Rufus Wainwright | ||
| Allmusic Biography : A singer/songwriter whose lush, theatrical pop harked back to the traditions of Tin Pan Alley, cabaret, and even opera, Rufus Wainwright was born in 1973; the son of folk music luminaries Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, his parents divorced while he was a child, and he was raised by his mother in Montreal. Beginning his piano studies at age six, by 13 he was touring with his mother, aunt Anna, and his sister Martha in a group billed as the McGarrigle Sisters and Family; a year later, Wainwright was nominated for a Juno (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy) as Most Promising Young Artist, while his "Im A-Runnin" was concurrently nominated for a Genie (the Canadian counterpart to an Oscar) for Best Song in a Film. Coming out as a homosexual while still in his teens, Wainwright sought solace in opera throughout his adolescent years, also becoming an enormous fan of performers including Edith Piaf, Al Jolson, and Judy Garland. After attending the prestigious Millbrook School in upstate New York, he briefly studied music at Montreals McGill University, eventually turning away from classical performance toward pop and rock. Becoming a fixture on the Montreal club circuit, Wainwright soon cut a series of demos with producer Pierre Marchand; Loudon Wainwright III then passed a copy of the tape to friend Van Dyke Parks, who in turn handed it on to DreamWorks exec Lenny Waronker. The label signed him soon after, resulting in the release of Rufus Wainwright during the spring of 1998. The album landed on several critics "Best of 1998" lists, while Wainwright spent the next few years touring and appearing sporadically on soundtracks (Shrek) and compilations (The McGarrigle Hour). His sophomore album, Poses, brought similar acclaim in mid-2001. After spending much of 2001 and 2002 touring on his own and with Tori Amos, Wainwright settled into Bearsville Studio in Woodstock, New York with producer Marius de Vries to record sort of a double album. The first project, Want One, was released in September 2003, with Want Two following a year later. In 2007, he released both Release the Stars and Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, a restaging of Garlands legendary Judy at Carnegie Hall performance from 1961. In 2010, Wainwright delivered his sixth studio album, the stripped-down All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, a 12-track, Shakespeare-influenced collection of new material that relied almost solely on the artists voice and piano. The following year, the musician embarked on his seventh album with the intention of returning to the ornate pop of his early days. The resulting Out of the Game, which was produced by Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Duran Duran), arrived in May 2012. It was followed by the concert album Live from the Artists Den and the compilation Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright, both in 2014. A recording of his 2009 debut opera, the French-language Prima Donna, was released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2015. The label also put out his next studio album, Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets, the following spring. Three of the musical sonnets had appeared on Songs for Lulu but were reworked for Take All My Loves, which commemorated the 400th anniversary of the Bards death. Guests on the album included Helena Bonham Carter, Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, Martha Wainwright, and Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine, among several other actors and musicians as well as the BBC Symphony Orchestra. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 17 Title: Rufus Wainwright Released: 1998-05-19 Tracks: 13 Duration: 58:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Foolish Love (05:46) 2 Danny Boy (06:12) 3 April Fools (05:01) 4 In My Arms (04:09) 5 Millbrook (02:11) 6 Baby (05:13) 7 Beauty Mark (02:14) 8 Barcelona (06:53) 9 Matinee Idol (03:08) 10 Damned Ladies (04:07) 11 Sally Ann (05:01) 12 Imaginary Love (03:28) 13 A Bit of You (04:59) |
| Rufus Wainwright : Allmusic album Review : What separates Rufus Wainwright and the other second-generation singers who sprang up at the same time (Sean Lennon, Emma Townshend, and Chris Stills the most notable among them) is that Wainwright deserves to be heard regardless of his family tree; in fact, the issue of his parentage is ultimately as immaterial as that of his sexuality -- this self-titled debut cares little for the rock clichés of an earlier generation, instead heralding the arrival of a unique and compelling voice steeped most solidly in the traditions of cabaret. Like his folks, Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, hes a superb songwriter, with a knack for elegantly rolling piano melodies and poignantly romantic lyrics; while the appearance of Van Dyke Parks and his trademark orchestral arrangements hints at an affinity for the pop classicism of Brian Wilson or Randy Newman, the vocals come straight out of opera, and although Wainwright is unlikely to be starring in La Boheme anytime soon, he conveys the kind of honest emotion sorely lacking in the ironic posing of many of his contemporaries. Maybe the kids are alright after all. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 17 Title: Poses Released: 2001-06-04 Tracks: 13 Duration: 53:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (04:42) 2 Greek Song (03:56) 3 Poses (05:02) 4 Shadows (05:35) 5 California (03:23) 6 The Tower of Learning (04:47) 7 Grey Gardens (03:08) 8 Rebel Prince (03:44) 9 The Consort (04:25) 10 One Man Guy (03:31) 11 Evil Angel (04:43) 12 In a Graveyard (02:22) 13 Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (reprise) (03:58) |
