Want Two
Album by Rufus Wainwright
Release	November 16, 2004
Recorded	???
Genre	Pop
Length	?? min  ?? sec
Label	Geffen
Producer(s)	Marius de Vries Rufus Wainwright
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone 12/15/04
Rufus Wainwright chronology
Want One (2003)	Want Two (2004)

Want Two is the fourth album by American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The album was released on November 16, 2004. Four of the tracks on this album were released in the summer of 2004 as the EP Waiting for a Want on the iTunes music store. Image File history File links Want_Two_Cover. ... An album is a collection of related audio tracks, released together commercially in an audio format to the public. ... Rufus Wainwright (born 22 July 1973) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Pop can mean: Pop culture Pop music Pop art Pop icons Pop (frozen snack) Short form of Lollipop Short form of Popcorn Short form of Soda pop Father Mayan Calendar - Pop is the first month of the Mayan Calendar Pop (album) by U2 Pop, a character in Happy Tree Friends... This article contains information that has not been verified. ... The second (symbol s) is a unit for time, and one of seven SI base units. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ... Geffen can refer to either: Geffen Records - a record label Geffen (Netherlands) - a town in the Netherlands part of Maasdonk This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) is (among many other tasks) primarily responsible for completing a master recording so that it is fit for mass production and commercial release. ... Rufus Wainwright (born 22 July 1973) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Description: Rating stars. ... Robert Christgau (sometimes abbreviated in print to Xgau), born April 18, 1942, is an American essayist, music journalist, and rock critic. ... This article is about the music magazine. ... Description: Rating stars. ... Rufus Wainwright (born 22 July 1973) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. ... Want One is Rufus Wainwrights third album, released on Sept. ... 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rufus Wainwright (born 22 July 1973) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An extended play or EP, is the name given to vinyl records or CDs which are too long to qualify as singles but too short to qualify as albums. ... iTunes is a digital media player application, developed by Apple Computer, for playing and organizing digital music and video files. ...

Want Two is the darker sibling of 2003's 'Want One.' The artist's song selections show his range to be broad almost to a fault, the range veering from romantic ballad (Peach Trees) to tragic ballad (This Love Affair), to sophisticated pop (The One You Love), to third person/first person narrative lament (The Art Teacher), to personal tongue in cheek manifesto (Gay Messiah), to classical pop hybrid (Memphis Skyline), to songs beyond category.

These number two and both are remarkable: Agnus Dei opens the proceedings with a faux-Muslim call to prayer, while Old Whore's Diet, the piece that bookends the set, is an eccentric, extended minor key who-the-hell-knows-what of a song construction. This variegated approach causes the overall effect of the record to be somewhat less than the sum of its parts, but this said, the quality of the songwriting is absolutely top of the range at many points. Waiting For A Dream, in addition to its exquisitely poised chord progression and effortless melodiousness, is intensely dramatic thanks to a superb arrangment. This proves that Wainwright can deliver pop music of considerable weight, and adding ballast to his dazzling ability to dash off such lighter pleasures as Little Sister. Complete with string quartet arrangement, this is the sort of piece that enables cynics to dismiss him as dilettante dabbling with different styles as if to submerge the fact that his gifts, though broad, don't run deep.

On Want Two however, the depth is there, not just in terms of the emotional range of the immaculate singing and the settings for each song, but in the scope of pieces as Memphis Skyline (his tribute to Jeff Buckley), Agnus Dei and Waiting For A Dream. His chord constructions are also often exemplary, lending beauty and interest almost throughout (Peach Trees and Hometown Waltz might be exceptions). For confirmed fans, there is weight in the lyrics too though the approach, in contrast to its predecessor, is rarely directly personal.

All in all, the collection doesn't hang together well, yet such is Wainwright's talent as a singer and songwriter, the album stands as somewhere between object lesson and masterclass for up and coming artists in how to write and arrange the modern popular song and beyond. Even on this evidence, the man has few if any equals in this respect.

Track listing

1. "Agnus Dei"
2. "The One You Love"
3. "Peach Trees"
4. "Little Sister"
5. "The Art Teacher"
6. "Hometown Waltz"
7. "This Love Affair"
8. "Gay Messiah"
9. "Memphis Skyline"
10. "Waiting for a Dream"
11. "Crumb By Crumb"
12. "Old Whore's Diet"

External links

• Rufus Wainwright