Aw man, I finally caved in and bought Warren Zevon's final album, The Wind - the one he made when he heard he had terminal cancer. Right now he's singing the only cover on the album, Knockin' On Heaven's Door. It's pretty devastating - I've been a fan of Warren for over half my life, and his romantic/cynical outlook is close enough to mine.
This is a really great album. I knew it would be, not just because Warren was a first-rate songwriter and performer but because I saw a detailed documentary about the making of it on tv last year.
Warren rocks out more than usual on this album, and as you would expect he refuses to dwell on maudlin and self-pitying aspects. Being an album about dying made by a man who knew he was dying it's obviously very self-absobed, but it's got the requisite self-criticism and cynicism. Warren's voice is shaky and he's clearly out of breath a lot (lung cancer will do that I guess), but the emotion shines through stronger than anything he's done since Hindu Love Gods.
Amazing album - MOR rock, megastar guests, and all.
Posted by pearce at September 27, 2005 8:23 PM