Release the Stars
Encyclopedia
Release the Stars is the fifth studio album
by Canadian-American
singer-songwriter
Rufus Wainwright
, released through Geffen Records
on May 15, 2007. Pet Shop Boys
' Neil Tennant
was the executive in charge of production
, and the album was mixed
by producers
Marius de Vries
and Andy Bradfield. Wainwright's most commercially successful album to date, Release the Stars charted in 12 countries, reaching Top 10 positions in Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom, and was certified
gold in Canada and the UK. The album generated three singles
: "Going to a Town
", which peaked at number 54 on the UK Singles Chart
, "Rules and Regulations
", and "Tiergarten
".
Wainwright originally planned to create a more simple piano and voice album, but began leaning towards more lush sounds once the recording process started. Guests on Release the Stars include Richard Thompson, longtime friend and fellow singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson
, family members Martha Wainwright
and Kate McGarrigle
, Neil Tennant, Joan Wasser
, and actress Siân Phillips
. The world tour supporting the album lasted from May 2007 to February 2008, and included tour stops in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. For Release the Stars, Wainwright received two nominations for the Juno Awards of 2008
, including Adult Alternative Album of the Year
and Songwriter of the Year
, and won the Outstanding Music Artist award at the 19th GLAAD Media Awards.
s Nick Duerden. That was, however, until he visited Berlin
, which influenced the album's lush sound. Wainwright declared, "Basically, a huge wave of German Romanticism descended on the recording process, and almost drowned me." Wainwright cited two reasons for the change in direction and the heightened dramatic flare: the cancer
diagnosis received by his mother (folk music
ian Kate McGarrigle
) during the album's genesis, which he found "fueled his creative intensity in some kind of displaced attempt to get her well", and the New York Metropolitan Opera
's commissioning Wainwright to write an opera
, making Release the Stars a way of training for such a large project. Revealing the overall theme in January 2007, Wainwright declared the album was about opening up and following impulses. "Whether it's the environment, politics or religious warfare", Wainwright stated in an interview with The Japan Times
, "it's time to get out there and be a part of the solution, whatever that is."
For his "incredible take on what popular music means in today's world", Wainwright recruited Neil Tennant
to advise him, act as executive producer of the album, and assist with the editing process. Parts of the album were recorded at Second Story and Legacy in New York City, Brooklyn Recording in Brooklyn, Saal 4 in Berlin, and Strongroom and Angel Studios
in London. Wainwright had his sister Martha Wainwright
, half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche
, and mother Kate McGarrigle
appear on the album, along with father and son musicians Richard Thompson and Teddy Thompson
. Marius de Vries
, who produced both of Wainwright's previous albums (Want One
and Want Two
), worked on the album, as did longtime band members Jeff Hill, Jack Petruzelli, and Matt Johnson.
" was released as a single in digital format
on April 3, 2007 in the United States. The track was later released via digital distribution in the UK on May 7, including "Low Grade Happiness" as a B-side
on iTunes
. "Going to a Town" entered the UK Singles Chart
on May 19, 2007 at number 68. The following week (May 26), the track reached its highest position at number 54. "Going to a Town" lasted on the chart for two weeks in total, and failed to chart in other countries. The music video
for the song was directed by Sophie Muller
. The video premiered in April 2007, and Logo
aired a 20-minute feature on the making of the video on April 27, 2007 (Making the Video: Going to a Town).
The album's second single, "Rules and Regulations
", was released digitally in the UK on July 30, 2007. The song failed to chart. Petro Papahadjopoulos directed the music video for "Rules and Regulations", which features a group of men performing a choreographed dance around a long john
-wearing Wainwright inside a London mansion.
Released in October 2007, "Tiergarten
" was the third single from Release the Stars. A limited edition (500 copies) 12-inch single
containing "Supermayer Lost in Tiergarten" was released on October 27. A one-track EP
containing the Supermayer remix was released in the UK via iTunes and 7digital
on October 29. Both the album version and remix of "Tiergarten" failed to chart.
