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
Wanted Dead or Alive (Warren Zevon album) remarked. Sales were poor, and critics ignored the album. Jackson Browne later commented, "I don't remember thinking [the album] was as good as he really was." Attempts to record a follow-up album, called "Leaf in the Wind", were abandoned, and Zevon found work as band leader and musical coordinator for the Everly Brothers. His next album, the critically acclaimed classic "Warren Zevon", was not released until 1976. Once Zevon reached stardom, "Wanted Dead or Alive" ended up as an all-but-forgotten relic of his early career. "Wanted Dead or Alive" was initially released on the CD format by One Way Records