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With such a colourful start to life it is hardly surprising that his music doesn't sit comfortably within ‘mainstream’ or ‘run of the mill’ – this is no ordinary genius we are dealing with here.
Bad Luck Streak itself sees Warren recovering from a two year stint of heavy drinking and delivers his trademark mix of acid satire, humour, romance and reflection. Indeed, few other artists can handle the extremes displayed here - from tales of dysfunctional family life in ‘Play it all Night Long’ to the spine-tingling beauty of Linda Ronstadt’s descant in ‘Empty-Handed Heart.’
Although never a popular artist with the general public, Warren was the ultimate ‘Musician’s Musician’ and is joined on the album by such talent as Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Waddy Wachtel and Linda Ronstadt whilst David Lindley contributes some incredible work on the stand-out ‘Play it all Night Long.’ He even managed to enlist help on the writing front from T-Bone Burnett (Bed of Coals) and Bruce Springsteen (Jeannie Needs a Shooter)
If you are new to Warren Zevon, this is not the place to start, but as devotees, my wife and I have come to regard this as our personal favourite. We were fortunate enough to see him live on 24th May 2000 at The Old Fruit Market in Glasgow – a magical, never to be forgotten experience. We even saw him in the local shops before the show, but didn’t have the nerve to approach him – I wish we had.
Still, wherever you are Warren, have a sandwich on us.
This album is different in many respects. Its arrangements are generally more rigidly four square and lack the funkier or laid back feel of the earlier albums. This album has a harder rockier feel overall. The lyrics tend to be more minimal and repetitive and can become a little too quirky for their own good at times.
The opening title track, for example, is lyrically minimal (almost a chant really) based on a repetitive bed of plodding rock guitars. Then, bypassing the novelty rocker 'A Certain Girl', we get to 'Jungle Work', another slow paced rock chant. Whilst the ploddiness of the rock arrangements on this album lack the slightly funky and warmer feel of WZ's previous two albums, there is nevertheless something compelling about them and one gets into the more four square feel of the album after a number of listens.
'Empty Handed Heart' shows the classic sensitive side of WZ. Unfortunately for me the song seems to ramble towards the end like a stream of conciousness, detracting from its promising beginning.
Peppered throughout the album are string quartet fragments - for example at the start of the first track and in the introduction to 'Play it all Night Long' (a classic Zevon number which paints a somewhat bleak picture of country living). 'Interlude No 2' is a skillfully written miniature for string quartet which echoes Copeland and Stravinsky - this leads us into the puzzling 'Bill Lee'.
Elsewhere on the album:
'Jeannie Needs a Shooter' (a co-write with Springsteen) tells the sort of story Bruce gave us on 'Born to Run'
'Gorilla You're a Desperado' seems to be suggesting in comical fashion that we are not so far removed from our primate cousins (at least that's my take on this cryptic novelty song)
'Bed of Coals' is a country blues (with some great slide playing and harmonies) and is very satisfying indeed.
'Wild Age' - the closer - is lighter Eagles-y pop song with the relentless repetition of the hook into the final fade.
All in all a harder, colder and less emotionally involving set than his previous records, BLSIDS is a complex and necessarily inconsistent record which fans of WZ will get into after a few listens - it is unlikely to win you over instantly.
The hard years of alcohol abuse seem to have taken their toll on Warren by the time of this 1980 release and the usual coherency of his earlier work gives way to some frankly bizarrely lyrical forays most notably the rather jerky rhythms of the tile track and on Gorilla,You're A Desparado which has to be one of his most impenetrable lyrics ever.
However, all is not lost as the satirical mockery of Play it All Night Long with its refrain taken from Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama, is classic Zevon at his best and is the only song about the cattle disease brucellosis in history!
Likewise the excellent Jeannie Needs A Shooter is a tale of love betrayed with almost fatal consequences and Empty Handed Heart another fine soul searching ballad that Warren excels at.
The 2 classical interludes seem curiously out of place and highlight the disjointed nature of this album and the clunky Jungle Work lacks the melodic qualities of Warren's earlier work.
Overall a disappointing album compared to Warren's usual excellence and there is a sense that his tenure as one of rock's bad boy iconoclasts had been superceded by the anger and snottiness of punk. Still having said that he followed this with the explosive live album Stand In The Fire which unfortunately has yet to be released on CD.
Essential if you're a Zevon fan ( all his work is ) but not a good place to start for beginners.It's not without its charms but a flawed gem nonetheless.
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