#9: Rufus Wainwright - 'Want Two'

The more arty second half to last year’s Want One lacks much of that album’s catchiness, but makes up for it with a refreshing propensity for indulgent excess. “Gay Messiah”, for instance, contains lyrics nearly as provocative as its title suggests (in the unlikely event that the song ever becomes popular, Wainwright will be spending a lot of time reading hate mail from right-wing nuts). Overall, the arrangements on Want Two favor the operatic flourishes of its predecessor, countered occasionally by intimate piano-driven moments. Paper-thin ideas like “Old Whore’s Diet” overstay their welcome (by several minutes in that case), but it’s hard not to admire Wainwright’s ambition, which is to be an interesting recording artist rather than the next adult-contemporary cheese monkey.