Dad, get me out of this!  The phenomenon of the string tribute
to various artists from various genres earned my approval the
instant I heard of it in October 2002. I had a thirst from the
first for the employment of classical string instruments in
modern musical performance, and while I know not all music will
translate well onto this old medium, I thought surely Warren
Zevon would. When a friend of mine dropped this disk in my lap,
I leapt for joy on the inside--on the outside, hay fever
restrained me. However, when I listened to it at the first
opportunity on the next day, I felt bitter disappointment.  But
the blame falls not on the excitable boy himself, but on David
Davidson and Todd Mark Rubenstein, the musicians responsible for
this CD. Their mistake lies not in their handling of the
material, but the material they selected to handle. Of Zevon's
many wonderful pieces, they selected ten of the most
strophically organized compositions which make for boring
instrumentation unless vocally accompanied.  The