| Poses : Allmusic album Review : Talented chamber pop troubadour Rufus Wainwright followed up his startlingly fresh debut album with the 2001 release Poses. While his self-titled first album was very much a work by Wainwright (aided by his contributing producers), Poses seems to be more of a group effort, with the young composer allowing the other performers on the album to lend their talents, creating an even fuller, more "live" sound. Both Wainwrights younger sister Martha and son of British folk near-legends Richard and Linda Thompson, Teddy Thompson contribute harmony vocals which soar above Rufus affecting moan like the choir he must hear in his head. Produced by Pierre Marchand (Sarah McLachlan), the album continues the same outstretched, enveloping sound established by Wainwrights earlier work, but contributors like contemporary composer Damian le Gassick and Propellerheads Alex Gifford push in different directions, adding understated drum loops and gritty beats in unexpected places. Above all of the studio gimcrackery and pedigreed guest stars floats Wainwright himself, whose introspective, wry, and heart-wrenching songwriting remains his true strength (although his leisurely operatic tenor is not far behind). The clunking, loping "Greek Song" evokes the sprawl of an impossible Ingmar Bergman spaghetti Western, while the swaggering "California" shows a sunny exterior masking the songs satirical sneer. Amidst this sonic barrage, a high point comes in the cover of patriarch Loudon Wainwright IIIs "One Man Guy." Performed by Rufus, Martha, and Teddy Thompsons simple acoustic guitar, these three grown children of the 70s folk movement embrace the song faithfully, basking in their own harmonies and offering a respite from the blissfully lush orchestral pop that surrounds it. While Poses shows growth and worthwhile exploration, the albums "group" feel suffers only slightly from being less intimate than Wainwrights first album. Although his contributors add much, there was something blushingly personal about his debut that may have gotten a little buried this time around. That being said, Poses is still a spectacular album, brimming over with Wainwrights trademark popera and young romantic wishes. At times the album is beautifully discordant and sonically chilling, but often hints at warm grins with mischievous winks. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 17 Title: Want One Released: 2003-09-23 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:03:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Oh What a World (04:23) 2 I Don’t Know What It Is (04:52) 3 Vicious World (02:49) 4 Movies of Myself (04:30) 5 Pretty Things (02:40) 6 Go or Go Ahead (06:38) 7 Vibrate (02:44) 8 14th Street (04:44) 9 Natasha (03:28) 10 Harvester of Hearts (03:35) 11 Beautiful Child (04:15) 12 Want (05:10) 13 11:11 (04:27) 14 Dinner at Eight (04:33) 15 Es Muß Sein (02:20) 16 Velvet Curtain Rag (02:32) |
| Want One : Allmusic album Review : Rufus Wainwright croons and cries through another set of obscenely lush and opulent pop operettas on his third album Want One. As is to be expected, the songs are meticulously layered and richly textured, with full orchestral passages and many-throated harmonies. Producer Marius deVries (Björk, Massive Attack, Madonna) didnt mess with the already successful Wainwright sound, allowing for the young singer/ songwriter/multi-instrumentalist to explore his familiar themes of love, loss, and "singin about places" with the anticipated fanfare and flourish. The albums strongest segment comes in the middle, beginning with the intimate-to-epic "Go or Go Ahead," barreling through the wildly spinning rock opera "14th Street," and landing softly on the gently chiming "Natasha." Oddly, unlike his previous two releases, Wainwrights musings seem less focused and a little meandering on a handful of the songs. The lazy, loping "Want" is much more stream-of-consciousness than anything else hes recorded, and the slightly goofy "Vibrate" (with its references to Britney Spears and electroclash) may sound dated before the album is played a second time. The sessions that produced Want One were apparently so prolific that another volume (Want Two?) is in the works, but it could turn out to be that distilling both albums down to one would have made for a more complete overall work. Who knows, this new looseness to his rigid pop constructivism may end up being a good thing, and, frankly, Wainwright could be singing lists of names out of the phone book and it would still be more exciting and inventive than 99 percent of the other albums out there. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 17 Title: Waiting for a Want Released: 2004-06-29 Tracks: 4 Duration: 14:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 The Art Teacher (04:02) 2 Gay Messiah (03:18) 3 This Love Affair (03:19) 4 Waiting for a Dream (04:18) |
 | Album: 5 of 17 Title: Want Two Released: 2004-11-16 Tracks: 13 Duration: 56:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Agnus Dei (05:45) 2 The One You Love (03:44) 3 Peach Trees (05:59) 4 Little Sister (03:22) 5 The Art Teacher (03:51) 6 Hometown Waltz (02:33) 7 This Love Affair (03:13) 8 Gay Messiah (03:14) 9 Memphis Skyline (04:51) 10 Waiting for a Dream (04:14) 11 Crumb by Crumb (04:13) 12 Old Whores Diet (09:09) 13 Cœur de Parisienne (reprise dArletty) (02:46) |
