Warren Zevon: Reconsider Me - The Love Songs (Artemis Records)

If nothing else, the title of this new collection of Warren Zevon material was well chosen. As he was largely known for the sardonic nature of his song-writing, one might not initially think of Zevon as a particularly romantic balladeer. Yet as The Wind, his final album, proved, Zevon’s writing style was frequently as deeply soulful as it was sarcastic. Since Zevon lost his very public battle with cancer in 2003, even those unfamiliar with his music have become aware of his persona (thanks to a heightened television exposure towards the end of his life that the songwriter undoubtedly found ironic). As such, Reconsider Me is a decent introduction to the songwriter for those not yet ready to hear “the hard stuff.” That is not to suggest that the material that comprises this collection is in any way soft. Indeed, while the tone of the bulk of the songs on this CD is gentle, the subject matter often makes for troubled sailing. For example, songs like “Please Stay” and “Reconsider Me” are heartbreaking in both their honesty and delivery. Alternately, Zevon’s famed wit and skilled tongue-in-cheek wordplay pop up frequently on this collection. Take the song “For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer,” which contains the opening lines: “I can saw a woman in two/But you won’t want to look in the box when I do/I can make love disappear/For my next trick I’ll need a volunteer.” To be sure, this is not your standard romantic couplet. If there’s a fault to be found in this collection, as is often the case with this type of release, it lies in the fact that the material is gathered largely from one period of the artist’s later career—mostly representing the three records he recorded for Artemis towards the end of his life. While a truly career-spanning “Love Songs” collection of Zevon’s material would be a delight, it is doubtful that it could be contained by a single disc.