Death is hardly new songwriting turf for Warren Zevon. As for his point of view on the terrain this time out -- well, that's a whole 'nother story.

Diagnosed last year with inoperable cancer, the dark-hearted troubadour dealt with it like any composer worth his salt: By writing about it. And while Zevon has made his fair share of moving, tragic albums over his 34-year recording career, he has never made one as personal, striking and beautiful as The Wind.

"I'm winding down my dirty life and times," he admits with a characteristic smirk in the stock-taking opening cut, and he's not kidding. Zevon's illness and its effect on his body, soul, mind and life seem to colour nearly all of these 14 songs, from the unsettled roots-rock of Disorder in the House and the emotional alienation of Numb as a Statue to the gnarly, fatalistic blues of Rub me Raw and even the haunting condemned-inmate diary Prison Grove.

Even straight-up love songs like She's Too Good for Me and Please Stay pack a sense of regret and yearning that appears more urgent in the harsh light of Zevon's shortened reality. But for sheer heart-squeezing intensity -- and coal-black wit -- you can't top the dirge-slow cover of Dylan's Knockin' on Heaven's Door, which is pretty much guaranteed to put a tear in your eye by the time Warren hits the first chorus.

The Wind isn't all a downer, though. The man who penned skewed gems like Werewolves of London, Excitable Boy and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead lets his twisted humour out to play now and again, while the relaxed performances of the VIP guest artists -- including Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Dwight Yoakam, Don Henley, Ry Cooder, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, David Lindley -- give the disc a casual, even celebratory feel.

But even if he is ultimately hosting his own wake, Warren remembers to end the party on a heartfelt note: "Keep me in your heart for a while," he humbly requests as the final chord reverberates.

If only we could all go out with such class.

Track Listing
1. Dirty Life & Times
2. Disorder in the House
3. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
4. Numb as a Statue
5. She's Too Good for Me
6. Prison Grove
7. El Amor de mi Vida
8. The Rest of the Night
9. Please Stay
10. Rub Me Raw
11. Keep Me in Your Heart