", the album's lead single, was considered by Uncut
s John Mulvey to be among the angriest lyrics Wainwright has written, an "indictment of the country of his birth that hinges on the refrain, 'I'm so tired of you America'". The political track, which Wainwright claimed that he wrote in just five minutes on the eve of his departure for Berlin, confronts the Bush administration's perceived damage to the U.S. in the form of a love song. It was his discontent with America at the time that lead Wainwright to spend some time recording the album in Berlin. "Tiergarten
", named after a large park in Berlin of the same name
, is a song about Wainwright's German boyfriend, Jörn Weisbrodt. While recording parts of Release the Stars in Berlin, the couple visited the park often.
"Nobody's Off the Hook" is written about the singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson
, a longtime friend of Wainwright's. Citing Mozart
, Beethoven
, Schubert
and Mahler
as influences, Wainwright stated the string arrangements were his first attempt at writing chamber music. "Between My Legs", which Wainwright wrote about a "boy [he] was infatuated with named Tommy Hotpants", is a "fantasy about being able to save your object of desire when the apocalypse comes, and bring him to some sort of hidden paradise". The last 30 seconds of the song contains the opening notes of the title song
from Andrew Lloyd Webber
's musical, The Phantom of the Opera
, along with a dramatic spoken word
part by Siân Phillips
. According to Wainwright, "Rules and Regulations
" was originally written as a slow ballad
for Robert Wilson
, and is about the perspective of "someone who looks at athletes, but who is not an athlete". "Not Ready to Love" is Wainwright's "surrender to the whole idea of being loved and being able to maintain a relationship".
"Slideshow" is about Michael Cavadias, a friend that Wainwright took to Australia for a Leonard Cohen
tribute concert, who failed to include Wainwright in the computer slide show he put together. Wainwright wrote "Tulsa" after meeting The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers
at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma
. After reuniting with Flowers at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival
in England, Wainwright said of their encounter that Flowers was "very flattered" and "somewhat bashful".
"Leaving for Paris N° 2", previously released as "Leaving for Paris" on a bonus CD for Want One in France, differs from the first version with the addition of a second verse along with added instrumental effects. In an April 2007 interview with Scotland on Sunday
, Wainwright revealed the inspiration for both "Do I Disappoint You" and "Leaving for Paris N° 2":
Wainwright later stated that the musical was Moulin Rouge!
:
"Sanssouci
" was inspired by 18th century Prussian monarch Frederick the Great
's Rococo
summer palace
outside Berlin. Wainwright has said the song is about the discrepancy between expectations from success and its reality. "Release the Stars", the title track and album closer, has a "brassy Broadway swagger". The song's lyrical inspiration comes from Lorca Cohen, Leonard's daughter, "missing the New York show" (referring to one of the Judy Garland tribute concerts Wainwright performed in June 2006 at Carnegie Hall
).
The images on the front cover, back cover, and liner notes
of the album are from the gigantomachy
frieze at the Pergamon Altar
in Berlin. The photos were taken by Wainwright. Insert photographs of Wainwright, the altar, the bushes, and the long path were taken by Sam Taylor Wood, Wainwright, Lucy Roche, and Jörn Weisbrodt. In the liner notes, Wainwright gives "special thanks to all [his] family and friends".
Throughout much of the tour, fans could audition to join Wainwright on stage and perform their own rendition of Siân Phillips
' spoken word
part in "Between My Legs". Candidates posted their audition videos on YouTube
, and a winning act was chosen for each concert. Photos of "Between My Legs" contest winners performing on stage with Wainwright were posted on his official MySpace
site. The last stop of the tour was on February 14 (Valentine's Day
), 2008 at Radio City Music Hall
in NYC.
