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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Wind
Universal acclaim
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Artemis
Release Date: 26 August 2003
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock
Summary
Diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2002, veteran singer-songwriter Warren Zevon decided to record one final album. This 11-track effort includes contributions from numerous Zevon friends, including Ry Cooder, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Tom Petty, and Dwight Yoakam.
Also By This Artist: My Ride's Here
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Uncut
Under the direst circumstances, he has painted his masterpiece. [Album of the Month, Sep 2003, p.96]
Spin
It's not gallows humor, just the most natural thing in the world. [Oct 2003, p.113]
Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
Everyone who says this isn't a sentimental record is right. But it admits sentiment, hold the hygiene, and suggests that he knows more about love dying than he did when he was immortal.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
If The Wind is unsentimental, it's also happily unhygienic, sounding as ramshackle and energized as you'd hope a nothing-left-to-lose last blast would. [5 Sep 2003, p.75]
Rolling Stone
In somebody else's defiance of death, we in the audience get an intense affirmation of life, not to mention some of the best jokes in rock & roll history.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
It is a wonderful album that explores separation and endings and life’s journeys – and their inevitable end - in Zevon’s inimitable style.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
The end result is a first-class effort that will not disappoint die-hard Zevon fans. But it's not just for the faithful: First-time listeners will certainly pick up The Wind out of curiosity, and there's no doubt that they will discover what they have long been missing.
Read Full Review >E! Online
This is a fine final coda that's no tearjerker but a reminder of how much he matters right now.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
The Wind feels less like a grand final statement of Warren Zevon's career than one last walk around the field, with the star nodding to his pals, offering a last look at what he does best, and quietly but firmly leaving listeners convinced that he exits the game with no shame and no regrets.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Sounds cranky, cynical, sentimental, and mordantly funny--in other words, like a good Warren Zevon record.
Read Full Review >Mojo
There's a real sense of party-beneath-the-scaffold much of the time--a looseness you don't often get on these star-studded affairs. [Nov 2003, p.122]
Blender
It's not so much what Zevon says as how he says it: with an air of ragged, nothing-to-lose spontaneity. [Sep 2003, p.133]
Q Magazine
Poignant beyond words... but never mawkish. [Dec 2003, p.140]
Amazon.com
If the lyrics generally lack the literary precision of Zevon’s best work, the songs take on greater weight given the circumstance under which they were recorded.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
Despite its rock-star cast, The Wind doesn't match the energy or the wit of Zevon's previous Artemis releases.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
I can't tell if The Wind is a final bid for immortality or some kind of dirty joke.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
John H gave it a10:
Extraordinary work from an exceptional talent. Maybe normally a 9......but given the circumstances a 10 seems cheap.
Kevin B gave it an8:
Great final testament of a dying legend.
Scott Y gave it a5:
I think that the ratings are over-inflated, perhaps due to his recent death. There are some real gems on here, but it doesn't comepare to some of his other efforts such as Life'll Kill Ya.
Lapdoodling Crickets gave it a10:
WZ ,you are in our hearts
Nathan S. gave it a6:
Quite honestly, this album is overrated. Yes, I know that Zevon was pretty much on his deathbed during the recording of this album. Yes, I understand that this is part "last hurrah" project. part tribute album. But it's hardly the masterpiece it's hailed as. Zevon's deterioration at the hands of his illness clearly shows through on many of the tracks, most notably "Disorder in the House". This isn't a bad album, and by almost anyone else I would've rated it higher. But this is Warren Zevon, arguably one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and after comparing "The Wind" to the rest of his work, it's hardly the last memory I want of him.
Dan C gave it a 10:
Wonderful, wonderful, album!
Katie F gave it a 10:
As a first-time listener of Zevon, I am thouroughly impressed with the CD and can't wait to buy the past ones. He will be missed.
