At the time Warren Zevon cut his first self titled album in 1976, he was not considered an average member of "LA's Mellow Mafia." Zevon's music was full of blood, bile, and mean spiritied irony, and the glossy surfaces of Jackson Bronwe's production failed to disguise the bitter heart of the songs on Warren Zevon. But for all their darkness, Zevon's songs also possessed a steely intelligence, a winning wit, and an unusually sophisticated melodic sense. Warren Zevon may not have been the songwriter's debut but it was the album that confiremed he was a major talent, and it remains a black-hearted pop delight.