, Alexis Petridis wrote that Release the Stars "is, by anyone's standards, a wonderful album, packed with stunning melodies and brilliant lyrics". Billboard
magazine's Susan Visakowitz described the album as Wainwright's "most unabashedly flamboyant record yet", with "larger-than-life melodies wrapped in swelling strings and surging horns and buoyed by the singer's typical swoon-inducing, caramel-covered tenor". The Observer
s Stephanie Merritt called the album "complex, melodramatic, ambitious, vain, beautiful and frequently magnificent". While she wrote that Release the Stars may not yield many chart hits, Merritt claimed "it feels like an album that will endure". Music journalist Robert Christgau
complimented the album, observing, "To prove he can, [Wainwright] sets just one of this career-topping aggregation of florid melodies to electric guitars, and damn my heterosexual ears for liking it best". Caitlin Moran of The Times
declared, "The stars will be released, in batches of fours and fives, in every review". Referring to Sanssouci, the former summer palace of Frederick the Great and inspiration for the song of the same name, Uncut
contributor John Mulvey wrote, "If he keeps making albums as good as this, we should wall him up in there forever".
However, the album did receive some criticism, mostly pertaining to its overly lavish and decadent style. Regarding Wainwright's attempt at creating radio-friendly music, Petridis claimed that Wainwright "doesn't seem to be trying at all" by employing Neil Tennant (a musician also known for grandiloquence) as executive producer of the album and including extravagant orchestrations. He wrote, "every time Wainwright seems on the verge of making a straightforward appeal for the mainstream, he throws a glittery spanner in the works". He noted the exotic instruments used in "Do I Disappoint You": "It's a marvelous song, but it's lavishly decorated with thundering timpani, fluttering woodwind, pizzicato strings and brass." Petridis questions, "Is this really the way he proposes to win over the punters who pick up two albums a year?" In her review for NME
, Priya Elan wrote, "Someone needs to tell Wainwright there's a huge difference between 'epic' and 'over-egged'". Entertainment Weekly
s Gregory Kirschling stated that Release the Stars was "adorned with more strings, horns, choirs, and piccolo flute (!) than ever, his melodies — and what melodies they are — are drowned out by the bombast", citing "Nobody's Off the Hook" as an example. "But", Kirschling stated, "he still yearns more beautifully than anyone".
Best Buy
bonus tracks via download card:
iTunes pre-order bonus track
UK version bonus track
Deluxe version contains a bonus DVD with album commentary and live performances of "The Art Teacher", "Rebel Prince", "Gay Messiah" and "Vibrate".
Wal-Mart
online bonus track
, Wainwright's highest debut chart position as of 2009, selling about 24,000 copies in its first week. The album also achieved Wainwright's highest chart position on the UK Albums Chart
, debuting at number 2 with sales approaching 30,000 in the first week. Overall, Release the Stars charted in 12 countries, reaching Top 10 positions in Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The album was certified
gold in both Canada and the UK.
, including Adult Alternative Album of the Year
and Songwriter of the Year
for "Going to a Town
", "Release the Stars", and "Do I Disappoint You". Wainwright won the Outstanding Music Artist award at the 19th GLAAD Media Awards, an awards ceremony created by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor LGBT representation in mainstream media
. At the same ceremony, Wainwright was presented with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, an honor given to an openly gay member of the entertainment or media community for his or her work toward eliminating homophobia
.
The following table displays some of the 2007 "End of Year" list placements by various publications:
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Canadian-American
Canadian-American
A Canadian American is someone who was born or someone who grew up in Canada then moved to the United States. The term is particularly apt when applied or self-applied to people with strong ties to Canada, such as those who have lived a significant portion of their lives in, or were educated in,...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
, released through Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
on May 15, 2007. Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
' Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
was the executive in charge of production
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
, and the album was mixed
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
by producers
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Marius de Vries
Marius de Vries
Marius Van Wyk de Vries is an English music producer and composer. He has been behind some of the key albums and soundtracks of recent times, gathering five Grammy nominations, two BAFTAs, and an Ivor Novello award along the way.-Music Producer:...
and Andy Bradfield. Wainwright's most commercially successful album to date, Release the Stars charted in 12 countries, reaching Top 10 positions in Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom, and was certified
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
gold in Canada and the UK. The album generated three singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
: "Going to a Town
Going to a Town
"Going to a Town" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the first single from the album, Release the Stars, released on April 3, 2007 in the United States and on May 7 in the United Kingdom....
