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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



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Release The Stars
by Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 72 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.3 out of 10
based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 72 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The singer-songwriter self-produced (with the help of Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant) this follow-up to 'Want Two.' Richard Thompson guests.

LABEL: Geffen
RELEASE DATE: 15 May 2007
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Singer-Songwriter, Rock, Indie

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
Observer Music Monthly
Complex, melodramatic, ambitious, vain, beautiful and frequently magnificent - Release the Stars may not yield many chart hits, but it feels like an album that will endure.
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100
musicOMH.com
It is different in many ways, but never neglects the melodic, vocal and lyrical genius that has established, and will continue to establish, his status as one of the all time greats.
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93
Filter
A record that leaves the listener teary-eyed, standing and utterly, breathlessly inspired. [#25, p.92]
90
Hot Press
It’s as warm and forgiving and generously tender a collection of songs as you’ll hear all year.
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90
Uncut
Possibly [his] best album. [Jun 2007, p.84]
90
Mojo
Like [Brian Wilson's] Smile, it extends the language of pop, setting a fearsome standard for anyone equal to the challenge of matching his limitless invention. [Jun 2007, p.98]
90
Dot Music
This is so rich, so intelligent, so feeling, that most of us will throw our hands limply in the air and join voices with mum Kate McGarrigle who, according to the dedication on the back, "still whispers in my ear that I'm great".
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88
Lost At Sea
Release The Stars swoons and sweeps until the final curtain and Rufus Wainwright has delivered music perfectly suited for the elaborate set of the world around us.
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83
Entertainment Weekly
His melodies — and what melodies they are — are drowned out by the bombast. But he still yearns more beautifully than anyone.
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80
The Guardian
A wonderful album, packed with stunning melodies and brilliant lyrics.
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80
BBC collective
He’s an acquired taste, perhaps, but a distinctive and extraordinarily talented songwriter.
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80
Sputnikmusic
Release The Stars, if not a step forward, is at worst a side-step en route on to a knockout album.
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75
The Phoenix
His music always offers an emotional complexity to mirror its melodic sophistication.
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75
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It's another strong effort, but someone might have checked the orchestral excesses, which sometimes get in the way of the songs.
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75
Stylus Magazine
The results are often wonderful.
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70
PopMatters
Release the Stars is a coherent, sophisticated exposition of the usual Wainwright themes, but it won’t be the shooting-into-mainstream pop-rock opus Wainwright was potentially hoping for.
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70
Spin
The songs are actually strong enough to hold the weight of the over-the-top arrangements. [Jun 2007, p.96]
70
Blender
The songs are more blustery than ever. [Jun 2007, p.108]
70
Hartford Courant
It's a glorious tangle of excess.
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70
Slant Magazine
It feels more like a collection of tracks than a cohesive work.
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70
The New York Times
Remarkably, Mr. Wainwright infuses “Release the Stars” with enough honest emotion to overcome the grandiosity, or at least undercut it a bit.
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70
Billboard
Though the final third of the album drags a touch as Wainwright lets up on the heart-pounding melodrama, the highs here are exceptional. [19 May 2007]
67
Pitchfork
Such frequent attempts to elevate the banal into the meaningful ultimately keep Release the Stars from achieving any significant momentum and only add weight to the notion that Wainwright's shaky aim-- rather than his lack of talent-- might be his biggest downfall.
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60
Prefix Magazine
The real problem with Stars is that the most poignant, affecting songs sound like natural, and somewhat neutral, follow-ups to his other songs.
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60
Rolling Stone
Only a slight improvement [over Want Two]. [14 Jun 2007, p.102]
60
All Music Guide
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.
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60
Playlouder
As a whole, the album feels less definite, less driven, than the 'Want…' albums, which is both a strength and a weakness.
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50
New Musical Express
Someone needs to tell Wainwright there's a huge difference between 'epic' and 'over-egged'.
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50
Under The Radar
Most of Stars ends up feeling like a sleight of hand; pay no attention to the lack of accessibility, but instead be distracted by the unecessarily grandiose 'I'm Not Ready to Love.' [Summer 2007, p.86]
40
Austin Chronicle
[A] black hole.
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40
Village Voice
Beneath the haughty schmaltz of his fifth LP—embodying Herb Albert one moment and a particularly peach-scented Little River Band the next—there are only momentary flashes of the high-quality torch songs we fell for so long ago.
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40
Boston Globe
It's an ornate, dizzying affair, where all his interests and talents collide in one brazen gesture. It's impressive in scope, but where does that leave the listener? Possibly with a headache.
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40
NOW Magazine
The outlandish baroque-cubed excess here, from the warbling chorales to the bleating woodwinds, weighs down track after track after track after track.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 72 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Adam W gave it a9:
Exce[tional - a real grower of an album - sounded like a bit of an albatross on first play but now I just can't get enough of it. The grandiose "Slideshow" and the exuberant "Do I Disappoint You" are standout tracks, but the tender and vulnerable "Not Ready To Love" is also exceptional. Production-wise, a shower of an album. Musically, a definite grower. Give it a chance.

S Yanoff gave it a6:
It's no Poses (his previous album, which is just excellent). There's a couple of skip-able songs on here, some go on too long, and nothing that grabs you the way Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk or Tower of Learning do. Rufus shines on the politically-charged spots (Going to a Town) and risque (Between My Legs).

matt a. gave it a6:
the results are very mixed. Slightly better than Want Two (which is his worst easily), a little bit below Want One, and not even close to the revelations that his debut and Poses were. Those albums still sound great several years later and they give me hope that maybe Rufus can get his shit together again someday (hopefully soon) and put out a complete album again.

Jim K. gave it a9:
very good album, touching and emotional.

Jason V. gave it a10:
I think music lovers so respect and revel in Rufus' music, that many of them desperately want to see him reach the level of what the media tells us is great. I'm personally glad he's not Rob Thomas, or Fergie. 40 years from, when the pop mainstream as we currently know it is lumped into a genre of the time, Rufus Wainwright will be noted as a genius and standout, who's work will continue to intrigue and inspire musicians and music lovers for generations to come. I don't think we'll be able to say the same for Maroon 5, but man they sure do know how to get on the charts!!!....who cares? Rufus is one of the greatest composers of our generation...try and enjoy it.

Nick E gave it a10:
Basically this is not a pop record; if you want a pop masterpiece out of Rufus check out "Poses". This, in the complexity and direction of the arrangements, is more reminiscent of classical music, where arrangements are an art in and of themselves. That said, the music is really lovely. My advice to anyone who didn't like this on the first pass is to listen to it for a couple of months; once all the random-sounding melodies start to gel in your mind, you might be very impressed.

Robbie C gave it a5:
Pretty much disappointing. There are definitely stand out tracks, Going To A Town is pretty awesome. But the album as a whole lacks cohesion and is much less compelling than Want Two, which was slightly less compelling than Want One. Overall, this is his worst album.

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