| Want Two : Allmusic album Review : Picking up where Want One left off, Rufus Wainwrights Want Two is a deeply introspective, sometimes kinky, and often personally critical set of mini-operettas that ruminate on his various relationships, drug abuse, and image in the media. Metaphorically liturgical and often classical in sound, Want Two touches on such interrelated themes as love, loneliness, sin, and sacrifice. Its more focused than Want One and as such packs more of a wallop both musically and emotionally. On the cover of Want One, Wainwright appeared as a chivalrous knight in armor, bringing to mind the conquering crusader -- Sir Gawain the gay knight? Conversely, on Want Two he appears as a dark-haired maiden -- the suicidal Ophelia? The imagery not only speaks to the campy and loaded cliché of the male-and-female, yin-and-yang drive of the gay male persona, but more importantly how ones personal desires are often sacrificed because of public successes. Never one to shy away from personal issues, Wainwright deals explicitly with how his sexuality has affected his life and career, not merely as a gay man but as a burgeoning gay icon with a complex desire to both embrace and ignore all that entails. This is no more apparent than on the album centerpiece, the iconoclastic "Gay Messiah," in which Wainwright both mocks gay pop culture and laments his ability to live up to his fan bases desire for a artistic hero in the culture wars. He sings, "He will be reborn/From 1970s porn/Wearing tube socks with style/And such an innocent smile," and later, "No it will not be me/Rufus the Baptist I be." Similarly, on the opening track, "Agnus Dei," he croons, "Agnus dei/Qui tollis peccata mundi/Dona nobis pacem." Translated it means, "Lamb of God/Who takest away the sins of the world/Grant us peace." Its Wainwrights most direct plea for both personal and public absolution and helps leave the impression of an artist attempting to find emotional buoyancy in the often perilous waters of both the music business and the dating scene. Musically, Wainwright has never seemed more in command of his muse. References to Nilsson, Brian Wilson, and Randy Newman are a matter of course, but Wainwrights growth as a pop craftsman with his own unique lyrical voice -- both conceptually and literally -- makes such comparisons unnecessary. To these ends, lush string orchestras, cheery choirs, and piping horn sections decorate the impeccably scored album and perfectly complement Wainwrights swooning vocals. Taken as a whole, Want One and Want Two work well together as a sprawling and ambitious double album that is camp, serious, and utterly compelling. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 17 Title: Alright, Already: Live in Montréal Released: 2005-03-15 Tracks: 6 Duration: 24:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Poses (05:20) 2 This Love Affair (03:43) 3 The Art Teacher (03:52) 4 Rebel Prince (03:42) 5 Crumb by Crumb (03:58) 6 Gay Messiah (03:29) |
 | Album: 7 of 17 Title: Want Released: 2005-11-28 Tracks: 28 Duration: 2:00:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Oh What a World (04:23) 2 I Don’t Know What It Is (04:52) 3 Vicious World (02:49) 4 Movies of Myself (04:30) 5 Pretty Things (02:40) 6 Go or Go Ahead (06:38) 7 Vibrate (02:44) 8 14th Street (04:44) 9 Natasha (03:28) 10 Harvester of Hearts (03:35) 11 Beautiful Child (04:15) 12 Want (05:10) 13 11:11 (04:27) 14 Dinner at Eight (04:33) 1 Agnus Dei (05:45) 2 The One You Love (03:44) 3 Peach Trees (05:59) 4 Little Sister (03:22) 5 The Art Teacher (03:51) 6 Hometown Waltz (02:33) 7 This Love Affair (03:13) 8 Gay Messiah (03:14) 9 Memphis Skyline (04:51) 10 Waiting for a Dream (04:14) 11 Crumb by Crumb (04:13) 12 Old Whores Diet (09:09) 13 Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (03:55) 14 In With the Ladies (03:52) |
 | Album: 8 of 17 Title: Release the Stars Released: 2007-05-14 Tracks: 12 Duration: 54:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Do I Disappoint You (04:39) 2 Going to a Town (04:06) 3 Tiergarten (03:26) 4 Nobodys Off the Hook (04:25) 5 Between My Legs (04:24) 6 Rules and Regulations (04:01) 7 Not Ready to Love (05:51) 8 Slideshow (06:21) 9 Tulsa (02:18) 10 Leaving for Paris No. 2 (04:52) 11 Sanssouci (05:15) 12 Release the Stars (05:20) |
| Release the Stars : Allmusic album Review : If ever there was an artist that embodied both the urbane popular songsmithing of Cole Porter and the epic winged grandeur of Richard Wagner it is Rufus Wainwright. Having not so much perfected as succumbed to this yin-yang pull on his laboriously ambitious and intermittently inspired 2003 and 2004 albums Want One and Want Two, Wainwright once again delivers a baroque collection of songs on 2007s Release the Stars. Recorded at least partially in Berlin and London with Pet Shop Boys lead Neil Tennant, the album finds Wainwright casting himself as a kind of expatriate torch singer, a veritable Marlene Dietrich of emotion who, as he laments on "Going to a Town," is "so tired of America." In that sense, Release the Stars is at once intensely personal and utterly theatrical with Wainwright playing both ingénue and femme fatale in a series of increasingly cinematic pop-operas about true love