", which peaked at number 54 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, "Rules and Regulations
Rules and Regulations (song)
"Rules and Regulations" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the second single from Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars, released digitally via iTunes in the UK on July 30, 2007....
", and "Tiergarten
Tiergarten (song)
"Tiergarten" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Released in October 2007, it was the third single from Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars. A limited edition 12" vinyl single containing "Supermayer Lost in Tiergarten" was...
".
Wainwright originally planned to create a more simple piano and voice album, but began leaning towards more lush sounds once the recording process started. Guests on Release the Stars include Richard Thompson, longtime friend and fellow singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson is a British folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk-rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson...
, family members Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American folk-rock singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of American folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle...
and Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle, CM was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle....
, Neil Tennant, Joan Wasser
Joan Wasser
Joan Wasser is a violinist and singer/songwriter in the indie rock world. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders. She has released three albums as a singer songwriter, the 2006 Real Life the 2008 To Survive and the 2011 The Deep Field...
, and actress Siân Phillips
Siân Phillips
Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
. The world tour supporting the album lasted from May 2007 to February 2008, and included tour stops in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. For Release the Stars, Wainwright received two nominations for the Juno Awards of 2008
Juno Awards of 2008
The Juno Awards of 2008 were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on the weekend ending 6 April 2008. These ceremonies honoured music industry achievements in Canada in the latter part of 2006 and in most of 2007....
, including Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year
The Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year has been awarded since 2005, as recognition each year for the best alternative album in Canada.-Adult Alternative Album of the Year :*2005 - Sarah Harmer, All of Our Names...
and Songwriter of the Year
Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year
The Juno Award for "Songwriter of the Year" has been awarded since 1971, as recognition each year for the best songwriter in Canada. It was also known as the Juno Award for "Composer of the Year" from 1975 to 1990.-Best Songwriter :...
, and won the Outstanding Music Artist award at the 19th GLAAD Media Awards.
Conception and development
"Initially, this was simply going to be an album of piano and voice", Wainwright stated in a May 2007 interview with The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
s Nick Duerden. That was, however, until he visited Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, which influenced the album's lush sound. Wainwright declared, "Basically, a huge wave of German Romanticism descended on the recording process, and almost drowned me." Wainwright cited two reasons for the change in direction and the heightened dramatic flare: the cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
diagnosis received by his mother (folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ian Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle, CM was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle....
) during the album's genesis, which he found "fueled his creative intensity in some kind of displaced attempt to get her well", and the New York Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
's commissioning Wainwright to write an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, making Release the Stars a way of training for such a large project. Revealing the overall theme in January 2007, Wainwright declared the album was about opening up and following impulses. "Whether it's the environment, politics or religious warfare", Wainwright stated in an interview with The Japan Times
The Japan Times
The Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
, "it's time to get out there and be a part of the solution, whatever that is."
For his "incredible take on what popular music means in today's world", Wainwright recruited Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
to advise him, act as executive producer of the album, and assist with the editing process. Parts of the album were recorded at Second Story and Legacy in New York City, Brooklyn Recording in Brooklyn, Saal 4 in Berlin, and Strongroom and Angel Studios
Angel Studios
Angel Studios is a commercial recording studio located on the corner of Upper Street and Gaskin Street Islington, London, England.The three-studio complex is in The Angel, a renovated United Reform Church. Some internal features of the church remain in the studio, such as the original Victorian...
in London. Wainwright had his sister Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American folk-rock singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of American folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle...
, half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche
Lucy Wainwright Roche
Lucy Wainwright Roche is an American singer-songwriter, and the daughter of musicians, Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche. Preceded by two EPs, 8 Songs and 8 More, Roche released her debut album, Lucy in October 2010....
, and mother Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle, CM was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle....
appear on the album, along with father and son musicians Richard Thompson and Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson is a British folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk-rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson...
. Marius de Vries
Marius de Vries
Marius Van Wyk de Vries is an English music producer and composer. He has been behind some of the key albums and soundtracks of recent times, gathering five Grammy nominations, two BAFTAs, and an Ivor Novello award along the way.-Music Producer:...
