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Rufus Wainwright: Want Two

Nick Southall, Stylus, 11 March 2005

EXCESS, THY NAME is Rufus. How else do you explain starting the most important album of your career with a 6-minute pseudo-classical drone of a medieval Catholic liturgy, sung in Latin, played with Hungarian instruments? Post Scissor Sisters, post Queer Eye, post Want One (half the hype for Want Two strikes me as being belated praise for its predecessor, which was rather lost amidst record company shenanigans) the world finally seems ready for Rufus Wainwright's homosexual songcraft, and what does he do? Pushes himself even further into lascivious ostentation, as if he's daring those who praised him to maintain their affection in the face of his pomposity, seeing how far his charm can carry him before people feel sick.

Total word count of piece: 664

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