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On the evidence of this 22-track career overview, it's tempting to call Warren
Zevon's oeuvre a monument of pop-music dichotomy. But that assessment would
sorely shortchange Zevon's vast catalog of contradictions: the sentimental
songwriter ("Hasten Down the Wind") with a nihilistic heart of
darkness who makes the likes of Jello
Biafra seem more like Raffi
by comparison; the shrewd, successful tunesmith nonetheless laboring in service
of vintage psycho-whack like "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,"
"Excitable Boy," and "Werewolves of London"; a man who
consorted with Jackson
Browne, Linda
Ronstadt, and R.E.M.
("Boom Boom Mancini") and yet who still cheated the devil of his
soul; a satirist with the keen eye of a marksman--or Randy
Newman, for that matter--who somehow let his own demise get the jump on
him, despite having written prescient jollities like "Mr. Bad
Example" and Life'll Kill
Ya. In short, Zevon walked it like he talked it, peril be damned. If he
felt like turning in a straight-up take of the R&B chestnut "A Certain
Girl," or lumbering inexplicably through Prince's
"Raspberry Beret," only then to turn on a dime and indulge his
classical pretenses on "Mutineer" and "Genius," so be it.
Zevon just couldn't help himself from living up to this album's modest title. --Jerry
McCulley
Product
Description
A Comprehensive Single disc collection from Rocks Sardonic King. It rounds up
the 22 most popular tracks from albums released by Asylum, Virgin,
Giant/Reprise and Artemis from 1976-2002. Features such Zevon classics as
'Werewolves Of London,' 'Excitable Boy,' 'Lawyers, Guns and Money,' 'Poor Poor
Pitiful Me,' 'I Was In The House When The House Burned Down' and more.
Elektra/Rhino. 2002.
_________________
I’m not
sure if Warren Zevon would have appreciated the moniker “Genius” added to this
CD. His music lacks the intricate, often intellectual, surrealist imagery of,
say, Bob Dylan; but Zevon's songs seem somehow more heartfelt & more fun to
sing-a-long to. They are also believable, you can personally relate to the
characters & situations & stories. In this sense Warren Zevon’s music
has more in common with Neil Young than Dylan. Are they both “geniuses”?
Probably. Maybe any one who can survive living with a little grace & beauty
and contributes a creation that significantly enriches our appreciation
of the world, qualifies as genius in these days.
Since
this is our Halloween edition, we are focusing on Zevon’s jocular/sardonic
“Werewolves of London,” but this CD really does contain most—but not all—of his
greatest hits.
Any way
you look at it, Warren Zevon’s music is great.
I wish I had met him.
Review: JEFarrow
Updated 10/09
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