, who produced both of Wainwright's previous albums (Want One
Want One
Want One is the third studio album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through DreamWorks Records on September 23, 2003. The album was produced by Marius de Vries and mixed by Andy Bradfield, with Lenny Waronker as the executive in charge of production...
and Want Two
Want Two
Want Two is the fourth album by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The album was released on November 16, 2004. Four of the tracks on this album were released in the summer of 2004 as the EP Waiting for a Want on the iTunes music store.Want Two is, according to Wainwright, the...
), worked on the album, as did longtime band members Jeff Hill, Jack Petruzelli, and Matt Johnson.
Singles
"Going to a TownGoing to a Town
"Going to a Town" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the first single from the album, Release the Stars, released on April 3, 2007 in the United States and on May 7 in the United Kingdom....
" was released as a single in digital format
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on April 3, 2007 in the United States. The track was later released via digital distribution in the UK on May 7, including "Low Grade Happiness" as a B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. "Going to a Town" entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
on May 19, 2007 at number 68. The following week (May 26), the track reached its highest position at number 54. "Going to a Town" lasted on the chart for two weeks in total, and failed to chart in other countries. The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song was directed by Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller is a British music video director, noted for her long-time collaborations with artists like Sophie Ellis-Bextor, No Doubt, Sade, Shakira, Shakespears Sister, Garbage, Blur, Annie Lennox and Eurythmics.-Background:...
. The video premiered in April 2007, and Logo
Logo (TV channel)
Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
aired a 20-minute feature on the making of the video on April 27, 2007 (Making the Video: Going to a Town).
The album's second single, "Rules and Regulations
Rules and Regulations (song)
"Rules and Regulations" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the second single from Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars, released digitally via iTunes in the UK on July 30, 2007....
", was released digitally in the UK on July 30, 2007. The song failed to chart. Petro Papahadjopoulos directed the music video for "Rules and Regulations", which features a group of men performing a choreographed dance around a long john
Long underwear
Long underwear, also called long johns, Granny pantys, or thermal underwear, is a style of two-piece underwear with long legs and long sleeves that is normally worn during cold weather. It offers an advantage over the one-piece union suit in that the wearer can choose to wear either the top,...
-wearing Wainwright inside a London mansion.
Released in October 2007, "Tiergarten
Tiergarten (song)
"Tiergarten" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Released in October 2007, it was the third single from Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars. A limited edition 12" vinyl single containing "Supermayer Lost in Tiergarten" was...
" was the third single from Release the Stars. A limited edition (500 copies) 12-inch single
12-inch single
The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
containing "Supermayer Lost in Tiergarten" was released on October 27. A one-track EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
containing the Supermayer remix was released in the UK via iTunes and 7digital
7digital
7digital is a privately held digital media delivery company based in the United Kingdom, offering downloadable music, video and movies to customers primarily within major European markets...
on October 29. Both the album version and remix of "Tiergarten" failed to chart.
Songs and themes
"Do I Disappoint You", the album's opener, "sees [Wainwright] present a withering defense of his own human frailties, while one orchestral battalion after another mount their attacks and Martha Wainwright summons 'CHAOS!' and 'DESTRUCTION!' like a marauding Fury". "Going to a TownGoing to a Town
"Going to a Town" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the first single from the album, Release the Stars, released on April 3, 2007 in the United States and on May 7 in the United Kingdom....
", the album's lead single, was considered by Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
s John Mulvey to be among the angriest lyrics Wainwright has written, an "indictment of the country of his birth that hinges on the refrain, 'I'm so tired of you America'". The political track, which Wainwright claimed that he wrote in just five minutes on the eve of his departure for Berlin, confronts the Bush administration's perceived damage to the U.S. in the form of a love song. It was his discontent with America at the time that lead Wainwright to spend some time recording the album in Berlin. "Tiergarten
Tiergarten (song)
"Tiergarten" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Released in October 2007, it was the third single from Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars. A limited edition 12" vinyl single containing "Supermayer Lost in Tiergarten" was...
