Overall, reception of the album was positive. AllMusic's Zac Johnson described the album as "another set of obscenely lush and opulent pop operettas... meticulously layered and richly textured, with full orchestral passages and many-throated harmonies". After praising the album, Johnson concluded that Wainwright "could be singing lists of names out of the phone book and it would still be more exciting and inventive than 99 percent of the other albums out there". The Independent mostly complimented Want One, though its review revealed a preference for the simpler tracks like "Want" and "Dinner at Eight", "when it's just him and his piano". The review also criticized "Movies of Myself", describing the song as having "plaintive vocals [that] jar against stadium-rock guitars and dubious Eighties keyboards". In 2011, in Planet Word, author and BBC producer John-Paul Davidson, in a discussion of poetry and song, called Dinner at Eight "no finer expression of an argument between a son and a father who abandoned him."
Legacy
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
All songs on the album written by Wainwright:
- "Oh What a World" – 4:23
- "I Don't Know What It Is" – 4:51
- "Vicious World" – 2:50
- "Movies of Myself" – 4:31
- "Pretty Things" – 2:40
- "Go or Go Ahead" – 6:39
- "Vibrate" – 2:44
- "14th Street" – 4:44
- "Natasha" – 3:29
- "Harvester of Hearts" – 3:35
- "Beautiful Child" – 4:16
- "Want" – 5:11
- "11:11" – 4:27
- "Dinner at Eight" – 4:33
;Bonus tracks
- <li value=15>"Es Muß Sein" (UK and Japan releases) – 2:19
- "Velvet Curtain Rag" (UK release) – 4:31
;Bonus disc
The Black Session, No. 199 is a limited edition bonus disc that was included with the first pressing of the French release of Want One. It was recorded live on October 9, 2003.
- "Want" (live)
- "Leaving For Paris" (live)
- "Dinner at Eight" (live)
- "Coeur de Parisienne" (live)
Personnel
- Rufus Wainwright – voice (1–14), piano (2,5,8,10,14), fender rhodes piano (3), recorders (3), acoustic guitar (4,6,11–13), keyboards (9), orchestral arrangements (1,2,7,9,14), choral arrangements (7)
- Sterling Campbell – drums (2–4,13)
- Simon C. Clarke – alto sax (1,8,11), baritone sax (1,8,10–11), flute (1,2,14), alto flute (1), piccolo (1)
- Marius de Vries – piano (1,7–8,12–13), programming (1–4,6–14), vibraphone (10,12), orchestral arrangements (1–2,7,14), choral arrangements (7)
- Chris Elliott – orchestral arrangements (1–2,7,9,14)
- Isobel Griffiths – orchestra contractor (1–2,7,14)
- Adrian Hallowell – bass trombone (8,11)
- Levon Helm – drums (8)
- Jeff Hill – bass (2,4,6,8,11–13)
- Nick Hitchens – tuba (1)
- Matt Johnson – drums (6,9,11–12)
- Alexandra Knoll – oboe (2)
- Gerry Leonard – guitar (2,8), electric guitar (4,6,11–13), mandolin (13)
- The London Oratory Choir – choir (7)
- Roddy Lorimer – trumpet (1,2,8,10–11), flugelhorn (10)
- Kate McGarrigle – banjo (8), accordion (14)
- John Holbrook, Bob Ebeling, Andy Bradfield, Marius de Vries – engineer
- Jack McKeever – Audio Engineering Assistance to Marius de Vries, Maids Room
- Struan Oglanby, Ian Dowling, Bill Synan, Sean Gould and Tom Gloady – Assistant Audio Engineer
- Maxim Moston – concertmaster (9), orchestral arrangements (1–2,7,9,14)
- Jenni Muldaur – additional vocals (8,12)
- Bernard O'Neill – Double bass (3,9–10)
- Tim Sanders – tenor sax (1,8,10–11)
- David Sapadin – clarinet (2)
- Charlie Sexton – guitar (2,8), electric guitar (4,6,11–12)
- Daniel Shelly – bassoon (2)
- Alexis Smith – programming (1–4,6–14)
- Joy Smith – harp (1–2,13–14)
- Paul Spong – trumpet (1–2,8,11)
- Dave Stewart – bass trombone (1–2,11)
- Linda Thompson – additional vocals (10)
- Teddy Thompson – additional vocals (10)
- Martha Wainwright – additional vocals (8,12)
- Annie Whitehead – trombone (1–2,8,10–11)
- Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader (1–2,7,14)
- Jimmy Zhivago – guitar (2), electric guitar (4), piano (8)
Charts
Want One debuted at No. 60 on the Billboard 200, Wainwright's highest position on the chart until the release of his fifth studio album, Release the Stars (2007). The album also won the award for Best New Recording and earned Wainwright a nomination for Best Songwriter at the OutMusic Awards. Want One was nominated for the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize.
In 2006, both Want One and Want Two were included in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and two years later Out ranked Poses No. 50 and Want One No. 80 on their "100 Greatest, Gayest Albums" list. "Want" is featured in Toby Creswell's 2006 book, 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them. The album was recognized as one of the "50 best albums of the decade" by Paste in 2009, appearing as No. 16 on the list.
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart
!Peak<br>position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
The following table displays some of the 2003 "End of Year" list placements by various publications.
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Publication
! Country
! Accolade
! Rank
|-
| Gaffa
| Denmark
| Top 20 Foreign Albums
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|-
| Mojo
| UK
| Albums of the Year
| style="text-align:center;"|21
|-
| Paste
| US
| Albums of the Year
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
| Rolling Stone
| US
| Albums of the Year
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
| Uncut
| UK
| Uncut Albums of the Year
| style="text-align:center;"|37
|-
| VH1
| US
| The Best Albums of 2003
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|}