Want Two (Parental Advisory/Special Edition/+DVD) [PA] - Rufus Wainwright > Reviews > Pray for your sins; the gay messiah has come!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Wonderful songwriting from one of the best around
Disadvantages:	Not as good as some previous work due to a couple of weaker songs

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Want two, an album with brilliant song writing from Rufus Wainwright! Some controvercial tracks are explored by Rufus so may not be the best choice in album for the strongly religious or the easily offended, due to explicit lyrics about being baptised in certain bodily fluids. However, Want two is a first class album which is full of exciting music that would inspire even the laziest person to want to create music. Wonderful melodies from the piano, and guitar, with Rufus' voice sounding out clearly and perfectly in tune over the top! The album has a couple of average songs which is why the album is not as good as some of his previous albums, but still, it is well worth a listen!

The bonus DVD is also excellent! It is a full-length concert DVD, "Rufus Wainwright Live at the Fillmore", filmed at the historic San Francisco venue. It has songs from all of the albums by Rufus, not just Want two, and I'd quite happily pay this price for the DVD alone!!! I'd say it was better than the album itself, and well worth watching, and approximately an hour and a half!

This album should be purchased even if it is just for one track, "The Art Teacher", which is performed live on the album, and shows just how talented Rufus truely is! A great Album, with an amazing DVD to go with it, with different songs other than from the album too!

Album track listings:

1)Agnus Dei
Opens with scratching violin. It sounds worse than it is, because violins tend to make me cringe! But have no fear, this is really quite nice. A bizarre use of instruments makes this song sound really quite strange, and eastern, but it is extremely pretty. Rufus Wainwright sings in a language, which I believe may be latin, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong, and a really pretty effect is created for the opening of the album. Instruments include voice, piano, strings, cimbalom, and keyboards, which work together to form a piece of music that is really quite beautiful. A slow, pretty piece of music.

2)The One You Love
A much more lively song! Martha Wainwright, who is also a solo artist and Rufus' sister, adds backing vocals and the song is quite exciting. Fast piano scales, a grungy guitar line, refreshing melodies in the voice, and interesting lyrics that you'll be singing for ages!
"I'm singing "Ohh, Jerusalem ohh, Jerusalem see what he's picked up in the park" let's f**k this awful art party, want you to make love to me and only to me in the dark"

3)Peach Trees
I'll be quite honest when I say that this song doesn't really excite me! It just never seems to get going for me, and I'd say that it was definitely one of the weakest songs on the album! However, what it does have going for it is that there are some beautiful harmonies with Martha's backing vocals again and some pretty flowing melodies. A song that is good, but not his best work!

4)Little Sister
A great song! It makes you feel like you have travelled back to the times of classical music, and you expect to see Mozart listening to the song! This is due to the style in which the strings play throughout the song. It is bright and lively as if you are at some royal's garden party. Excellent flowing melodies, and a superb voice by Rufus Wainwright. The lyrics show that this is the first song on the album that is about Rufus' sexuality, and I'd say that this is the main album that really tells the story of his sexuality, and truely shows his gay pride:
"Ave, ave, history is on my side, so complain, have no shame, and remember that your brother is a boy!"

5)The Art Teacher
What I'd say was the best song on the album! Once you listen, you'll also be extremely surprised to find out that this song was recorded live at Le Metropolis in Montreal as Rufus Wainwright never misses a note! It really does sound perfect, and you wouldn't know that it was live if there wasn't all of the cheering at the end of the song! A very clever song all about the art teacher that Rufus has a crush on at school! Again a song about his sexuality, which uses very clever lyrics to make an amazing song!
"He asked us what our favourite work of art was, but never could I tell him it was him"
Also a nice use of horns makes this song sound truely wonderful!

6)Hometown Waltz
Not surprisingly, a waltz. A nice tune that is a different style of music for the album, and so is quite a refreshing track. Some more interesting instrumentation including instruments like the banjo, recorder and accordian as well as the more common piano and violin. Some good lyrics, and generally a good song!
"So I'm tearing up these tarot cards and Venetian clowns, antique shops and alcoholic homosexuals".

7)This Love Affair
A nice song. Quite sad as the songs in a minor key. A song with true beauty that could bring a tear to your eye. Again, more interesting instruments such as the clarinet, bassoon, oboe, and a variety of strings. An extremely beautiful song that is one of the most upsetting on the album, with some wonderful lyrics.
"I guess that I am walking. Where? I don't know. Just away from this love affair!"