", named after a large park in Berlin of the same name
Tiergarten
Tiergarten is a locality within the borough of Mitte, in central Berlin . Notable for the great and homonymous urban park, before German reunification, it was a part of West Berlin...
, is a song about Wainwright's German boyfriend, Jörn Weisbrodt. While recording parts of Release the Stars in Berlin, the couple visited the park often.
"Nobody's Off the Hook" is written about the singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson is a British folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk-rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson...
, a longtime friend of Wainwright's. Citing Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
and Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
as influences, Wainwright stated the string arrangements were his first attempt at writing chamber music. "Between My Legs", which Wainwright wrote about a "boy [he] was infatuated with named Tommy Hotpants", is a "fantasy about being able to save your object of desire when the apocalypse comes, and bring him to some sort of hidden paradise". The last 30 seconds of the song contains the opening notes of the title song
The Phantom of the Opera (song)
"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the stage musical of the same name, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, sung by Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt...
from Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's musical, The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
, along with a dramatic spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
part by Siân Phillips
Siân Phillips
Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
. According to Wainwright, "Rules and Regulations
Rules and Regulations (song)
"Rules and Regulations" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the second single from Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars, released digitally via iTunes in the UK on July 30, 2007....
" was originally written as a slow ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
for Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson (director)
Robert Wilson is an American avant-garde stage director and playwright who has been called "[America]'s — or even the world's — foremost vanguard 'theater artist'". Over the course of his wide-ranging career, he has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video...
, and is about the perspective of "someone who looks at athletes, but who is not an athlete". "Not Ready to Love" is Wainwright's "surrender to the whole idea of being loved and being able to maintain a relationship".
"Slideshow" is about Michael Cavadias, a friend that Wainwright took to Australia for a Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
tribute concert, who failed to include Wainwright in the computer slide show he put together. Wainwright wrote "Tulsa" after meeting The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers
Brandon Flowers
Brandon Richard Flowers is an American musician, best known as the frontman of the Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers. He has also released a solo album titled Flamingo.-Early life:...
at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. After reuniting with Flowers at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
in England, Wainwright said of their encounter that Flowers was "very flattered" and "somewhat bashful".
"Leaving for Paris N° 2", previously released as "Leaving for Paris" on a bonus CD for Want One in France, differs from the first version with the addition of a second verse along with added instrumental effects. In an April 2007 interview with Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...
, Wainwright revealed the inspiration for both "Do I Disappoint You" and "Leaving for Paris N° 2":
Wainwright later stated that the musical was Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 romantic jukebox musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Following the Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orphean myth, La Traviata, and La Bohème...
:
"Sanssouci
Sanssouci (song)
"Sanssouci" is a song written by Rufus Wainwright; appearing as a track on his fifth studio album, Release the Stars . The name is a reference to the Sanssouci palace built by Frederick the Great in Potsdam, Germany....
" was inspired by 18th century Prussian monarch Frederick the Great
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
's Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
summer palace
Sanssouci
Sanssouci is the name of the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and is far smaller than its French Baroque counterpart, it too is...
outside Berlin. Wainwright has said the song is about the discrepancy between expectations from success and its reality. "Release the Stars", the title track and album closer, has a "brassy Broadway swagger". The song's lyrical inspiration comes from Lorca Cohen, Leonard's daughter, "missing the New York show" (referring to one of the Judy Garland tribute concerts Wainwright performed in June 2006 at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
).
Cover art and liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
of the album are from the gigantomachy
Gigantomachy
In Greek mythology, Gigantomachy was the symbolic struggle between the cosmic order of the Olympians led by Zeus and the nether forces of Chaos led by the giant Alcyoneus...
frieze at the Pergamon Altar
Pergamon Altar
The Pergamon Altar is a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamon in Asia Minor....
in Berlin. The photos were taken by Wainwright. Insert photographs of Wainwright, the altar, the bushes, and the long path were taken by Sam Taylor Wood, Wainwright, Lucy Roche, and Jörn Weisbrodt. In the liner notes, Wainwright gives "special thanks to all [his] family and friends".
