Rufus Wainwright Want Two 180g Import LP

Praised for his genuine originality, the American-Canadian Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. In 2004 he released Want Two, his fourth studio album. According to Wainwright, it is the darker sibling of 2003's Want One - its subject matter concerned with "the world we live in" after Want One focused on the intensely personal. Wainwright produced the album in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning British producer Marius de Vries, who is best known for work with U2, Madonna and Björk.

His mother, Kate McGarrigle, and aunt, Anna McGarrigle, both sing on the track "Hometown Waltz." The album also features Wainwright's popular tracks "The One You Love," "Agnus Dei" and "Old Whore's Diet." The latter features Anohni from Antony and the Johnsons.

Want Two includes an insert with lyrics.

Picking up where Want One left off, Rufus Wainwright's 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. It's more focused than Want One and as such packs more of a wallop both musically and emotionally....References to Nilsson, Brian Wilson, and Randy Newman are a matter of course, but Wainwright's 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 Wainwright's 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.