Album Review: Preludes

Warren Zevon's death in 2003 from mesothelioma marked the loss of one of the world's most adroit songwriters. His final album, The Wind was a farewell masterpiece. Preludes marks the opposite end of Zevon's recording life - a selection of songs that were recorded after the release of his forgettable 1969 debut, Wanted Dead Or Alive, and before the release of his 1976 self-titled album.

The 2CD set features sixteen songs, including six previously unreleased tracks: Empty Hearted Town, Going All The Way, Steady Rain, Stop Rainin' Lord, Studebaker and Rosarita Beach Café. The solitary piano and forlorn lyrics ("cigarettes make the sun come up and whiskey makes the sun go down and in between you do a lot of standing around") ensure that Empty Hearted Town stands out.

The second disc features forty minutes of music interspersed with an interview with Zevon by KGSR-FM's Jody Denberg, but it's the digitally remastered versions of some of Zevon's best known material on disc one that makes Preludes indispensable. Demos of the happily unhygienic Carmelita, Accidentally Like A Martyr and what is probably Zevon's best known song, Werewolves Of London, are all given a 24-bit makeover.