Want Two

by

Rufus Wainwright

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I'd like to begin this review by saying that Rufus's latest album, WANT TWO, could easily be the best LP of 2004!

Taken from the "Want" recording sessions that gave us last year's WANT ONE, this meditative follow-up to an artist's perspective on the undying passions, desires, and romantic longings that each and every one of us harbours, is almost a mirror-image of the first WANT album and of the artist himself, as he taps into the more effeminite aspects of his inner-psyche to explore the same themes found on WANT ONE, but this time from the perspective of a woman-- from the album's cover artwork to selected song titles ("Little Sister" & "Old Whore's Diet") to the inviting lyrics. Both of the WANT albums were originally intended to be releases together in a double-disc package, but I agree with a previous reviewer that they are much more effective as independent albums. While they tackle similar universal themes, their persepctives and overall vibes are so different that they both deserve their own spotlight. I also find it ironic that WANT TWO is partially comprised of tracks that didn't "fit" into the WANT ONE story, but I find the latter to be more cohesive and focused. In fact, I'd go out on a limb to say that WANT TWO is his strongest, most cohesive album in his ever-growing repertoire of music. When I indulge in a Rufus album for the first time, there are always tracks that I initially feel indifferent about that eventually grow on me, but the first time I listened to WANT TWO I was amazed at how each and every song appealed to a wide range of my emotions and how the entire album had my undivided attention from start to finish.

Some of Rufus's best songs are contained within this devine work: "The One you Love," while very commercial and radio-friendly, has frank lyrics ("Let's f*ck this awful art party, want you to make love to me and only to me in the dark.") and an incredible melody that is sure to have people singing along in their heads for years to come; "Little Sister" sounds more Beethoven than Beatles, the lyrics are incredibly witty and manage to mesh quite well with the classical music backdrop; "This Love Affair" spotlights the album's darker side and this track, while agonizingly painful, is beautiful in its misery as the antagonist moves on with his/her life after an affair; the somber mood continues with the Jeff Buckley ode "Memphis Skyline," being a Buckley fan myself I really appreciated this one and was in tears the first time I listened to it the way Rufus alludes to Ophelia and Eurydice, the last minute or so is hauntingly beautiful; "Waiting for a Dream" is the real gem for me-- it's got a great melody, and the lyrics are personal to the artist and at the same time very representative of the state of things today in America, this is one of those bright spots in such a dark time that gives us hope that things will get better (hopefully in 2008!!!); "Crumb by Crumb" certainly taps into the fairytale sort of theme running throughout the WANT albums with allusions to Hansel & Gretel's trail of bread crumbs, the song also brings the two characters from the WANT albums, the knight and the lady-in-waiting, together on their trip through the "big, black forrest" and their trip through life...

WANT TWO is not a casual album, it's a natural progression in an extremely talented artist's life that serves as a ravishing reminder of Rufus's musical greatness, and on a more subliminal level, the album serves to remind us that there's always light in the dark and happiness in the pain...

As one of the few Rufus Wainwright fans that thought Want One was actually a great representation of all of his oddball artistic goals, I was not particularly interested in Want Two, and actually hearing the album didn't dissipate my reservations much. Want One got Wainwright's florid, excessive arrangements just right, so immediately on hearing the gigantic arrangement of "Agnus Dei," I wanted to run and hide. That feeling just gets worse on songs that wander into the maudlin ("The Art Teacher"), the dull ("Memphis Skyline"), or the reject Vaudevillian (as in "Memphis Skyline"'s grating accordion-banjo combo). Wainwright has good material left in him - "The One You Love" should be treasured for its effective earnestness and simplicity, and "Waiting For a Dream" is transcendent enough to deserve being on Want One. For the rest of the album, I'm afraid Wainwright's talent is coasting on its own eccentricity, with sluggish results. For the limited edition release with a DVD, I'm afraid the case just gets worse - his live performances are sung with perfect pitch, to be sure, but they're also seem so dully executed that even the giant breaths he takes on stage begin to annoy.