CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Music

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

55 3 Doors Down
69 9th Wonder & Buckshot
69 Adele
70 Adem
75 Alkaline Trio
78 Animal Collective
64 Anti-Flag
69 The Apples In Stereo
54 Ashanti
69 Atmosphere
67 The Black Angels
77 The Black Keys
83 Bonnie "Prince" Billy
75 Boris
71 Billy Bragg
74 The Breeders
47 The Brian Jonestown Massacre
83 Bun B
64 T Bone Burnett
65 Mariah Carey
87 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
68 The Charlatans
68 Clinic
72 Coldplay
78 The Constantines
79 The Cool Kids
78 Elvis Costello & The Impostors
60 The Courteeners
79 Cut Copy
53 Craig David
73 Death Cab For Cutie
47 Def Leppard
61 Gavin DeGraw
66 dEUS
79 Neil Diamond
63 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
59 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
73 Dresden Dolls
69 Dub Pistols
71 Duffy
68 The Duke Spirit
81 Jakob Dylan
79 Earlimart
70 Ecstatic Sunshine
65 El Perro del Mar
82 Elbow
85 Alejandro Escovedo
73 Estelle
72 The Explorers Club
79 The Fall
54 Feeder
72 Firewater
77 Tim Fite
88 Fleet Foxes
79 Flight Of The Conchords
74 Foals
79 Robert Forster
75 Four Tet
47 Foxy Brown
64 The Fratellis
59 Free Kitten
71 French Kicks
79 Frightened Rabbit
73 The Futureheads
68 The Gossip
81 Al Green
51 G-Unit
72 Ed Harcourt
79 Emmylou Harris
82 HEALTH
59 Heloise And The Savoir Faire
85 Hercules And Love Affair
77 John Hiatt
65 Vanessa Hudgens
77 James Hunter
70 Islands
69 Jewel
79 Joan As Police Woman
71 Joan Of Arc
58 Scarlett Johansson
69 John & Jehn
59 Judas Priest
75 Kidz In The Hall
71 Fern Knight
65 The Kooks
69 Lady Antebellum
74 Ladytron
65 Langhorne Slim
77 The Last Shadow Puppets
67 Cyndi Lauper
66 Les Savy Fav
64 Leona Lewis
72 Jamie Lidell
71 Lil Mama
83 Lil Wayne
72 Local H
73 The Long Blondes
80 Los Campesinos!
45 Los Lonely Boys
66 Lyrics Born
69 M83
65 Madonna
74 Man Man
79 Aimee Mann
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
67 Mates Of State
79 Matmos
80 James McMurtry
70 Colin Meloy
71 Midnight Juggernauts
65 Kylie Minogue
63 Moby
63 Alanis Morissette
69 Van Morrison
57 Motley Crue
66 Jason Mraz
74 The M's
79 Mudcrutch
77 Mudhoney
49 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
64 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
76 The Night Marchers
66 Nine Inch Nails
77 Nine Inch Nails
78 No Age
80 Jim Noir
76 The Notwist
54 The Offspring
72 Old 97's
87 Opeth
59 The Orb
62 James Pants
48 Katy Perry
71 Phantom Planet
84 Sam Phillips
56 The Pigeon Detectives
72 Plies
69 Robert Pollard
83 Ponytail
85 Portishead
65 The Proclaimers
75 Prodigy [of Mobb Deep]
71 Pyramids
79 R.E.M.
48 The Rascals
86 Robyn
72 The Rolling Stones
79 The Roots
48 Gavin Rossdale
72 Russian Circles
66 RZA
76 Santogold
86 Shearwater
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
60 Carly Simon
62 Ashlee Simpson
76 Sloan
73 Sam Sparro
77 Spiritualized
89 Steinski
75 Subtle
66 Donna Summer
81 Sun Kil Moon
66 Supergrass
71 The Sword
61 Tapes 'n Tapes
64 Three 6 Mafia
76 Thrice
76 Tilly And The Wall
64 The Ting Tings
51 Tokio Hotel
67 Tokyo Police Club
65 Usher
76 Vetiver
69 The Virgins
76 Martha Wainwright
75 Was (Not Was)
67 The Watson Twins
64 We Are Scientists
65 The Wedding Present
64 Weezer
76 White Denim
81 Cassandra Wilson
88 Dennis Wilson
61 Steve Winwood
78 Wolf Parade
63 The Zutons

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Want One
by Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 72 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.0 out of 10
based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 41 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The Canadian singer-songwriter worked with producer Marius deVries (Björk, Massive Attack) for this third LP, which is actually the first half of what was originally planned as a double album ('Want Two' will instead arrive next year).

