Review Summary: Rufus Wainwright has the world at his feet after this magnificent debutalbum.
Rufus Wainwright introduces himself to the world with his self-titled debut-album.
And what a first-impression we get of young Rufus!
"A complete inspiration and one of the most accomplished musicians of today" -
Scissor Sisters
Many people has big expectations for this album. Why? Because Rufus is none other than the son of
Loudon Wainwright III and
Kate McGarrigle, two legends in the music business.
Rufus does of course not deserve these demanding expectations many people have, any more than
Jeff Buckley did. Just because he is the son of not one, but two (!) legendary artists, does not mean we should expect him to be much better than every other artist out there. Just better than a few of them.
Another thing that makes people expect a lot of him is the fact that he has been playing piano from the age of six, and touring since thirteen.
But does he live up to these wild expectations?
"I can't think of a better songwriter working today than Rufus Wainwright. His songs have so much beauty, wit and musical inventiveness-and he's a great live performer" -
Neil Tennant
Many people would say he does. Quite a few places on this album, you can really tell this is someone closely related to
Loudon Wainwright III, as many would've expected. This is however a bit ironic, seeing as Loudon III is the father Rufus so desperately does not want to be associated with;
But with that being said: there's only a little bit of Loudon in here, a little bit of Kate and a giant bit of Rufus himself.
Because this is undoubtedly an artist with his own, unique sound. His fantastic tenor voice, excellent piano skills and fantastic talent in composing melodies and writing lyrics makes him one of a kind.
Mixing lovely piano- and vocal-based alternative pop ("Millbrook", "Baby"...), lounge music ("April Fools", "Danny Boy"...), acoustic guitar and vocal-oriented alternative pop and magnificent big orchestral songs ("Damned Ladies", "Matinee Idol" (a song about
River Phoenix)...) he really has something of his own here.
The lyrics aren't half-bad either. They're actually quite clever, to use a fitting word. He writes (cleverly) about feelings. With words like "
I dont want to hold you and feel so helpless/I dont want to smell you and lose my senses/and smile in slow motion with eyes in love" (taken from "Foolish Love", the album's natural highlight) he cages the listener. And with "Imaginary Love", he points out that love isn't perfect - with words like "
... my kind of love/must be an imaginary love to start with".
"Rufus is truly one-of-a-kind: an extremely powerful and gifted songwriter with a unique voice…Soothing and ironic…just what the doctor ordered" -
kd lang
It seems this album has got everything.
He's got such a talent of writing, that the lyrics alone are good enough to be released in a book of poems.
He's got such a beautiful voice, he could just as well be singing out the names in the phonebook - and it'd still be interesting.
He plays piano like no other pop artist does.
And he makes brilliant compositions anyone could envy.
So why not 5/5 stars? Because... listening to this, it feels like he has got even more potential. It feels like this isn't as good as it could be. As if there's missing these little extra things that makes an album perfect. So it isn't a perfect album, then. Just a bloody good one.
"The greatest songwriter on the planet at the moment is Rufus Wainwright" -
Sir Elton John
There is a reason to why this record was recognized by
Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best albums of the year, and that Rufus was named by Rolling Stone magazine "
Best New Artist" of the year.
And that is because the songs are, to quote
Neva Chonin, damn classy". That's probably the most fitting word to cover this record. Classy. Damn classy. And a promise of great things to come, from this brilliant young mastermind of an artist.