8)Gay Messiah
The controvercial song on the album due to explicit lyrics about being baptised in certain bodily fluids, how Rufus Wainwright is the "Gay Messiah" and certain sexual experiences. A good song for those who aren't offended by this, or sickened, I've met few people who aren't one or the other.....but many still feel that it is a great song! I feel that it's rather refreshing to see someone who is so gay, and proud, and Rufus truely is on this album. The song is quite laid back with Rufus Wainwright playing his acoustic guitar. A really smooth easy listening song, with some exciting verses and a beautiful chorus.
"Better pray for your sins, better pray for your sins, cause the gay messiah's coming, no it will not be me, Rufus the Baptist I be"

9)Memphis Skyline
Another pretty song. Opens with Rufus Wainwright simply playing the piano and singing. This is then joined by somg string accompaniment, and gradually the texture of the music gets thicker and thicker as more and more instruments are added, such as a vibraphone, horns and drums. A beautiful piece of music with crescendoing passages from Rufus Wainwright on the piano, which adds much more emotion to the music. A wonderful song, which has a beautiful, peaceful ending.

10)Waiting for a Dream
A song that sounds enchanting. An interesting voice effect at the start of the song, that is taken on and off throughout the song. A song with piano, and strings, the song sounds like it belongs to some mystical story. Echoes throughout the song from the voice and different instruments adds to this effect, and it is a nice, flowing song that is very different to the other songs on the album.
"There's a fire in the priory, and an ogre in the oval office, once again we all will be so broken, now can I finlly sleep again?"

11)Crumb By Crumb
A nice, uplifting song. Again, some interesting instruments used such as an oboe, Jew's harp, and hammond organ, along with an acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, and some strings. The female backing vocals work really well in this song, and Rufus Wainwright's voice is first class. I also saw this song performed on the Jools Holland show a couple of weeks ago, and it was truely great, with Rufus wearing a wonderful suit! A great song, which makes a change after a couple of slower songs.

12)Old Whore's Diet (featuring Antony)
An exciting song! The song begins with Rufus singing with no accompaniment other than an odd strum on an acoustic guitar. Quite a slow start, but this is effective, as the start is repeated but much more lively! After the slow section, suddenly and surprisingly, a female voice enters making a strange noise. Suddenly the song becomes much more lively with a drum beat and other instruments. The song sounds like a song that would be listened to on a warm summer's afternoon. The track uses a variety of strings and voices to great effect, both male and female back up vocals with the song featuring Antony, who also sings on the song, repeating what Rufus has just sung. Some more interesting instruments are used on this track such as a ukulele, banjo, and a variety of strings. A great, fun song!

13)Coeur de Parisienne - Reprise d'Arletty (bonus track)
Another live recording at Le Metropolis, Montreal, Canada, April 2004. The song simply consists of Rufus Wainwright singing and playing the piano. The song, which is from the film "Un Chien Qui Rapporte" is sung in a different language, which I believe is french. The simplistic style of the song is a wonderful ending to the album. The song is a UK bonus track. A great song, which sounds to be full of emotion.

Overall, this album is extremely good. Not the best album by Rufus Wainwright, but still extremely good and I would recommend it with the DVD especially. Worth getting!

DVD track listing: (with album name which song is featured on)

1)Intro (documentary footage)
Documentary footage that continues throughout between songs. The intro consists of Rufus Wainwright talking about San Francisco, and then walking onto the stage.

2)L'Absence (Quiet Piano song)
This song does not feature on any of Rufus Wainwright's current albums. The song consists of Rufus sitting down and simply singing the song and playing the piano. The song is not in english, but what appears to be french. The song is full of emotion, and has true beauty, with Rufus Wainwright playing in complete darkness, other than with one spot light on him.

3)14th Street (Want One)
Suddenly, a total change occurs! Rufus leads straight in to this song without even a breath from the previous one! The crowd cheer, the lights come up on stage, start to flash, and Rufus Wainwright's band are shown on stage performing with the man himself. The fairytale fantasy theme occurs in this song, which Rufus seems to like, with him singing about Little Bo Peep.
"Don't ever change you hungry little bashful hounds, I've got the sheep poor Little Bo Peep has lost and filed for grounds"
A song with sublime lyrics, and in my opinion, one of the best songs that Rufus Wainwright has created!
The song is so wonderfully uplifting, with a beautiful jazzy feel to it. Chromatic scales on the piano, nursery rhyme characters, backing singers, this song has it all! A top song, that everyone needs to hear! So jolly! A hit!

4)Harvester of Hearts (Want One)
A croon song, pure pop cheese, but that isn't a bad thing! A very pretty song, all about love! Very nice overall. The song also has a wonderful violin solo from one of the female members in his band, who also adds backing vocals in all of the songs.

5)Natasha (Want One)
In this song, Rufus takes a break from his piano, and just sits at the front of the stage with a microphone to sing, with his band accompaniment. Wonderful verses that get stuck in your head for days! Very beautiful again, first class singing, and generally a nice song!

