The Envoy is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album was released on July 16, 1982, by Asylum Records. The album's lack of commercial success caused Zevon's label to terminate his recording contract.
The title track was inspired by veteran American diplomat Philip Habib's shuttle diplomacy during Israel's Lebanon incursion of 1982.
Zevon later said of the album's lack of success, "I would start a record more or less as soon as I'd finished the one previous to it, and they took longer, cost more and more, and actually did sort of less and less well. Particularly The Envoy. I was a little discouraged after that.".
Despite the fact that "Let Nothing Come Between You", a love ballad written by Zevon, charted as high as 24 on the Mainstream Billboard Rock chart, Asylum dropped Zevon after the commercial failure of The Envoy. It would be five years before Zevon made another studio album, 1987's Sentimental Hygiene, released on Virgin Records.
Track listing
All songs written by Warren Zevon except as indicated.
Personnel
Warren Zevon – vocals, guitar on 1 and 7; piano on 1, 2, 5, 8, and 9; synthesizer on 1 and 5–8; electric piano on 3 Waddy Wachtel – guitar on 1–5 and 7–9; percussion and harmony vocals on 5 David Landau – guitar on 1, 2, 5, and 6; backing vocals on 6 Leland Sklar – bass guitar on 1, 2, 3, and 5 Jeff Porcaro – drums on 1–3, 5, and 8; log drums on 3; puili sticks on 3