Poses [Import]

Rufus Wainwright | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 5, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Dreamworks UK
• ASIN: B00005IBGQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,389 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk

2. Greek Song

3. Poses

4. Shadows

5. California

6. The Tower Of Learning

7. Grey Gardens

8. Rebel Prince

9. The Consort

10. One Man Guy

11. Evil Angel

12. In A Graveyard

13. Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk (reprise)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Retaining Mystique While Facing Forward..., September 14, 2004

By 

Florestan "Florestan" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poses [Bonus Track] (Audio CD)

I remember hearing much buzz around Rufus upon the release of his self-titled first album. Ever mindful that there is also much buzz around swarms of killer bees and felonious haircuts, I stayed away. Hearing Rufus himself would have to wait until I stumbled upon "Complainte de la Butte" off the "Moulin Rouge!" soundtrack... not his song, but a distinct improvement over any interpretation I had heard previously. "Hosanna in the highest," thought I, "the buzzards actually got something right!"

What to do? As I wallowed in willful blindness, this guy cut three (four if one adds the unreleased "Want Two" to the tally) albums, and I soon realized I was not in Kansas anymore. Since I lack the requisite footwear to click my heels three times and hope for the best, I bought all three albums and hoped for the best. "Poses" was first in queue. I wish I could ascribe musicologically cosmic motives to my choice. Alas and alack, I applied the far more banal "what's the first song called?" test. Then, as now, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" seemed to me a more appealing prospect than "Foolish Love," if for no other reason than that I enjoy the former and have seen my share of the latter.

Fortunately, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" happens to be a strikingly original and genially self-effacing paean to overindulgence. This theme is captured both in the lyrics and the music, which deviates from "spare" in virtually every respect. Rufus keeps this "singing shall set me free" lens focused squarely on himself throughout the album, including a brilliant exercise in double-entendre by covering his father's "One Man Guy." He seems completely at ease ignoring the precepts by which commercial music is ordained as such, though his radio-friendly "California" dispels any doubt that this tendency is a function of choice rather than necessity. His greatest achievement on this album (and I soon found on others) is promulgating an effective species of songwriting bereft of slavish reliance to melodic symmetry, harmonically conclusive phrases, and uncluttered instrumental textures. His genious is not in eschewing these practices but rather in supplementing them with musical devices all his own.

One minor gripe is that Rufus's pronunciation seems at times needlessly mannered. I too lived in Montreal over an extended period, yet his categorical refusal to sustain a note over the long vowel sound "ee" still perplexes me (or should I say "may"). Recently, a learned friend of mine explained that this phenomenon is known as "diphthong" problem in formal singing parlance. I'm reluctant to even mention a "diphthong problem" because it sounds like a case for a urologist. A quick skim of the liner notes confirms that a urologist is one thing this boy most definitely does not need. But I digress.

Rufus Wainwright communicates the plight of the forlorn and the foolish through decidedly non-formulaic musical language. His lyrics frankly address his homosexuality. In an ideal world, these characteristics would be virtues, or at least non-issues, rather than liabilities. Since we're saddled with the world we live in now, I doubt that Rufus Wainwright will soundly connect with the majority of the listening public. The goal of universal appeal seems as dubious as it is quixotic, especially since Earth does not want for people exhibiting deplorable tastes in all matters aesthetic (to wit, boy-bands, Capri pants and White House denizens). There are far too many variables of the nature versus nurture variety to predict exactly who will enjoy this music. Rufus counts among his fans the the old and young, the enlightened and the daft, the boys and the girls (who may like boys, girls, neither or both). In short, it's pretty damned confusing. If you find yourself among the chosen few who latch onto the Rufus train, this album's got smoking wheels, and will lead you to a lovelier place.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little bit heiress, a little bit Irish, November 28, 2004

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Poses [Bonus Track] (Audio CD)

The second album from Rufus Wainwright was a quantum leap from the disjointed debut. The songs on "Poses" fit seamlessly next to each other, giving this Cd the feel of a conceptual whole. Rufus took the effort to hone in on his strengths here, and it makes "Poses" a far more rewarding listen.

As he chronicles on the opening "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," overindulgence often gets the better of him. It's a familiar terrain for this disc, be it the dark cloud that hovers over the peppy "California" or the confused soul at the heart of "Rebel Prince." Rufus' character studies (which are wonderfully realized on both of his "Want" albums) reached the levels of his parents' best work here. Perhaps the most profound example of this is the melancholic title song, tracking the general shallow disdain of the too-chic-for-their-own-good urban hipsters. (As other reviewers have noted, it made a perfect coda to an episode of "Queer As Folk's" second season.)

"I did go from wanting to be someone
now I'm drunk and wearing flip flops on fifth avenue.
Once you've fallen from classical virtue
won't have a soul for to wake up and hold you."

It's a fate that Rufus allegedly fell into between this disc and "Want One," but he made the trap sound so sweet and inviting. His voice gained expressiveness for "Poses," even if it meant losing some of the boyish clarity of the debut, it has also made him a more emotive singer (and continued to grow in ability after this CD). Rufus Wainwright may have made a lot of changes for "Poses," but he kept his uniqueness. In an age of cookie cutter pop and writing, that is the greatest virtue of them all.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rufus Wainwright's Brilliant Journey of Self Discovery, June 13, 2001

By 

cdset "cdset" (Saylorsburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poses (Audio CD)

"Poses" continues Rufus Wainwright's brilliant and insightful journey of self discovery that he began in his compelling debut CD. While, on the first CD, he saw the world through an aching, burning romantic haze with an almost unbearable intensity, "Poses" mutes that intensity just like adulthood tones down youthful passions and replaces them with realistic insight as to how the world truly functions.

"Cigarettes and Choclate Milk" is the perfect song with which to frame this journey. It is precisely the "cravings" mentioned in the song that lead him to the heartbreak and emptiness that he so poignantly expresses in the remainder of the tunes on the CD. "I suggest reading of a 'lesson in tightropes' or 'Adios Kansas', he cries, as the world he has seen on his journey is not what he expected or wanted.

The song "Poses" beautifully articulates the emptiness he feels in the world in which he has found himself. "I did go from wanting to be someone...now I'm drunk and wearing flip flops on Fifth Avenue..." In "Shadows" he laments, "I could be a great star..I'm far from happy."

Although his romantic spirit has been dampened by the harshness of the world, he has not lost it entirely. Deep down inside he knows that love is the "copious prize". "The sights of Paris pale inside your iris..I saw it in your eyes what I'm looking for..," he croons in "The Tower of Learning"- sentiments as unabashedly romantic as any lyrics on his debut CD.

"One man Guy" serves a double purpose. This beautiful folkish melody written by his father illustrates the self reliance he was forced to learn all through his journey, but it also reinforces the romantic ideal that he truly has not lost.

Rufus Wainwright is undoubtedly one of the most gifted musical artists of his generation, and this extraordinary CD, with its lush musical arrangements and penetrating, reflective lyrics just serves to confirm this. I think he has only just begun to mine his enormous talent.