World tour
To promote the album, Wainwright embarked on a tour that lasted for nearly eight months, starting in London in May 2007 and ending in New York City in February 2008. The tour visited the United States and Canada during June–August 2007, the UK in October, Europe during November–December, and Japan and Australia / New Zealand during January–February 2008.Throughout much of the tour, fans could audition to join Wainwright on stage and perform their own rendition of Siân Phillips
Siân Phillips
Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
' spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
part in "Between My Legs". Candidates posted their audition videos on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, and a winning act was chosen for each concert. Photos of "Between My Legs" contest winners performing on stage with Wainwright were posted on his official MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
site. The last stop of the tour was on February 14 (Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
), 2008 at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
in NYC.
Critical reception
Overall, reception of the album was positive. In his review for The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Alexis Petridis wrote that Release the Stars "is, by anyone's standards, a wonderful album, packed with stunning melodies and brilliant lyrics". Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine's Susan Visakowitz described the album as Wainwright's "most unabashedly flamboyant record yet", with "larger-than-life melodies wrapped in swelling strings and surging horns and buoyed by the singer's typical swoon-inducing, caramel-covered tenor". The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
s Stephanie Merritt called the album "complex, melodramatic, ambitious, vain, beautiful and frequently magnificent". While she wrote that Release the Stars may not yield many chart hits, Merritt claimed "it feels like an album that will endure". Music journalist Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
complimented the album, observing, "To prove he can, [Wainwright] sets just one of this career-topping aggregation of florid melodies to electric guitars, and damn my heterosexual ears for liking it best". Caitlin Moran of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
declared, "The stars will be released, in batches of fours and fives, in every review". Referring to Sanssouci, the former summer palace of Frederick the Great and inspiration for the song of the same name, Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
contributor John Mulvey wrote, "If he keeps making albums as good as this, we should wall him up in there forever".
However, the album did receive some criticism, mostly pertaining to its overly lavish and decadent style. Regarding Wainwright's attempt at creating radio-friendly music, Petridis claimed that Wainwright "doesn't seem to be trying at all" by employing Neil Tennant (a musician also known for grandiloquence) as executive producer of the album and including extravagant orchestrations. He wrote, "every time Wainwright seems on the verge of making a straightforward appeal for the mainstream, he throws a glittery spanner in the works". He noted the exotic instruments used in "Do I Disappoint You": "It's a marvelous song, but it's lavishly decorated with thundering timpani, fluttering woodwind, pizzicato strings and brass." Petridis questions, "Is this really the way he proposes to win over the punters who pick up two albums a year?" In her review for NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, Priya Elan wrote, "Someone needs to tell Wainwright there's a huge difference between 'epic' and 'over-egged'". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Gregory Kirschling stated that Release the Stars was "adorned with more strings, horns, choirs, and piccolo flute (!) than ever, his melodies — and what melodies they are — are drowned out by the bombast", citing "Nobody's Off the Hook" as an example. "But", Kirschling stated, "he still yearns more beautifully than anyone".
Track listing
All songs written by Wainwright:- "Do I Disappoint You" – 4:40
- "Going to a TownGoing to a Town"Going to a Town" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the first single from the album, Release the Stars, released on April 3, 2007 in the United States and on May 7 in the United Kingdom....
" – 4:06 - "TiergartenTiergarten (song)"Tiergarten" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Released in October 2007, it was the third single from Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars. A limited edition 12" vinyl single containing "Supermayer Lost in Tiergarten" was...
" – 3:26 - "Nobody's Off the Hook" – 4:27
- "Between My Legs" – 4:26
- "Rules and RegulationsRules and Regulations (song)"Rules and Regulations" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the second single from Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars, released digitally via iTunes in the UK on July 30, 2007....
" – 4:05 - "Not Ready to Love" – 5:51
- "Slideshow" – 6:21
- "Tulsa" – 2:20
- "Leaving for Paris N° 2" – 4:52
- "SanssouciSanssouci (song)"Sanssouci" is a song written by Rufus Wainwright; appearing as a track on his fifth studio album, Release the Stars . The name is a reference to the Sanssouci palace built by Frederick the Great in Potsdam, Germany....
