Warren Zevon humor to wed geopolitical subtexts to hard-boiled narratives. Tracks from this album received heavy FM airplay, and the single release "Werewolves of London", which featured Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, was a relatively lighthearted version of Zevon's signature macabre outlook and a No. 21 success. The critic Dave Marsh, in "The Rolling Stone Record Guide" (1979), called Zevon "one of the toughest rockers ever to come out of Southern California". "Rolling Stone" record reviews editor Paul Nelson called the album one of the most significant releases of the 1970s and placed him alongside Neil Young, Jackson Browne, and Bruce Springsteen
Learning to Flinch lasted more than the average 4 minutes on an album, although he did it frequently in live performances. This version of the song includes a piano solo at the beginning of the song and another between the last two verses. Also, this version of "Lawyers, Guns and Money" is played in the key of G major rather than A Major, the key in the studio version. "Mr. Bad Example" is played in E Major rather than F#Major as heard on the studio version. All tracks composed by Warren Zevon, except where indicated. Producers: Warren Zevon, Duncan Aldrich Album Learning to