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 aroque collection of songs on 2007's 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 it's 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.]
So a few weeks ago I posted my top 10 songs of 2007 but that was before I heard Rufus Wainwright's incredible 2007 album "Release The Stars". I listened to it today and was blown away. It is a lush, lovely, lyrical landscape dotted with delicate operettas and powerful orchestras tied together with Rufus's heart-wrenching, lilting voice. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't hesitate to make...
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hello all,For my first Mog Blog (remember 5th grade and pog!) post, I really wanted to come out with a bang. Too bad I don't have anything to really bang with except this oddly shaped little pot...I've been digging on Rufus Wainwright's newest release.... "release the stars"... Even though he could crap in a brown paper bag and I would dig that too... I still think it's fan-freekin-tastic. ...
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Mog Stars out of ten: 9“Do I disappoint you, in just being human?”...it’s hardly the most uplifting way to start an album, but then you don’t go to Rufus Wainwright looking for joy. Coming from a singer-songwriter pedigree that anyone would be proud of, he was nominated for awards for his own tunes since the age of 14, but while his musical career has gone from strength to strength he has
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Rufus Wainwright sings about love, life, and Los Angeles on his new record...and he has never sounded better. This is such a great record...I will leave the reviews to the writers, but I have listened to 'Release The Stars' like 4 times today and I think it is terrific!Here is one of my favorites....
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In which I reveal my extreme shallowness, er, aesthetic sensibility...here are my votes for the most beautiful, cool, crush-able and do-able people in the music world. I'm sure you'll tell me who I've forgotten!
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Mog Stars out of ten: 9“Do I disappoint you, in just being human?”...it’s hardly the most uplifting way to start an album, but then you don’t go to Rufus Wainwright looking for joy. Coming from a singer-songwriter pedigree that anyone would be proud of, he was nominated for awards for his own tunes since the age of 14, but while his musical career has gone from strength to strength he has
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for your viewing pleasure...
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So a few weeks ago I posted my top 10 songs of 2007 but that was before I heard Rufus Wainwright's incredible 2007 album "Release The Stars". I listened to it today and was blown away. It is a lush, lovely, lyrical landscape dotted with delicate operettas and powerful orchestras tied together with Rufus's heart-wrenching, lilting voice. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't hesitate to make...
More >
randomized my itunes just to see what happened, and then i had to reset my settings because the shuffle was totally unshuffled, and then i randomized my itunes yet again and this was the result. it's a good thing i'm in a rufus wainwright kind of mood. hell, i'm always in a rufus wainwright kind of mood.
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And this one was definitely up there. I wanted to post about this days ago but I'm just finally getting around to it now so bare with me. ;) So friday I got to see one of my good friends for the first time in quite a while since she works entirely too much, lol. We went to see Man of La Mancha at a community theater down the street and I have to say it was better than I expected. Being a si...
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"Going To A Town" by Rufus Wainwright off of Release The Stars.
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Rufus Wainwright's new album "Release The Stars" came out today, I ran out and got it as soon as I realized the date hah.If you are a Rufus fan, you will not be disappointed. The album is just fantastic, it will be occupying my car's cd player for a while.Also, on another exciting note, my best friend Jennifer [who likes him, but not obsessively like myself] has agreed to come along with me to...
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Has anyone seen Rufus on his first tour in 10 years? He is coming through San Francisco next week and I am thinking I should get me some tix. Love the song "Rules & Regulations" on his new album 'Release the Stars' although I heard through friend, don't have the song, drats.
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I've started a blog for serious collectors, those who hunt down 7-inches, own the record and the CD, whose music collection is chock-full of interesting and unique pieces that set yourself apart from the casual fan. Strictly covering the out-of-print, the rare, the promotional, and the autographed and how to get ahold of them.I've done a bit to set a basis of content today. You can find posts a...
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hello all,For my first Mog Blog (remember 5th grade and pog!) post, I really wanted to come out with a bang. Too bad I don't have anything to really bang with except this oddly shaped little pot...I've been digging on Rufus Wainwright's newest release.... "release the stars"... Even though he could crap in a brown paper bag and I would dig that too... I still think it's fan-freekin-tastic. ...
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Do I Disappoint You |
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| 2 Going to a Town |
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| 3 Tiergarten |
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| 4 Nobody's off the Hook |
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| 5 Between My Legs |
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| 6 Rules and Regulations |
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| 7 Not Ready to Love |
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| 8 Slideshow |
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| 9 Tulsa |
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| 10 Leaving for Paris No. 2 |
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| 11 Sanssouci |
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| 12 Release the Stars |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Release the Stars")