gone not so much bad, but sad. He pleads to make it to the other side of town, and possibly the other side of monogamy, with his brown-eyed lover in "Tiergarten" and dreams lazily about, "the boys that made me lose the blues and then my eyesight" on "Sanssouci." While these songs are lushly produced, often with full orchestration, and while Wainwright has a knack for pretty, lilting melodies and concrete imagery there is nonetheless a distinct lack of pop hooks here. In fact, only the chugging T. Rex inspired glam rock of "Between My Legs" gets at any real pop meat. The main problem is that its never quite clear if Wainwright, who has always been to pop music as cabaret is to Broadway, is dressing opera up as pop or vice versa. But when you wear custom Lederhosen as well as Wainwright does throughout the album liner notes, does it really matter? [The CD was also released with a DVD.] | ||
 | Album: 9 of 17 Title: Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall Released: 2007-12-03 Tracks: 26 Duration: 1:44:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Overture: The Trolley Song / Over the Rainbow / The Man That Got Away (04:15) 2 When Youre Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) (03:44) 3 Medley: Almost Like Being in Love / This Cant Be Love (06:10) 4 Do It Again (05:15) 5 You Go to My Head (02:40) 6 Alone Together (03:21) 7 Who Cares? (As Long as You Care for Me) (02:08) 8 Puttin on the Ritz (01:56) 9 How Long Has This Been Going On? (05:46) 10 Just You, Just Me (02:03) 11 The Man That Got Away (04:59) 12 San Francisco (04:53) 1 Thats Entertainment (02:27) 2 I Cant Give You Anything But Love (08:12) 3 Come Rain or Come Shine (03:56) 4 Youre Nearer (01:59) 5 A Foggy Day (02:56) 6 If Love Were All (02:34) 7 Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart (03:49) 8 Stormy Weather (06:45) 9 Medley: You Made Me Love You / For Me and My Gal / The Trolley Song (04:38) 10 Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody (05:46) 11 Over the Rainbow (04:48) 12 Swanee (01:54) 13 After Youve Gone (02:57) 14 Chicago (04:32) |
| Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall : Allmusic album Review : If Release the Stars displayed Rufus Wainwright as a weary, wannabe expatriate who was (in his own words) "so sick of America," then Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall -- released just seven months later -- shows him falling in love with the country all over again. Few things are as American as the American Songbook, which Wainwright tackles here with energy, camp, and a sly wink. Reprising the entirety of Judy Garlands 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall, he regains much of the momentum that was lost in Release the Stars slower moments, performing live with a brisk 36-piece orchestra and several family guests. Perhaps there are people better suited to this task than Wainwright, singers who more closely embody the innocence that Garland always seemed to radiate in spite of her growing addiction to booze and Benzedrine. But Wainwright is obviously enamored with Garland -- who, in addition to her role as one of Americas greatest female entertainers, has also become an enduring icon in postwar gay history -- and he revels in the glamour and glitz of her 45-year-old set list. These songs hail from a golden era dotted with trolley cars, Cadillacs, and glitzy jazz clubs, an era in which Wainwright never lived but still has the ability to convey. The secret rests in his vocals, which rise and fall between notes with all the smoothness of a slide guitar. Steeped in opera music and Tin Pan Alley tunes, Wainwright doesnt fall prey to the trappings of a contemporary pop singer, but rather comes across as someone much older. He sings in a fail-safe tenor with colorful vibrato, unafraid to tackle several songs in their original keys and rarely, if ever, missing a note. His infrequent mistakes are mostly lyrical or rhythmic in nature -- a flubbed line here, a botched intro there -- and theyre met with applause from the audience. So while the performance isnt perfect, particularly toward the end of the show (where, after two hours of performing swing tunes and jazz standards, Wainwright is understandably low on steam), its still nice to hear the singer in his element, crooning about dinging trolleys and zinging heartstrings with flamboyancy that only he can muster. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 17 Title: Milwaukee at Last!!! Released: 2009-09-07 Tracks: 10 Duration: 54:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Release the Stars (05:54) 2 Going to a Town (04:13) 3 Sanssouci (05:49) 4 Rules and Regulations (04:10) 5 Leaving for Paris No. 2 (06:04) 6 If Love Were All (02:26) 7 Nobodys Off the Hook (04:26) 8 Not Ready to Love/Slideshow (13:51) 9 Macushla (03:51) 10 Gay Messiah (04:06) |
 | Album: 11 of 17 Title: All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu Released: 2010-03-23 Tracks: 12 Duration: 47:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Who Are You New York? (03:42) 2 Sad With What I Have (03:06) 3 Martha (03:12) 4 Give Me What I Want and Give It to Me Now! (02:08) 5 True Loves (03:52) 6 Sonnet 43 (04:28) 7 Sonnet 20 (02:59) 8 Sonnet 10 (02:56) 9 The Dream (05:27) 10 What Would I Ever Do with a Rose? (04:23) 11 Les feux dartifice tappellent (05:57) 12 Zebulon (05:38) |
