Rufus Wainwright (album)

I'm planning on listening to his entire discography, and taking it slowly, album by album. To that end I need to write down some unpolished thoughts on each song, so I can refresh my memory further down the road. I'm also including a star for whether I would personally earmark the song for repeated listening when I'm done digesting the album. In order:

• Foolish Love - As a debut album opener, this song doesn't really do it for me. It's not quite enjoyable to me to just listen to straight, though I don't dislike it by any means. It just doesn't have a melody that catches me.
• Danny Boy - 1:30, 2:30 are my favorite parts. Like most songs on the album, it smoothly showcases Rufus' awe-inspiring voice. This particular song is very one directional, which is to say forward. I wouldn't count it among my favorites, but it's solid.
• *April Fools - The song that made me sit up and take notice when I was blindly listening to the album for the first time. This one blew me away, both because of its amazingly catchy melody and the sheer gusto with which Rufus sings.
• *In My Arms - Takes a while to get going, but this song is worth it in the end, and notable for it's polymorphism. It's sort of a bad trip of a song, but nonetheless entirely comfortable to listen to just for the melody and silky smooth voice.
• Millbrook - Not quite sure what was going on here. There's no attractive melody and nothing to latch onto to my ears.
• Baby - I'm sorry, I feel bad for not liking this long and thoughtful song, but I just don't get any joy out of it.
• *Beauty Mark - My favorite from this album. Not particularly sophisticated, and on the short side (I believe he was only sixteen when he wrote it?), it nevertheless hits every note for me. There's no message here, just the weird and complicated truth about his relationship with a parent; his line toward the end 'I know I may not be so manly, but still I know you love me...' is particularly poignant.
• Barcelona - Another pious, slow moving dirge to follow up on 'Baby', but this one goes down a lot better for me. I'm still not ready to put it on my list of favorites, but the tune is distinct and beautiful, and it's just a bit on the livelier side.
• *Matinee Idol - Legitimately creepy song. I always mean to give the lyrics a close listen in case there is a cool meaning in them, but get distracted/swept away by the atmosphere created by the instrumentation and singing.
• *Damned Ladies - It took me awhile to like this song. The key of course is being attentive at the point where he hits that glorious low note: 00:58 among other instances. The subject matter is also worth a chuckle.
• Sally Ann - The last two songs on the album don't grab me either.
• Imaginary Love - ditto

Edit: I've listened to this album a lot over the past year, and would now say that Foolish Love, Danny Boy and Imaginary Love, along with all the starred songs, are on my list of earmarked songs from this album.