Rufus Wainwright - Want One
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Free Music Notes for Want One
Free Music Review: Intense love affair I'm drowning in...
Hit: 5 Stars
So I jumped into this pretty quick. I have friends who have been listening to Rufus Wainwright for quite a while. I myself have had 2 or 3 of his songs on my computer from soundtracks I had purchased long ago. I adored them, but to my surprise, never ventured out to find more on this artist. Recently I have done just that. I can't even tell you why or how; these past few weeks have been a glorious blur due to this man.
Naturally, WANT ONE was the first set of songs that captivated me. I consider this album to be one of the very few masterpieces I have ever heard. I wish I were dramatizing, but truly I'm not.
Not only is this the most flattering sequence of songs, track by track there is not a single dry moment. A vast degree of diversity found here: the deliciously classical and opera oriented "Vibrate", the lounge style "Harvester of Hearts", the resonating gospel sound of "Beautiful Child" (and also a personal favorite). Is-this-the-Beach-Boys-I'm-hearing "Vicious World", the celebratory and outlandish "I Don't Know What It Is" along with the Bolero-infused "Oh What A World" are closest to a Broadway showtune you'll get than an actual Broadway showtune. The lulling lullaby of "Natasha", the jaunty rhythm and soul of "14th Street", the charming simplicity of "Pretty Things" and the imagery in one's mind painted by "Dinner At Eight". Each song has its own signature scent, it's own created mood. Impeccable arrangement and production.
Aside from the musical orchestrations, Wainwright's lyrics are in a league of their own and must be noted that way. His are the kind substantial enough to read like poetry. He tells a story with suddle satire and humor, while alway maintaining that string of self-conciousness and worldly pain. Heartache, heartbreak, inquizitive wonder, self-destruction, and picking up the pieces. He writes about things I only dream of communicating.
He's got a way with words, with melody, with delivery, with sentiment. He's got a way. I honestly don't plan on turning Rufus off anytime in the near future. With his brand new album WANT TWO just released, there are more rich and textured pieces of gold for me to delve into.... further pushing my strange and sick love affair with Rufus Wainwright.
He's NOT bad on the eyes either. But that's just an unnecessary tag at the end of an unnecessary amazon.com review.
Free Music Review: "11:11 is just precious time we've wasted"
Hit: 5 Stars
"oh the hours we are seperate, 11:11 is just precious time we've wasted". that is how i'm feeling these days. i fell in love with rufus wainwright while being in love with someone. now 2 years have passed and me and him are not doing so well. i also turned 30 as did rufus wainwright. the new cd want one is absolutely stunning. it is his best work yet. this is far and above his debut and is more cohesive than poses(although poses holds a special place in my heart since me and him were together in better times then). the first track oh what a world is simply amazing. it really starts things off right. i don't know what it is another great song as well. movies of myself is one of the best songs on here. it is a different sound, as is the whole cd, with it's crunching guitars and fast paced melody. if radio were smart they would put this song into heavy rotation. but the cd doesn't show it's true changes unitl go or go ahead. this 6:38 song sounds like something pink floyd might've written. for the first time you get to hear an extended guitar solo in a rufus song. it's his first full out alternative rock song. the cd is helped by having just one producer and the electric guitar of charlie sexton, who is behind the helms of edie brickell's solo cd volcano coming out next month, brings the whole cd up several notches. other highlights include vibrate, 14th street, beautiful child, want, and 11:11. really though there isn't one bad track on here. while the cd may be very dark it doesn't feel that way at all. i bought it at tower's midnight madness and listened to it on the walk home. all i could think about was the person i'm seeing. i'm reminded of him whenever i listen to rufus wainwright because i was so in love with rufus at the time i was in love with him. we are having troubles in this relationship but rufus this morning made it all ok. rufus is a lot like my one true love in that whenever i listen to rufus he makes me feel comfortable and safe just like i feel when i'm in the arms of my one true love. i know what i want, me and the person i'm seeing back together, and i will have it. until that day i will spend my time with my other true love : rufus and his new cd.Free Music Review: Lush perfection
Hit: 5 Stars
I first heard Rufus Wainwright on the I Am Sam soundtrack a couple years ago and immediately went out and got "Poses." That has since become one of my favorite CDs. Wainwright has a silky voice that simply calms me, and I immediately enjoyed the quirkyness of his songs -- he's poetic and etherial in a way that is inimitable, though he himself seems to emulate or imitate a whole range of other singers. I heard a lot of K.D. Lang on the Poses CD. At the time, I thought of him as an effeminate K.D. Lang. Insert laugh track here.That said, I was looking forward to the new CD, "Want One" and am overjoyed to say that it surpasses, for me, "Poses." From the initial humming harmonies of "Oh What a World," I was hooked, and Wainwright it one of those artists whose music improves with each listen.