| All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu : Allmusic album Review : All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu finds singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright stripping back the operatic flourishes of his 2007 album Release the Stars to deliver a stark and deeply personal collection of songs. Where Stars often featured large backing ensemble arrangements, here Wainwright simply accompanies himself on piano, allowing the lyrics of these poetic, introspective songs and his voice to take the spotlight. Never one to shirk away from cerebral and conceptual artistic endeavors, Wainwright has adapted three Shakespeare sonnets here that work quite well as ruminative, classically impressionistic-style pieces. Elsewhere, tracks like "Who Are You New York" and "Sad with What I Have" feature Wainwrights longstanding knack for clever and ironic turns of phrase. Obviously, the memory of Wainwrights mother, Kate McGarrigle, who died in 2010 after an extended illness, hangs heavy throughout the album. It is clear that Wainwright wrote and recorded much of All Days Are Nights during her illness, and themes of loss, depression, and sadness permeate these songs. Wainwright addresses this directly in "Martha," a yearning plea to his sister, singer/songwriter Martha Wainwright, to whom he also dedicates the album. Wainwright sings, "Martha its your brother calling. Time to go up north and see mother. Things are harder for her now and neither of us is really that much older than each other anymore." The song, as with most of of All Days Are Nights, is a bold, absolutely emotionally naked statement that still retains Wainwrights devastating talent for artful, universally compelling songcraft. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 17 Title: House of Rufus Released: 2011-07-23 Tracks: 193 Duration: 13:21:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Foolish Love (05:46) 2 Danny Boy (06:12) 3 April Fools (05:01) 4 In My Arms (04:09) 5 Millbrook (02:11) 6 Baby (05:13) 7 Beauty Mark (02:14) 8 Barcelona (06:53) 9 Matinee Idol (03:08) 10 Damned Ladies (04:07) 11 Sally Ann (05:01) 12 Imaginary Love (03:28) 13 Heartburn (02:28) 14 Goodnight Sweetheart (02:08) 1 Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (04:42) 2 Greek Song (03:56) 3 Poses (05:02) 4 Shadows (05:35) 5 California (03:23) 6 The Tower of Learning (04:47) 7 Grey Gardens (03:08) 8 Rebel Prince (03:44) 9 The Consort (04:25) 10 One Man Guy (03:31) 11 Evil Angel (04:43) 12 In a Graveyard (02:22) 13 Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (reprise) (03:58) 14 Greek Song (KCRW session 5/6/01) (04:18) 15 California (KCRW session 5/6/01) (03:24) 16 Grey Gardens (KCRW session 5/6/01) (05:01) 1 Oh What a World (04:23) 2 I Don’t Know What It Is (04:52) 3 Vicious World (02:49) 4 Movies of Myself (04:30) 5 Pretty Things (02:40) 6 Go or Go Ahead (06:38) 7 Vibrate (02:44) 8 14th Street (04:44) 9 Natasha (03:28) 10 Harvester of Hearts (03:35) 11 Beautiful Child (04:15) 12 Want (05:10) 13 11:11 (04:27) 14 Dinner at Eight (04:33) 15 Es Muß Sein (02:20) 16 Velvet Curtain Rag (02:32) 17 What You Got (03:30) 18 11:11 (studio demo) (04:28) 1 Agnus Dei (05:45) 2 The One You Love (03:44) 3 Peach Trees (05:59) 4 Little Sister (03:22) 5 The Art Teacher (03:51) 6 Hometown Waltz (02:33) 7 This Love Affair (03:13) 8 Gay Messiah (03:14) 9 Memphis Skyline (04:51) 10 Waiting for a Dream (04:14) 11 Crumb by Crumb (04:13) 12 Old Whores Diet (09:09) 13 Cœur de Parisienne (reprise dArletty) (02:46) 14 Quand vous mourrez de nos amours (reprise de Gilles Vigneault) (03:23) 15 Southern Soul (03:08) 16 Gay Messiah (studio demo) (03:46) 1 Do I Disappoint You (04:39) 2 Going to a Town (04:06) 3 Tiergarten (03:26) 4 Nobodys Off the Hook (04:25) 5 Between My Legs (04:24) 6 Rules and Regulations (04:01) 7 Not Ready to Love (05:51) 8 Slideshow (06:18) 9 Tulsa (02:18) 10 Leaving for Paris No. 2 (04:52) 11 Sanssouci (05:15) 12 Release the Stars (05:50) 13 Do I Disappoint You (instrumental) (04:38) 14 Low Grade Happiness (05:30) 15 Going to a Town (04:25) 1 Overture: The Trolley Song / Over the Rainbow / The Man That Got Away (04:15) 2 When Youre Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) (03:44) 3 Medley: Almost Like Being in Love / This Cant Be Love (06:10) 4 Do It Again (05:15) 5 You Go to My Head (02:40) 6 Alone Together (03:21) 7 Who Cares? (As Long as You Care for Me) (02:08) 8 Puttin on the Ritz (01:56) 9 How Long Has This Been Going On? (05:46) 10 Just You, Just Me (02:03) 11 The Man That Got Away (04:59) 12 San Francisco (04:53) 1 Thats Entertainment (02:27) 2 I Cant Give You Anything But Love (08:12) 3 Come Rain or Come Shine (03:56) 4 Youre Nearer (01:59) 5 A Foggy Day (02:56) 6 If Love Were All (02:34) 7 Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart (03:49) 8 Stormy Weather (06:45) 9 Medley: You Made Me Love You / For Me and My Gal / The Trolley Song (04:38) 10 Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody (05:46) 11 Over the Rainbow (04:48) 12 Swanee (01:54) 13 After Youve Gone (02:57) 14 Chicago (04:32) 15 Get Happy (03:13) 16 Someone to Watch Over Me (02:21) 17 Every Time We Say Goodbye (02:38) 1 Release the Stars (05:54) 2 Going to a Town (04:13) 3 Sanssouci (05:49) 4 Rules and Regulations (04:10) 5 Leaving for Paris No. 2 (06:04) 6 If Love Were All (02:26) 7 Nobodys Off the Hook (04:26) 8 Not Ready to Love/Slideshow (13:51) 9 Macushla (03:51) 10 Gay Messiah (04:06) 1 Who Are You New York? (03:42) 2 Sad With What I Have (03:06) 3 Martha (03:12) 4 Give Me What I Want and Give It to Me