6)The Art Teacher (Want Two)
Before this song, there is more documentary footage involving Rufus and a marriage that has gone terribly wrong, with the groom dressed in a bunny suit. Then, the cameras go back to the show when Rufus begins to sing this song! A very clever song all about the art teacher that Rufus has a crush on at school! Very clever lyrics, and an amazing song!
"He asked us what our favourite work of art was, but never could I tell him it was him"

7)Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover)
A cover of the Leonard Cohen classic, and Rufus Wainwright's version is featured in Shrek, the film, so you may recognise it! A beautiful song, Rufus Wainwright opts for the version that Jeff Buckley covered with the new verses, but Rufus goes for the much more simple approach of broken chords on the piano and him singing, with some occasional backing vocals. A brilliant song, which is full of emotion, and again, not on any of Rufus Wainwright's current albums.

8)Matinee Idol (Rufus Wainwright)
One of the best songs! Crazy, and amazingly fun! The song definitely gives you the feeling of being at a matinee, or a fete, or fair of some sort! Many interesting melodies and harmonies! Rufus Wainwright has such an easy voice to listen to! This song may have you dancing around, because it certainly makes me! The effect this song has, has to be due to the strange choice of instrumentation, which is played on the keyboard, violin, bass, mandolin and drums on this live DVD! The song is so exciting, I can safely say, that I love Rufus Wainwright for it! A truely amazing song!
"From this moment on you'll cease to be the undying love of the public eye, and so goes one more, away from the maze, away for to sit at the table, above Babel, far from this world, while standing on the boulevard"
The song is just as great on the DVD as it is on the "Rufus Wainwright" album!

9)Vibrate (Want One)
The fairytale fantasy theme is continued in this song again, with Rufus Wainwright singing about Pinocchio! Also, a very pretty song all about his phone being on vibrate for a person to call him, who he claims is a "go go dancer who he had spent the night with" before he performs the song.
"Pinocchio's now a boy, who wants to turn back into a toy".
A good song, with some nice string accompaniment!

10)Gay Messiah (Want Two)
Another small bit of documentary footage occurs, interviewing Rufus about his songs and fans. The cameras then go back to the show, and Rufus sings the fantastic song "Gay Messiah". Again, Rufus takes a break from the piano and sits at the front of the stage with an acoustic guitar singing into a microphone. The controvercial song on the DVD due to explicit lyrics about being baptised in certain bodily fluids, how Rufus Wainwright is the "Gay Messiah" and certain sexual experiences. A good song for those who aren't offended by this, or sickened, I've met few people who aren't one or the other.....but many still feel that it is a great song! I feel that it's rather refreshing to see someone who is so gay, and proud, and Rufus truely is in this song. The song is quite laid back with Rufus Wainwright playing his acoustic guitar. A really smooth easy listening song, with some exciting verses and a beautiful chorus.
"Better pray for your sins, better pray for your sins, cause the gay messiah's coming, no it will not be me, Rufus the Baptist I be"

11)Want (Want One)
The song that named the "Want" albums. Very nice pretty little song again. Rufus sits at the front of the stage again playing the acoustic guitar. As the song is played snippets of video footage of Rufus in San Francisco are played with the music still playing in the background. These snippets are extremely short, and the film goes from the live song back to another shot clip throughout the songs performance. Another good song, which had to feature on the Want DVD.

12)Greek Song (Poses)
A very bizarre song, but great! Rufus remains at the front of the stage again playing on the acoustic guitar, while someone else plays the piano. The song could sound bizarre due to the drugs that Rufus Wainwright was taken at the time that he wrote the album "poses" on which this song features, and symoblise the effects of the drugs. Some interesting sounds happening that sound almost eastern, due to instrumentation. Instruments like violin and mandolin used, but they sound really good and the effect is fascinating. However, still a fantastic song, with heart felt lyrics:
"Save your poison for a lover who is on your side"

13)Foolish Love (Rufus Wainwright)
A great song! Starts simply with the piano (which Rufus has now returned to) and Rufus Wainwright's great voice! However, then the song takes a sudden twist and gains a much more jazzy feeling, which makes the song even better! Light percussion is added along with some keyboard! Some great sounds are produced! Also, some fun lyrics, such as "I will take my coffee black, never snack, hang with the wolves who are sheepish".The song then ends as it began, with Rufus on piano, and singing the introductory verse! A truely wonderful song!

14)I Don't Know What It Is (Want One)
More documentary footage. Rufus goes to visit his cousin's new baby for the first time! Then the cameras return to the concert again for "I Don't Know What It Is". Typical pop genius!......but good! This is the sort of pop that takes talent to create! Amazing chord progressions, flowing rhythms, clever lyrics, and clever stylistic devices (for the musical, things like syncopation, and triplets).
One of Rufus' best songs that he's ever created I'd say! Uplifting, inspirational, jolly, clever....the best!
A true talent! A song that builds and builds until it becomes so unbearably good that you have to run around the house in some bizarre state of euphoria! Amazing to drive to aswell, just make sure you concentrate on the road, but an excellent live performance of the song is on this DVD!