At moments, he is reminiscent of Billy Joel, at least in voice, especially on the second track, old Billy, pre-Pressure, not the more poppy stuff. Nothing here is lyrically as sublime as "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" from Poses, but then again, what is? The best tracks here appear to be "Go or Go Ahead," which is one of the few six-plus minute songs I've ever heard that I'm sorry to hear end each time I listen to it. The way that song builds to its soaring conclusion simply gives me chills. Also notable is 14th Street, which I believe is about an affair gone wrong with an uncle, not necessarily the most mainstream of topics but done with a certain amount of humor and sincerity. Natasha is pretty, and I also really enjoy the upbeat "Movies of Myself," which has a pop appeal while remaining true to his general style and self-effacing theme.
Hopefully, the public will begin to hear more from this guy, who has to be one of the three most important artists of our time. I'll go Ben Folds, Aimee Mann, and Rufus Wainwright, not necessarily in that order.
Free Music Review: What is the "official" review talking about?
Hit: 5 Stars
The official review states that Want One has made an even bigger grab for "mainstream acceptance" than its predecessor (Poses). How is that even a rational thought from anyone who knows music? I mean, seriously, Poses is EASILY Rufus' most "accessible to the masses" album, one made under the most pressure to shine, made to live up to the praise heaped on his debut, made to continue the growth of popularity, made while Rufus was at his most insecure and drugged-out, etc.
As a Rufus fanatic, I don't think even all those things can make the man too radio friendly or thoughtless, as Poses is still fantastic... but that said, WANT ONE is my favorite Wainwright album. It is utter brilliance.
No way is Want One a more calculated grab at the Radio than Poses. Not in a million years. In fact, the Want duo is by far Rufus' most ambitious (and in many ways, least accessible) work to date, featuring the broadest sonic palette and the most daring instrumentation. The arrangement and production of Want One is not the kind one aiming for radio or popularity would utilize, it is the kind that someone allowing themselves to fully express themselves would utilize.
Want One is Rufus clean and sober, doing what he loves best with no pretense or preconception. Having already missed out on the huge mainstream, he returns to make music for himself, from a confident and assured place. For those of us who track with his tastes and flavors, this is an awesome thing.
Want One is the purest, most unfiltered Rufus.
And, as with many other great artists, it's that crucial middle album (think: Revolver, OK Computer, Absolution, Pet Sounds, etc) which stands perfectly in the balance between the primal simplicity of early work and the highly-developed but somewhat less impacting latter work.
Not to be missed.
Free Music Review: Fragile. Gutsy. Genius.
Hit: 5 Stars
Okay, so - chances are, if this is the first album of Rufus Wainwright's that you're buying and you come away not liking it? Chances are good that you won't like the previous two. People usually either love Rufus Wainwright's music or they hate it, either taking to it like a duck to water or dismissing it as self-indulgent, over-produced dreck. I'm reminded of what Richard Gear's character said to Julia Roberts' character in Pretty Woman: "If they love [opera], they always love it... but if they don't like it, then they spend the rest of their lives trying to appreciate it." Rufus Wainwright's music, without a doubt, is definitely to be appreciated. His melodies range from quiet and simple to strong and cacophonous.
The first two albums are a little easier on the ears, they don't place as many demands on your ears as Want One does. Rufus Wainwright's music is very challenging to listen to - and I know that isn't often said about music - because the sheer number of instruments and sounds and harmonies featured in some of the tracks (especially on this album) is simply astounding. His songwriting style also takes a while to get used to: he goes from pensive to quirky to poetic to wry, sometimes all in the same verse. But his lyrics give you startling insight to his life and the lovely, everyday things he experiences... he's definitely a writer's songwriter, in that sense - all eyes and ears, observing and noting things down for future tracks.
If you're keen to listen to Rufus Wainwright's music, then I'd suggest the self-titled first album or Poses. Me, I'm a little bit biased, I guess, as I love all three albums and await Want Two with bated breath...
If you love his work, you'll always love it - if you understand it, you always will. If you don't love it or understand it, then you're missing out, big time.