Mr. Bad Example

Warren Zevon

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 2008)
• Original Release Date: October 15, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino Encore
• ASIN: B0018RKEMI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,287 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Zevon's strongest, August 26, 2003

By	William J. Mertens (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mr. Bad Example (Audio CD)

This 1991 disc was unavailable for years. It's great to see that it's come back.

This has to be one of the strongest efforts across the span of Zevon's career (and it's unbearably sad that after The Wind, we won't be hearing his unique voice - as vocalist or songwriter - again). Everything that defined Zevon's greatness is here.

I agree that Finishing Touches is a terrific song (though some of the lyrics are un-airable). The assortment of personas that Zevon assumed in his songs was unmatched, and a good sample of them are here. There's the cheerful sociopath of the title song, sung to an upbeat, bouncy tune ("I opened up an agency somewhere down the line/ To hire aboriginals to work the opal mines/ But I attached their wages and took a whopping cut/ And whisked away their workman's comp and pauperized the lot.... I'm thinking of retiring from all my dirty deals/ See you in the next life, wake me up for meals.") There's the upstanding but despairing suburban dad in Model Citizen, the one with the Craftsman lathe in the basement and a head swarming with other dark thoughts ("When I feel the pressure/ And I need a break/ Load up the Winnebago/ Drive it in the lake.") And there are more.

One of Zevon's trademarks has been the phantasmagoric and apocalyptic hard rock number, and that's represented here in Quite Ugly One Morning. ("Quite ugly one morning/ We all said goodnight/ It came without a warning /Just a flash of light.")

And then there are two really first-rate softer and gentler songs, one the country-tinged Heartache Spoken Here (with Dwight Yoakam), and then Searching for a Heart, which is as fine a pop or rock song of the type as anyone has ever written or sung. Really.

If you know and like Zevon but don't have this disc, get it. If you don't know Zevon's music, one of those best-of collections is of course fine (the recent Genius is a good choice), but you also would do well to start out here. Everything that has made Zevon's music uniquely his own is on this disc.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I've Got A Craftsman Lathe, February 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Bad Example (Audio CD)

This is one of WZ's most overlooked albums. "Suzie Lightning" shows what an underrated balladeer he is, but for my money the couplet in Model Citizen is worth the price of admission: "Down in the basement, got a Craftsman lathe; Show it to the children, when they misbehave." Not advice we'd hear from Drs. Phil or Laura. But Dr. Zevon? Oh yes. And there's much more. We'll miss you Doc.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His Best, September 15, 2003

By	M. Turner "RockShop" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mr. Bad Example (Audio CD)

How can an album of this calibre be OOP?

Maybe if the record industry focused on putting its own house in order instead of blaming its customers.......

Anyway, this is pretty much the perfect Warren Zevon album and it's my personal favourite. The material is top notch throughout with some of Warren's best & most neglected songs. Try "Angel Dressed in Black" and "Suzie Lightning" for size. Then there's also "Renegade" which just about sums Warren up.

I generally don't get the time to write reviews, but with so many people now considering Warren for the first time - don't miss this gem!