| Rating |
Summary |
|
| n/a by Pitchfork Media |
Such frequent attempts to elevate the banal into the meaningful ultimately keep Release the Stars from achieving any significant momentum and only add weight to the notion that Wainwright's shaky aim-- rather than his lack of talent-- might be his biggest downfall. |
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| n/a by NME |
Someone needs to tell Wainwright there's a huge difference between 'epic' and 'over-egged'. |
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| n/a by BBC |
He’s an acquired taste, perhaps, but a distinctive and extraordinarily talented songwriter. |
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| n/a by Popmatters |
Release the Stars is a coherent, sophisticated exposition of the usual Wainwright themes, but it won’t be the shooting-into-mainstream pop-rock opus Wainwright was potentially hoping for. |
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| n/a by www.stylusmagazine.com |
The results are often wonderful. |
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| n/a by www.lostatsea.net |
Release The Stars swoons and sweeps until the final curtain and Rufus Wainwright has delivered music perfectly suited for the elaborate set of the world around us. |
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| n/a by www.slantmagazine.com |
It feels more like a collection of tracks than a cohesive work. |
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| n/a by www.ew.com |
His melodies — and what melodies they are — are drowned out by the bombast. But he still yearns more beautifully than anyone. |
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| n/a by www.nowtoronto.com |
The outlandish baroque-cubed excess here, from the warbling chorales to the bleating woodwinds, weighs down track after track after track after track. |
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| n/a by uk.launch.yahoo.com |
This is so rich, so intelligent, so feeling, that most of us will throw our hands limply in the air and join voices with mum Kate McGarrigle who, according to the dedication on the back, "still whispers in my ear that I'm great". |
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| n/a by www.prefixmag.com |
The real problem with Stars is that the most poignant, affecting songs sound like natural, and somewhat neutral, follow-ups to his other songs. |
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| n/a by www.musicomh.com |
It is different in many ways, but never neglects the melodic, vocal and lyrical genius that has established, and will continue to establish, his status as one of the all time greats. |
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| n/a by www.playlouder.com |
As a whole, the album feels less definite, less driven, than the 'Want…' albums, which is both a strength and a weakness. |
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| n/a by observer.guardian.co.uk |
Complex, melodramatic, ambitious, vain, beautiful and frequently magnificent - Release the Stars may not yield many chart hits, but it feels like an album that will endure. |
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| n/a by www.hotpress.com |
It’s as warm and forgiving and generously tender a collection of songs as you’ll hear all year. |
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| n/a by www.austinchronicle.com |
[A] black hole. |
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| n/a by www.avclub.com |
It's another strong effort, but someone might have checked the orchestral excesses, which sometimes get in the way of the songs. |
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| n/a by www.villagevoice.com |
Beneath the haughty schmaltz of his fifth LP—embodying Herb Albert one moment and a particularly peach-scented Little River Band the next—there are only momentary flashes of the high-quality torch songs we fell for so long ago. |
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| n/a by www.sputnikmusic.com |
Release The Stars, if not a step forward, is at worst a side-step en route on to a knockout album. |
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| n/a by www.boston.com |
It's an ornate, dizzying affair, where all his interests and talents collide in one brazen gesture. It's impressive in scope, but where does that leave the listener? Possibly with a headache. |
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| n/a by arts.guardian.co.uk |
A wonderful album, packed with stunning melodies and brilliant lyrics. |
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| n/a by thephoenix.com |
His music always offers an emotional complexity to mirror its melodic sophistication. |
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