LABEL: DreamWorks
RELEASE DATE: 23 September 2003
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Singer-Songwriter, Adult Alternative

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...

91
Entertainment Weekly
If Sondheim had been reared on old Van Dyke Parks records, he might sound like this. [26 Sep 2003, p.94]
90
Q Magazine
The musical scope is breathtaking. [Dec 2003, p.139]
90
Uncut
Takes his lush, orchestrated pop to staggering new heights. [Nov 2003, p.124]
90
Rolling Stone
This is a record of breathtaking, eccentric opulence.
Read Full Review
83
E! Online
More scattered than his past works, Wainwright's skills bubble to the surface here only after repeated listens.
Read Full Review
80
Neumu.net
Whether you listen closely, for the sonic textures, or in a cursory fashion, scouting out the allusions galore, with each listen you'll likely appreciate something different.
Read Full Review
80
Village Voice
Painful as the backstory gets, the work itself remains lovely and luxuriant.
Read Full Review
80
Mojo
Despite such flamboyant touches, the songs here are more caustic than camp. [Oct 2003, p.120]
80
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Want One blows his music up to Cinemascope size.
Read Full Review
80
PopMatters
It's a staggeringly ambitious album with an emotional complexity the like of which is rarely seen in pop music of any era, never mind this one.
Read Full Review
70
Launch.com
Rufus is self-effacing and clever enough to keep the music from becoming totally insipid.
Read Full Review
70
New York Magazine
Wainwright’s powers of observation recall both Morrissey and Cole Porter.
Read Full Review
69
Pitchfork
A top-heavy album, with his best material-- the more operatic and unconstrained works-- all unfolded within the album's first half hour.
Read Full Review
60
Flak Magazine
Want One matches the eclecticism of Poses and his eponymous debut, but suffers from a lack of memorable songs.
Read Full Review
50
All Music Guide
Unlike his previous two releases, Wainwright's musings seem less focused and a little meandering on a handful of the songs.
Read Full Review
42
Spin
The arrangements are so ponderous, the vowel-masticating vocal languor so excessive, you almost wish he'd go whole hog and cover "Ave Maria." [Nov 2003, p.117]
40
Blender
He lays it on so thick, the music all but drowns in pretty surfaces. [Oct 2003, p.129]
40
Austin Chronicle
It would seem Wainwright has traded his operatic sensibilities for Broadway flair, which is as tired as swapping stilettos for orthopedic loafers.
Read Full Review
37
Stylus Magazine
All but a couple of tracks here are dipped in the melodramatically thick strings of the opener- and the sum result is that it’s almost too much to take the whole LP in one sitting.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 41 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Robbie C gave it a10:
Grandiose, tragic, dramatic, beautiful, and HONEST. A wonderful achievement.

Joe G gave it a10:
I consider Want One to be a work of genius. Although I'm not a big fan of the Marius de Vries style, the lush production on many tracks does justice to the many inspired musical ideas. In summary, a highly engaging and stimulating listen, although possibly a little too sophisticated for many.

Jerry B gave it a 10:
A true orignal, and I believe this is the strongest CD from him so far. In this day and age of so much god awful crap out there, it is always welcome to have Rufus crooning and swooning through a collection of obscenly lush and beautiful songs. I wish there were more of this type of unashamedly gorgeous music for me to consume. MMMMM

Jack gave it a 10:
The cunning sample of Ravel's Bolero in the opening track is worth the "10" alone!

Billy Bob gave it a 10:
I've never heard anything remotely like this. Gets better at every listening with great richness, complexity and balls! It would sound sensational under the influence of non-prescription substances.

Maria THE FACE gave it a 9:
I really, really, really loved this CD when I first got it. It was a my introduction to Rufus, and I swear from the first song I was hooked. I later bought his other two CDs and found they were just a fabulous :D . I think all the critism of Want One is justified, and I agree that his earlier has more "energy". However, this Cd is still loads better than some of the other options out there in music land. Keep on belting it out Rufus :D!!!

Danielle F gave it a 10:
Rufus Wainwright takes each album to new, untouched territory. When you think he has hit his peak, he comes out with a new album as if to declare "I'm not done yet, honey". Fantastic is the only word to describe the sheer magnificence of this album. A lesser artist would have made these words seem over the top and overly dramatic (assuming a lesser artist could write lyrics as thought provoking as these) but Rufus sings with such an honest quality in his voice you can't help but believe what he says, and hope he eventually finds the one he wants.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: World News | Fantasy Football | Amy Winehouse | Baseball | E3 | Batman | Firefox 3 | iPhone 3G

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use