Sure, I’m a fan.; I have my tix for Rufus’ concert at Town Hall well in pocket and if I had the time and I had the concentration I might well include All Days Are Night: Songs For Luluamong my favorite albums of all time. I might indeed, but apparently the people who compiled Rufus Wainwright’s Vinrate: The Best Of wouldn’t even slightly agree. Only “Martha” makes it on and then only as part of the second CD Deluxe Live version. “Who Are You New York” and “Zebulon” -two of Wainwright’s greatest achievements, don’t get a look. His opera isn’t even nodded at.
I guess whoever put this album together were more in the mood for Rufus the pop star and even so, four off the game changing Poses and a whopping five off the commercial disaster (for an album whose sole reason for existing was to move the product) Out Of the Game, seems bizarrely skewered.
Vibrate is being pushed as “a collection of singles and favourite tracks from Rufus’ catalogue, handpicked by The Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and Rufus himself. Released March 3”. I’ve heard all but one of the 32 songs here, and so can you and I guess the other selling point is the live stuff, but it isn’t that much of a selling point. you want a real one? The OTHER Carnegie Hall show where he performed AllDays Are Nights, that woulda have been special. These songs? I mean, really, they are nothing special as versions go.
Rufus should have resurrected his Opera and put the best of it on Vibrate so those of us who aren’t tempted to jump into the deep end can get a taste for it anyway.
Still, while it might not add much to the rufus story, I have only one huge problem with it
Grade: B+
Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. Going to a Town (Release the Stars)
2. Out of the Game (Out of the Game)
3. Me and Liza (NEW SONG)
4. Hallelujah (Shrek)
5. Oh What A World (Want One)
6. April Fools (Rufus Wainwright)
7. Poses (Poses)
8. Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (Poses)
9. Vibrate (Want One)
10. The One You Love (Want Two)
11. I Don’t Know What It Is (Want One)
12. The Art Teacher (Want Two)
13. Go or Go Ahead (Want One)
14. Dinner At Eight (Want One)
15. Foolish Love (Rufus Wainwright)
16. Sometimes You Need (Out of the Game)
17. Grey Gardens (Poses)
18. Tiergarten (Release the Stars)
Disc: 2
1. Bitter Tears (Out of the Game)
2. The Maker Makes (from Brokeback Mountain soundtrack)
3. Across The Universe (Poses bonus track)
4. La Complainte de la Butte (from Moulin Rouge soundtrack)
5. Chelsea Hotel No.2 (bonus track on Want Two)
6. Chic and Pointless (NEW SONG, produced by Guy Chambers)
7. WW111 (physical release debut; composed with Guy Chambers)
8. Jericho (Live from the Artists’ Den, spring 2012)
9. Montauk (Live from the Artists’ Den, spring 2012)
10. If Love Were All (Live at Kenwood House, summer 2010)
11. Do It Again (Live At Kenwood House, summer 2010)
12. Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart (Live At Kenwood House, 2010)
13. Memphis Skyline (Live At Kenwood House, 2010)
14. Martha (Live at Kenwood House, 2010)
15. One Man Guy (Live at KCRW, June 2001)
16. Jo Whiley BBC interview (Royal Opera House, July 2011)