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Warren Zevon The Wind (Artemis) Rating: NNNN There’s something so very poignant about a dying artist’s last recording effort. When he knows that every tune completed moves him one step closer to the last album he’ll ever record, what does it matter what I think of this record? What’s the meaning of life? Warren Zevon has outlived the three-month life expectancy given him last August, but The Wind is expected to be his last studio album. The often bitter and witty songwriter isn’t quite so acerbic and cynical here as in the past, leaning instead toward the dark and melancholy. In wry Zevon fashion, he throws in a cover of Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. Many of his celebrated pals turn up, including Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty and Ry Cooder, but none of the invited guests outshines Zevon. If you’re a fan, you need to get this record.
