Want Two

Want Two is the fourth album by american-canadian 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.

Want Two is, according to Wainwright, the darker sibling of 2003’s Want One - its subject matter concerned with “the world we live in” (RW Geffen Bio) after Want One’s focus on the intensely personal. The artist’s song selections here show his range to be broad, veering from romantic ballad (Peach Trees) to tragic ballad (This Love Affair), sophisticated pop (The One You Love) to third person/first person narrative lament (The Art Teacher), personal tongue in cheek manifesto (Gay Messiah), to classical pop hybrid (Memphis Skyline) and songs beyond category. Agnus Dei is used in the trailer for the 2007 film Trade.

Mother Kate McGarrigle and aunt Anna McGarrigle both perform and sing on Hometown Waltz. Antony Hegarty of 2005 Mercury Prize winners Antony and the Johnsons sings lead vocal alongside Wainwright on Old Whore’s Diet. The initial UK version of the record contains bonus live tracks, Coeur de Parisienne - Reprise d’Arletty and Quand Vous Mourez de nos Amours (written by French Canadian songwriter Gilles Vigneault).


Professional Reviews
★★★★☆ - AllMusic
★★★★☆ - The Guardian
★★★★☆ - Rolling Stone
★★★☆☆ - Blender
★★★☆☆ - Pitchfork
B- - Robert Christgau