When Rufus Wainwright released Want One last year, he promised that its sequel would feature more "operatic weird stuff" than its predecessor. That promise would make more sense if operatic weird stuff didn't already play a major role in his music. Wainwright's poppiest songs come laden with concert-hall adornments, and when he strips down his arrangements, his voice still provides a reminder that he owes as much to the classical world as to his father's folk tradition. Taken largely from the sessions that produced Want One, Want Two isn't quite the experimental diversion his comments suggested, but it does set itself apart as its own kind of album.
