Zevon's farewell album carried by The Wind

Some would say Warren Zevon was a prophet, a street-wise poet always ahead of his time, who seemed to know just as much regarding his own fate as he did the ways of the world. Others speak of an artist cashing in on the most cliched angle in the business. Regardless of notions of clairvoyant capitalism, considering the titles to Zevon's prior two albums, Life'll Kill Ya and My Rides Here, Zevon has always reminded us of our own feeble mortality, none more so than his own. \nBut for Zevon, the motivation is refreshingly much simpler. He lived the life of a rock and roll star, complete with its excessive and self-destructive binges, and was never blind to the price it would cost. Speaking with USA Today shortly after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer a little over a year ago, Zevon said, "Would I like to tell someone, 'Look, if you don't want to die at 55, you might not want to smoke for 30 years'? Sure. I'm a living example of that. But this is my life, these were my choices."\n Given only three months to live last August, Zevon, who passed away Sunday at age 56, less than two weeks after the album's release, took to the studio to create one last album at a frantic pace. By the end of the sessions, Zevon would be too weak to make it to the studio, recording the vocals in his own home. When the album was released, Zevon was still alive. It's hard not to consider this story when listening to Zevon's latest and arguably most personal offering. \nThankfully, Zevon didn't allow the album to become a moping last will and testament to sentimental regret. While regret is definitely a theme, most often that of lovers he's lost, Zevon also sings of a howling mad world, an inmate's final moments before execution and partying through the night. \nLikewise, Zevon practically compiled his own rock and roll hall of fame, with Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Don Henley, to name only a few, stepping in for guest appearances. As critics have stated, The Wind isn't necessarily Zevon's strongest album, and at times the morphine-riddled weakness can be heard creeping across his voice. Nonetheless, The Wind is a defiantly honest album that dares to bare Zevon's open heart and is likely his courageous last stand in the face of Death -- and for that alone is worth owning.