What people search:
 | Title : Genius: Best of Warren Zevon
Author : Zevon, Warren
Release Date : 20021015
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $18.98
Amazon.com Price : $11.99
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Editorial Reviews :
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
Buyer Reviews :
Warren Zevon's quarter-century career, now tragically cut short, is difficult to anthologize. Other than a few obvious choices, the novelty single 'Wearwolves of London,' the absolutely diabolical 'Excitable Boy' and the hilarious 'Lawyers, Guns and Money' and 'Poor Poor Pitiful Me,' picking out the best songs from Zevon's large body of work is not easy, especially after the late 1970s when he was at the peak of his popularity. Underscoring that point is the fact that 'Genius' contains only six duplicate tracks from the original 'Best of Warren Zevon' anthology that appeared in the mid-1980s.
'Genius' is an intelligently selected single-disc best of collection that hits plenty of high points among the 22 tracks. For example, Zevon's best studio album, 1987's 'Sentimental Hygene,' is represented by four songs ('Detox Mansion,' 'Reconsider Me,' 'Boom Boom Mancini' and 'Splendid Isolation'). Other highlights include the humorous epic 'Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,' Zevon's R.E.M. collaboration cover of Prince's 'Raspberry Beret,' a cover of 'A Certain Girl' and the south-of-the-border drug saga 'Carmelita.' The CD booklet contains a full lyrics sheet for every song that was a Zevon original as well as a listing of the players for each track.
Overall, an outstanding single disc anthology from a unique and quirky songwriter who will be very much missed.
(by Brian D. Rubendall)
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