86 - 1976/15: Warren Zevon
The sleeve: I like the lights, I like the font. Pretty good for a basic-shot-of-the-artist one
Had I heard this before: no, not at all
I have listened to this one considerably more than the requisite three times, due to each of the first three listens changing my mind about it, and also because whenever I thought I'd write this one up I'd forgotten what my most recent opinion was. On this, my eighth or so listen (Spotify has started suggesting Zevon rereleases in my Release Radar and according to last.fm he is now one of my most-played artists of the year), I'm convinced this is actually a wonderful collection of songs that I'm going to need to own soon. Not only that, I'll have to follow up on the man's music that came after this album, of which I was only vaguely aware -- i.e. I was aware of the Hindu Love Gods, which he formed with 3/4 of R.E.M. at some point in the late 80s, and their cover of Prince's Raspberry Beret would occasionally play on MTV in the late hours.
This album starts with a silly outlaw country song, "Frank and Jesse James", that made me groan a little, though I have to admit it's also catchy. It's followed by equally catchy and increasingly endearing songs in a country rock / Cal-Mex / soft rock vein. They tell tales of many other types of criminals, deadbeats, and losers in a way that reminds me of one of my favourite albums of the early 90s, Freedy Johnston's The Trouble Tree. In terms of production, though, they are opposites: while the latter sounds raw, Zevon's is downright lush: it has that mid-70s immaculate, expensive sounding studio sheen with great dynamic range and all that. No wonder, as it's produced by Jackson Browne and has a star-studded lineup of studio musicians, including Buckingham/Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, several Eagles and the occasional Everly and Beach Boy. (Zevon had been hanging around their scene for a while, writing songs and playing piano for them, or simply sharing a flat with them.)
Very happy to have made this record's acquaintance, even if it took a while.
[B]
Next up: back to Zion
