Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (or MOFI), the label known for giving out the absolute best sound quality in cds in vinyl, is back with a vengeance with this recent reissue, the 1978 classic for curmudgeons, Warren Zevon’s Excitable Boy.
At the time, Zevon was the darling of the fans of cynical pop music, ranking up with Donald Fagin and Randy Newman, with this album, his second, produced by Jackson Brown & studio stud Waddy Wachtel/g, an dincluding the likes of Russell Kunkel-Rock Marotta-Jeff Porcaro-Mick Fleetwood/dr, Leland Sklar-Kenny Edwards-John McVie-Bob Glaub/b, Danny Kortchmar/g-perc, Jim Horn/sax and The gentlemna Boys/voc. This followup to his debut album included the hysterically dark hits “Excitable Boy” and “Werewolves of London”as well as the urgent and cynical rocker “Lawyers, Guns and Money” with Zevon strong on both piano and spewing out the lyrics like a beleaguered pawn broker.
On the other side of the coin, Zevon was also master of thoughtful and reflective moments, such as “Veracruz” and the agonizingly romantic “Accidentally Like A Martyr” blowing smoke rings while sitting at the piano at 3am.
Zevon had his own personal demons as well, and in retrospect you can pick some of them up, just as you can in the paintings of Van Gogh. Still, it holds up amazingly well over time, smarter and more circumspect than 99% of what may be “popular” music today, but is more like “pablum” music.