For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer:Warren Zevon

Artist: Warren Zevon

Album: Life'll Kill Ya

Appears On (Mixes): Aila.Vox.Com

Song Notes: I've been listening to perhaps too much Warren Zevon recently, and I felt the need to share another one of his songs. This one shows the slightly more silly, fun side of Zevon (dark humor for sure, but that was sort of his style). He became incredibly prolific in his last few years - releasing three albums over the last 3-4 years of his life (a lot considering he only ever released about 8 or 9 in the thrity years before then). 2000's "Life'll Kill Ya" was his first album since 1995's "Mutineer," and it represented a fantastic return to form in my opinion. Not that he was never really "out of form," but I think this was certainly his strongest record since 1991's "Mr. Bad Example," at least. The following year he released "My Ride's Here," a similarly strong effort. The titles of these albums would turn out to be a bit ironic the following year, when he found out he was dying of terminal cancer. Of course he continued with his music right up until the end, completing and releasing "The Wind" in 2003. I personally don't feel that last record was quite as strong a record as the previous two, but it was still pretty outstanding, and really remarkable when you consider what he was going thru while making it. Anyway, he's definately a rare example of an artist who never really faded over a long career, and despite dying fairly slowly of a horrible disease he somehow managed to go out with a bang.

- Aila