Now! (02:08) 5 True Loves (03:52) 6 Sonnet 43 (04:28) 7 Sonnet 20 (02:59) 8 Sonnet 10 (02:56) 9 The Dream (05:27) 10 What Would I Ever Do with a Rose? (04:23) 11 Les feux dartifice tappellent (05:57) 12 Zebulon (05:38) 13 Les feux dartifice tappellent (alternate version) (05:28) 14 Who Are You New York? (live at Kenwood House; 3 July, 2010) (03:32) 15 Martha (live at Kenwood House; 3 July, 2010) (03:16) 16 The Walking Song (live at Kenwood House; 3 July, 2010) (05:31) 1 The Money Song (05:00) 2 Ups and Downs (03:05) 3 Red Thread (05:39) 4 St. James Infirmary (04:23) 5 London (03:52) 6 A Bit of You (05:00) 7 Ashes (04:40) 8 In With the Ladies (03:52) 9 Miss Otis Regrets (03:22) 10 Cowboy Song (03:47) 11 Patience Is a Virtue (04:12) 12 Shoes (03:13) 13 Fame Into Love Into Death (03:58) 14 One More Chance (05:22) 15 Hankering (04:16) 16 Dreams and Daydreams (05:04) 1 Im a Running (from the movie: Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller) (02:28) 2 Le roi dYs (from the movie: The Myth of Fingerprints) (03:20) 3 On the Banks of the Wabash (from the movie: The Myth of Fingerprints) (04:35) 4 Instant Pleasure (from the movie: Big Daddy) (03:44) 5 Complainte de La Butte (from the movie: Moulin Rouge) (03:08) 6 Hallelujah (from the movie: Shrek) (04:12) 7 He Aint Heavy, Hes My Brother (from the movie: Zoolander) (04:41) 8 Across the Universe (from the movie: I Am Sam) (04:09) 9 Its Only a Paper Moon (from the movie: Stormy Weather) (04:44) 10 I Wonder What Became of Me (from the movie: Stormy Weather) (03:39) 11 I Eat Dinner (When the Hungers Gone) (from the movie: Bridget Jones the Edge of Reason) (05:40) 12 Ill Build a Stairway to Paradise (from the movie: The Aviator) (03:14) 13 King of the Road (from the movie: Brokeback Mountain) (02:53) 14 The Maker Makes (from the movie: Brokeback Mountain) (03:50) 15 Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (from the movie: The History Boys) (05:25) 16 Another Believer (from the movie: Meet the Robinsons) (04:41) 1 Whatll I Do (03:37) 2 Au fond du temple saint (04:51) 3 So Easy (04:01) 4 Old Paint (02:44) 5 Casanova in Hell (03:15) 6 What Can I Do? (01:41) 7 To America (05:44) 8 Tired of Wasting Time (01:45) 9 Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (live) (03:56) 10 Everybody Knows (live) (04:33) 11 More Wine (05:05) 12 Lowlands Away (03:26) 13 Scarecrow (07:03) 14 Albatross (05:15) 15 Down Where the Drunkards Roll (03:33) 1 Foolish Love (05:09) 2 Danny Boy (05:01) 3 Beauty Mark (02:06) 4 Damned Ladies (03:32) 5 Liberty Cabbage (03:43) 6 Matinee Idol (03:16) 7 April Fools (03:03) 8 Get Out of Town (02:18) 9 Sally Ann (03:18) 10 Sweet Repose (03:11) 11 In My Arms (03:38) 12 Keep Cool Fool (03:22) |
 | Album: 13 of 17 Title: Out of the Game Released: 2012-04-20 Tracks: 12 Duration: 50:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Out of the Game (04:05) 2 Jericho (03:44) 3 Rashida (03:00) 4 Barbara (03:55) 5 Welcome to the Ball (03:26) 6 Montauk (03:56) 7 Bitter Tears (03:31) 8 Respectable Dive (04:55) 9 Perfect Man (03:58) 10 Sometimes You Need (03:20) 11 Song of You (04:50) 12 Candles (07:41) |
| Out of the Game : Allmusic album Review : Rufus Wainwrights 2012 studio effort, Out of the Game, is a 70s singer/songwriter album with some soft rock and disco and elements that bring to mind a mix of Boz Scaggs, ELO, and Todd Rundgren. Produced by Mark Ronson, the master of making retro new again, Out of the Game has a vintage, organic aesthetic featuring horns, old-school keyboards, strings, and the occasional fuzzed-out guitar. In that sense, it is a return to the more straightforward pop/rock style of Wainwrights early albums, although some of the opera and classical influences of 2007s Release the Stars are still evident. Similarly, the stark personal style Wainwright investigated on 2010s All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu is also still here, albeit in a much more pop-friendly and melodically palatable form. Wainwright, who has always been a deeply intimate songwriter (he confronted his crystal meth addiction and recovery from it on 2003s Want One, dealt directly with the death of his mother, Kate McGarrigle, on Lulu, and has never shied away from addressing his homosexuality), here details his life since becoming engaged to his partner in 2010 and fathering a child in 2011 with Lorca Cohen (Leonard Cohens daughter) on the impressionistic "Montauk." In the song, Wainwright croons to his future adult daughter, "One day you will come to Montauk and see your dad wearing a kimono and see your other dad pruning roses/Hope you wont turn around and go." Later in the song, he summons the ghost of his mother with the line, "One day years ago years ago in Montauk lived a woman now a shadow/There she does wait for us in the ocean." Its a terribly bittersweet moment and a kind of apotheosis of all the events that inform the mood on Out of the Game. As moving as that song is, Wainwright and Ronson balance out the more introspective songs with such immediately engaging cuts as the Rundgren-esque soft rock title track anthem, the soulful baroque pop of "Jericho," and the T. Rex-meets-60s girl group-sounding ballad "Rashida." Elsewhere, "Barbara," "Bitter Tears," and the languid "Song of You" evince a kind of Giorgio Moroder Europop vibe and also compare favorably to works by such similarly inclined Wainwright contemporaries as Ron Sexsmith and Richard Hawley. Although Wainwrights private life may have taken him out of the pop game for a time, this album is one of his most classicist, not classical, pop records and in that sense, Out of the Game is definitely a winner. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 17 Title: Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright Released: 2014-03-03 Tracks: 34 Duration: 2:14:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Going to a Town (04:06) 2 Out of the Game (04:05) 3 Me and Liza (03:21) 4 Hallelujah (04:09) 5 Oh What a World (04:25) 6 April Fools (05:01) 7 Poses (05:02) 8 Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (04:42) 9 Vibrate (02:44) 10 The One You Love (03:44) 11 I Don’t Know What It Is (04:52) 12 The Art Teacher (03:51) 13 Go or Go Ahead (06:38) 14 Dinner at Eight (04:33) 15 Foolish Love (05:46) 16 Sometimes You Need (03:20) 17 Grey Gardens (03:08) 18 Tiergarten (03:26) 1 Bitter Tears (03:33) 2 The Maker Makes (03:49) 3 Across the Universe (remix) (04:09) 4 La Complainte de La Butte (03:07) 5 Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (03:55) 6 Chic and Pointless (03:48) 7 WWIII (03:56) 8 Jericho (live from the Artist’s Den) (03:41) 9 Montauk (live from the Artist’s Den) (03:54) 10 If Love Were All (live at Kenwood House 2010) (02:39) 11 Do It Again (live at Kenwood House 2010) (05:10) 12 Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart (live at Kenwood House 2010) (02:35) 13 Memphis Skyline (live at Kenwood House 2010) (04:46) 14 Martha (live at Kenwood House 2010) (03:16) 15 One Man Guy (live at KCRW 2001) (04:43) 16 BBC Interview With Jo Whiley (Royal Opera House 2011) (00:57) |
| Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright : Allmusic album Review : The 2014 compilation Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright brings together many of the singer/songwriters best cuts, as chosen by him, from his various studio albums. Included here are songs off his 1998 self-titled debut all the way through to his 2012 album, Out of the Game. Also included are several cuts Wainwright recorded for the 2001 soundtrack to Shrek. That said, missing here are cuts off his intimate 2007 album All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, as are any tracks from his several concert albums, most notably his 2007 Judy Garland-themed performance Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall. Perhaps Wainwright viewed All Days Are Nights, which was recorded during his mother Kate McGarrigles illness with cancer, as too much of a personal statement to single out any of its tracks for inclusion here. Similarly, maybe Wainwright felt that as a show largely built around American Songbook standards, his Judy Garland concert simply worked too well as stand-alone conceptual entity to cherry-pick from. Nonetheless, some fans may miss their exclusion from Vibrate, which is not to say that Vibrate isnt a substantial window onto Wainwrights oeuvre. On the contrary, rather than simply presenting a chronological set of songs from his first album to his most recent, Wainwright attempted to present this career-spanning overview with an ear to creating a dramatic flow for the listener, the same way he does with all his albums. The result is a beautifully curated mix of songs, each of which offers a chapter in the story of Wainwrights life and career. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 17 Title: Prima Donna Released: 2015-10-02 Tracks: 38 Duration: 2:07:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Prima Donna: Overture (06:06) 2 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 1: Oh! Madame Saint Laurent (03:01) 3 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 2: Jai rêvé toute la nuit (02:58) 4 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 3: Merci. Asseyez-vous (01:37) 5 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 4: Ah! Les soucis! (01:10) 6 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 5: Aliénor, quelle femme merveilleuse (01:50) 7 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 6: Mais non, Madame! (02:51) 8 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 7: Mais que se passe-t-il donc (01:58) 9 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 8: À l époque, François (02:15) 10 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 9: Cet appartement (01:31) 11 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 10: Mon dieu quil est laid! (02:05) 12 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 11: À ton âge, François (02:41) 13 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 12: Voici Le Journaliste! (02:24) 14 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 13: Bonjour, Madame Saint Laurent (02:13) 15 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 14: Quand j étais jeune étudiant (03:09) 16 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 15: Madame Saint Laurent (01:15) 17 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 16: La Première ... (02:31) 18 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 17: Régine, quelle majesté (03:14) 19 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 18: Abandonne, pose ta couronne (03:05) 20 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 19: Charmant, tout à fait (02:10) 21 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 20: Oh, ma voix! (00:58) 22 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 21: Oh, ma douleur! (05:17) 23 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 21: Revenez donc ce soir; Scene 