15)Dinner at Eight (Want One)
One of the most beautiful songs that you could ever hear! It is so sad! Rufus playing on the piano and singing alone. It is truely beautiful, with extremely moving lyrics! Now here is a song that has made me cry in sadness. The song just seems to attract all of the sadness that you could have inside your body, and the lyrics are simply divine.
"But till then no daddy don't be surprised, if I want to see the tears in your eyes"
and...
"No matter how strong, I'm going to take you down with one little stone, I'm going to break you down and see what you're worth, what you're really worth to me"
A great performance!

16)Beautiful Child (Want One)
Rufus Wainwright introduces us to his fantastic band, and then they perform "Beautiful Child"! Rufus Wainwright again is standing at the front of the stage with an acoustic guitar, and singing into a microphone. The two female band members are also playing the acoustic guitar. An amazing song again! The other day, the chord progressions made me cry! It is the first time I've cried due to so much happiness! It's such a jolly song again. Uplifting, and so very, very, happy! a first class tune! The trumpets on the track are substituted by a keyboard on the DVD, but it still manages to sound extremely effective! On this live DVD it's even more exciting than usual, due to the use of things like flashing lights and the fact that it is live, leaving the viewer in a state of euphoria!

17)Oh What A World (Want One)
A wonderful song, which is very simple. The band go off, get changed, and come back onto stage! Rufus Wainwright, and his band, perform this song dressed up as witches, which makes the song much more fun! Infact, it is one of the best performances on the DVD, especially with comments to lyrics in the song such as "straigh men?! - ha, right!" and "I'm a fabulous dancer" and with sections of the song that are almost like a cabaret act! The song has Rufus Wainwright doing dances, people dressed up as witches, and acting at the end while smoking a cigarette! It begins with humming and is soon joined by accompaniment. Rufus is simply singing the song, and does not play piano or the acoustic guitar in the performance of this song! The song includes Ravel's Bolero, which is a famous piece of music, which you should all recognise if you can't think of it at the moment! Bolero has been used extremely effectively in the song, to give a feeling of awe to the song which is just a couple of verses repeated several times! At the end of the song the hummings occur again, but the sounds created sound like you are entering a mystical land of fantasy and delight, which fits with the fantasy theme again!
Once you've heard this, it will be stuck in your head for ages, and you'll be hooked to Rufus Wainwright. A fantastic song, and an absolutely amazing performance, which ends with Rufus laying on the floor of the stage!

18)Liberty cabbage (Quiet Piano song)
More documentary about a tower that was built in San Francisco. Another song that is currently not featured on any of Rufus Wainwright's albums. Quite a slow song that is very simple, which consists of Rufus singing and he is back playing the piano. A nice, pretty song!
"but, sometimes your liberty cabbage goes dry"

19)California (Poses)
An extremely jolly track! This is one that you just HAVE to sing along to, and Rufus even asks people to do this before he starts to sing the song on the DVD, "Alright kids, altogether now! 1-2-3-4...". It's like a bizarre feeling just runs through your body, and the next thing you know, your foot is tapping and your singing away before you realise it. This would be funny, if it wasn't true, but it really, really is! I've been scared many a time by my sudden unconscious bodily movements! Rufus is at the front of the stage again with his acoustic guitar singing into a microphone. Clever lyrics, but some also bizarre with a mention of "munchkin land". I feel that some of the clever lyrics are:
"California, you're such a wonder that I think I'll stay in bed, so much to plunder that I think I'll sleep instead"
It sounds like he should love california, but the lyrics suggest otherwise! A great song!

20)As In Happy (A New Song)
Rufus is back at the piano again to sing a new song that is currently not on any of his albums! He claims he is "singing it across the land" and then begins the song. The song is extremely beautiful, with just Rufus singing and playing the piano. It also has a strong message, and shows Rufus sense of gay pride. Lyrics include:
"And maybe I would rather just be on speed, or perhaps it would help if I had the right to get my sad ass married!"
and...
"And nothing seems to make me gay................as in happy"

21)Credits (with 11:11 playing in the background-Want One)
A list of the people who were involved with the making of the DVD with "11:11" from the "Want One" album playing in the background. However, only the first coupld of minutes play of this song through the duration of the credits, so you don't get to hear the whole song, but it is on an album so you should still be able to hear it if you purchase the album!

The DVD takes all of Rufus Wainwright's best songs from each album, and puts them together to form an amazing concert! The DVD is spectacular, and the Want Two album is great, and together these two things make an exceptionally good product! I'd recommend it to anyone!