Stars
I didn't pick up on Warren Zevon until about five years ago when I was following the making of Dwight Yoakem's movie "South of Heaven West of Hell". Somehow or another, this lead me to Warren's website and into his world. Needless to say, it swallowed me whole and not long after I picked up his anthology "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", "Life'll Kill Ya" came out and blew me away. That album alone meant a lot to me because at the time I was having some health problems and wasn't quite sure how I was going to come out of it. As nervous and scared as I was at the time, "Life'll Kill Ya" helped me get through it all with a smile and still remains one of my favorite albums ever. When I heard that he was terminally ill I cried like a baby. This was the day after I had introduced my girlfriend to his music on a road trip from St. Louis. After getting the bad news, both "My Ride's Here" and "Life'll Kill Ya" took on different meanings to me as I'm sure it did many of his other fans. Then I heard that Warren was heading back into the studio (given only three months to live, mind you) to work on another album. For some reason or another, this did not suprise me. For the last year, I have been awaiting "The Wind" with an odd mixture of anticipation and sadness. When the day finally came, it was well worth it. From the country-tinged "Dirty Life and Times" (featuring Dwight and Billy Bob on back-up) to the album's heartwrenching closer "Keep me in your heart" you'll be hard pressed to find a better piece of work not just this year, but ever. I've been listening to it virtually nonstop for the last two weeks and it just keeps getting better. "Disorder in the house" has that down and dirty feel to it that would make it a perfect party tune and there's some impressive guitar work by Bruce Springsteen. After one listen to "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" you'll forget that anyone else ever recorded this classic. "Numb As A Statue" stands alone as my favorite track. It's very reminiscent of Warren's earlier stuff (think Excitable Boy) and the guitar work by David Lindeley is phenomenal.
Yes, at times Warren's voice is a tad weak, but this does not hurt the album. If anything, it adds to the overall experience and will let you know what a fighter he was.
Warren Zevon may have left this world Sunday night, but what he left behind will make sure that he is kept in everyone's heart. While I find it somewhat aggravating that it took his illness and death to finally get him some of the recognition that he deserved, it's still comforting to know that more people will finally see the greatness that is Warren Zevon. THANK YOU WARREN
Free Music Review: Warren Zevon: The Wind
Hit: 5 Stars
Ah yes, and with the new year must come people attempting to stir the pot. They call him a hack, they call him weak and they call his final work self-indulgent. They call him mediocre. A "never-was" attacking a dead-man who was always a "still-trying," how sad and how inept. Someone who prides themselves on "telling the truth," when in reality they get their rocks off on "shocking" people. They are impartial because they disagree -- not because they know the subject better and not because they actually have a review to write, but for a much better reason:
It's sexy to stand up and shout really loud at a crowd that one can construe as stupid or bleeding-heart. Warren Zevon was a world-class entertainer, an astoundingly acute songwriter and the world of music is forever smaller with him gone from it. This isn't "late" fan appreciation anymore than someone born a decade ago listening to The Beatles or The Eagles and liking the work is "late" fan appreciation. Any argument against this very basic understanding will surely be moronic.
I listened to this album about six times in one day, realizing that it was Zevon's final album and that it was constructed after he was told of his inoperable lung cancer. One cannot pull the work away from the details surrounding it, and one cannot forget for a moment that these are the sounds of a dying man. Even listening to Zevon speak at the beginning of "Numb as a Statue," he sounds in good spirits, but there seems an eerie sadness in his voice. Additionally, the lowest tone in his voice in the song also carries this sadness.
While some might feel it necessary to pad the reviews of a man who's final album was probably wrapped up and mixed in a hospital bed, that doesn't mean that if his review receives a high rating it's because of circumstance. "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" - 'After it, therefore because of it' has long been the battlecry of the twit; the strength of the galacticly stupid; the motto of the moron. If you genuinely don't like this album, I perfectly respect that opinion. But if you decry a man's work simply because it was his final and everyone believes that his final work was amazing, and you want to stand out, then I have one suggestion. Go take your afternoon nap and get a bottle, because you might just be cranky.
Song for song, this is a very strong album. My favorites are his rendition of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," "Numb as a Statue," "She's Too Good for Me," "Please Stay" and "Keep Me in Your Heart."
Don't piss on a man's grave just because it's funny and shocking. Some find it insulting, not shocking.
Free Music Review: Album of the Year
Hit: 5 Stars
We have come to expect nothing less than darkly comic irreverence from Warren Zevon when it comes to such things as werewolves, dancing school, and youth. It comes as no surprise to his seasoned fans, then, that he should treat his own mortality any different.Those expecting a mournful and teary-eyed album full of ballads of regret and sorrow can look elsewhere - Zevon has come to terms with his illness, and as he said himself, only wishes to hang on long enough to see the next Bond film. He knows he hasn't got very long, and he refuses to waste it. As he sings on "The Rest of the Night", "why stop now?/we may never get this chance again/so let's party for the rest of the night."
The album has its serious moments, as one might expect from any album dealing with impending death, such as on the eerie "Prison Grove", but through most of the album, Zevon's characteristic sarcasm shines through, like on the opening number, when he sings "I'm looking for a woman with low self-esteem/to lay me out and ease my worried mind/while I'm winding down my dirty life and times." Here also is the Zevon-as-hopeless-romantic that we know and love, on such tunes as "She's Too Good For Me", and "El Amore de Mi Vida."
The highlights are his cover of Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", made all the more poignant being sung by one who is literally doing just that. It may just stand a bit higher than the countless other covers (eat your heart out Axl Rose.)
The album's masterpiece, however, is the final song - "Keep Me In Your Heart", where he pleads us to do just that - "Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath/if I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less/keep me in your heart for awhile."
In many ways, this is simply a great Warren Zevon album made all the better by the circumstances surrounding it. We are fortunate indeed that Mr. Zevon lived to complete it, and it is the perfect end to the career of one of the most talented songwriters of the past three decades.
Some of my earliest memories include listening to my father's copies of "Excitable Boy" and "Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School." I've grown up with Warren Zevon, and it is indeed unfortunate that he be diagnosed with such a terrible disease (inoperable lung cancer). But he has admirably made the most out of his short time left, and the resulting album is nothing short of the top notch songwriting and performing we have come to expect from classic Warren Zevon - and it is spectacular.