22: Interlude (01:55) 24 Prima Donna, Act I, Scene 23: The Kiss (01:15) 1 Prima Donna: Overture (03:31) 2 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 1: Dans mon pays de Picardie (05:04) 3 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 2: Excuse-moi, Monsieur Philippe (04:09) 4 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 3: Vocalises (02:53) 5 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 4: Et maintenant, Aliénor, à nous deux (01:07) 6 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 5: Quand j étais jeune étudiante (05:43) 7 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 6: Dans ce jardin (09:53) 8 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 7: Meditation (06:10) 9 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 8: Cest impossible! (04:01) 10 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 9: Maintenant, il est temps (03:30) 11 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 10: Je suis heureuse (03:48) 12 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 11: Prenez-le donc (06:10) 13 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 12: Final Interlude (05:13) 14 Prima Donna, Act II, Scene 13: Brief Fireworks Music (percussion) & Les feux dartifice (06:55) |
 | Album: 16 of 17 Title: Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets Released: 2016-04-22 Tracks: 16 Duration: 54:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Sonnet 43 (01:12) 2 When Most I Wink (Sonnet 43) (04:55) 3 Take All My Loves (Sonnet 40) (06:26) 4 Sonnet 20 (00:51) 5 A Woman’s Face (Sonnet 20) (03:49) 6 For Shame (Sonnet 10) (03:12) 7 Sonnet 10 (00:58) 8 Unperfect Actor (Sonnet 23) (05:45) 9 Sonnet 29 (01:01) 10 When in Disgrace With Fortune and Men’s Eyes (Sonnet 29) (03:08) 11 Sonnet 129 (01:03) 12 Th’Expense of Spirit in a Waste of Shame (Sonnet 129) (02:48) 13 All dessen müd (Sonnet 66) (08:22) 14 A Woman’s Face - Reprise (Sonnet 20) (03:10) 15 Sonnet 87 (01:17) 16 Farewell (Sonnet 87) (06:27) |
| Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets : Allmusic album Review : Not the singer/songwriters first foray into Shakespeare, Rufus Wainwrights Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets offers an ambitious mix of accompanied readings, opera, and chamber pop to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bards death (its release date falls a day early). Three of the included sonnets appeared on Wainwrights 2010 LP All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu but are rearranged and newly recorded here. Helena Bonham Carter, Carrie Fisher, Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine, and, most frequently, opera singer Anna Prohaska are among several celebrated guests on the 16-track set, which provides two interpretations of most of the poems. The album opens with a reading of "Sonnet 43" by Welsh actress and singer Siân Phillips over quietly percussive electronics, before approaching the same poem as a graceful, fully realized aria with Prohaska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Its not until the third track, "Take All My Loves (Sonnet 40)," that we hear Wainwright himself sing, and its an electro-symphonic, avant-garde pop song that also features an inserted recitation by English musician/producer Marius de Vries. In fact, those hoping to hear not only Wainwrights compositions but also his voice will have to make due with just three tunes and some supporting appearances. A highlight among his pop songs and of the album is "A Womans Face (Reprise) (Sonnet 20)," a wistful ballad reworked from All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, in which Shakespeare expresses deep affection for another man. Elsewhere, droning guitar and rock drums are punctuated with strings on "Unperfect Actor (Sonnet 23)," which sees the musician joined by his sister Martha Wainwright, Fiora Cutler (aka Fiora), and actress Helena Bonham Carter, the latter in a spoken intro. Florence Welch takes the lead on the mellifluous, tropics-infused "When in Disgrace with Fortune and Mens Eyes (Sonnet 29)," and none other than William Shatner delivers a dramatic, highly edited performance of "Sonnet 129." In a Kurt Weill-esque cabaret entry, "Sonnet 66" is read and sung in German by Jürgen Holtz, Christopher Nell, and Wainwright, with electric guitar, piano, and strings accompaniment. While fans of either persuasion should note that the collection has as much strictly classical material as it does chamber pop, altogether the album presents a compelling, balanced mix of many manner of vocal performance. Arriving on the heels of a recording of his first opera, the French-language Prima Donna, Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets reaffirms that the songwriter/composer is an arranger at home in many styles, with the ability to make this kind of sprawling, genre-surfing project unfold with elegance. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 17 Title: Northern Stars Released: 2018 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:08:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Case of You (05:39) 2 Suzanne (04:42) 3 Talk to Me of Mendocino (03:26) 4 Harvest (03:15) 5 Going to a Town (04:56) 6 Safety Dance (02:46) 7 Sisters of Mercy (04:52) 8 Far Away (03:55) 9 Both Sides Now (05:59) 10 Ziggy (02:59) 11 All I Want (03:26) 12 Crown of Love (04:00) 13 Harvest Moon (05:37) 14 Heart Like a Wheel (03:37) 15 So Long, Marianne (06:06) 16 Proserpina (03:11) |