" – 5:16 - "Release the Stars" – 5:20
Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
bonus tracks via download card:
- "Old Paint" (with Loudon Wainwright IIILoudon Wainwright IIILoudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
) – 2:44 - "Low Grade Happiness" – 5:24
iTunes pre-order bonus track
- "Cowboy Song" – 3:45
UK version bonus track
- "Do I Disappoint You" (instrumental version) – 4:39
Deluxe version contains a bonus DVD with album commentary and live performances of "The Art Teacher", "Rebel Prince", "Gay Messiah" and "Vibrate".
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
online bonus track
- "Patience is a Virtue" – 4:14
Chart positions and certifications
Release the Stars debuted at number 23 on the U.S. Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, Wainwright's highest debut chart position as of 2009, selling about 24,000 copies in its first week. The album also achieved Wainwright's highest chart position on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, debuting at number 2 with sales approaching 30,000 in the first week. Overall, Release the Stars charted in 12 countries, reaching Top 10 positions in Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The album was certified
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
gold in both Canada and the UK.
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Chart | 72 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flemish) | 22 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 8 |
| French Albums Chart | 53 |
| German Albums Chart | 45 |
| Netherlands Albums Chart | 27 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 4 |
| Portuguese Albums Chart | 30 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 40 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 14 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
23 |
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | Gold |
| United Kingdom | Gold |
Awards and recognitions
For Release the Stars, Wainwright received two nominations for the Juno Awards of 2008Juno Awards of 2008
The Juno Awards of 2008 were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on the weekend ending 6 April 2008. These ceremonies honoured music industry achievements in Canada in the latter part of 2006 and in most of 2007....
, including Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year
The Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year has been awarded since 2005, as recognition each year for the best alternative album in Canada.-Adult Alternative Album of the Year :*2005 - Sarah Harmer, All of Our Names...
and Songwriter of the Year
Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year
The Juno Award for "Songwriter of the Year" has been awarded since 1971, as recognition each year for the best songwriter in Canada. It was also known as the Juno Award for "Composer of the Year" from 1975 to 1990.-Best Songwriter :...
for "Going to a Town
Going to a Town
"Going to a Town" is a song written and performed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It was the first single from the album, Release the Stars, released on April 3, 2007 in the United States and on May 7 in the United Kingdom....
", "Release the Stars", and "Do I Disappoint You". Wainwright won the Outstanding Music Artist award at the 19th GLAAD Media Awards, an awards ceremony created by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor LGBT representation in mainstream media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. At the same ceremony, Wainwright was presented with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, an honor given to an openly gay member of the entertainment or media community for his or her work toward eliminating homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
.
The following table displays some of the 2007 "End of Year" list placements by various publications:
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adresseavisen Adresseavisen Adresseavisen is a regional newspaper published daily, except Sundays, in Trondheim, Norway. It is an independent, conservative newspaper with a daily circulation of approximately 85,000. It is also informally known as Adressa. The newspaper covers the areas of Trøndelag and Nordmøre.Adresseavisen... |
Norway | Top Albums of 2007 (International) | 12 |
| Aftenposten Aftenposten Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007... |
Norway | Top Albums of 2007 | 23 |
| Dagbladet Dagbladet Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle.... |
Norway | Top Foreign Albums of 2007 | 24 |
| Gaffa | Denmark | Top Foreign Albums of 2007 | 2 |
| Mojo Mojo (magazine) MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music... |
UK | MOJO Best of 2007 | 13 |
| Mondo Sonoro | Spain | Top Albums of 2007 (International) | 28 |
| The Observer The Observer The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,... |
UK | 2007: The Best 50 Albums | 21 |
| Q Q (magazine) Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology... |
UK | The 50 Best Albums of 2007 | 10 |
See also
- Kate and Anna McGarrigleKate and Anna McGarrigleKate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
- Martha Wainwright discographyMartha Wainwright discographyThe discography of Martha Wainwright, a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, consists of two studio albums, one live album, four extended plays , five singles, and two music videos. Wainwright's self-titled debut album was released through Zoë Records and Drowned in Sound in April 2005. Although...