Warren Zevon - The Envoy - 1982
On "The Overdraft" Zevon takes the plunge into previously unexpected territory. He writes and sings and produces a song like Jim Steinman. Which means he's the wrong guy to sing it. It belongs in Meat Loaf's catalog. It's also dig. I mean, BIG. The production on Warren's records are getting more and more overblown, which kind of sucks because he really can't sustain it. He's a raspy singer songwriter, beholden to the jazz-play of his own rhythms. Now he's tightly wound with high expectations.
Then there's stuff like "The Hula Hula Boys" which is more in line with the sardonic weirdness we've come to expect. But it's SO weird, that I almost expect it to end up on Dr. Demento's show.
The Envoy takes some bold steps in trying to deal with and talk about addictions but not often enough to really feel like a personal record. The distance from intimacy is so vast that it just left this listener cold. Although Zevon lets you in a little bit more toward the end, he saves the balladeering for the end. Which is where they belong, but as the strongest parts of the record, they are given the short shrift.
Grade C-
ASide: The Envoy, Never Too Late for Love
BlindSide: The Overdraft, Charlie's Medicine
2 comments:
I like Zevon a lot. That said, I think I only actually like some of his work a lot. Translated that means that I can't think of a whole album that I love, but I can think of plenty of songs. To me, the perfect Zevon album is a mix tape of my own creation. Anyhow, these two earlier albums aren't great by any measure ...
I don't think I can agree more. Although there is so much to love on Excitable Boy that the entire album deserves props.
I don't know that I can continue Zevon, however. He's pretty tiresome.
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