George Michael | ||
| Allmusic Biography : George Michael was the biggest British pop star of the 1980s, spinning a series of infectiously catchy pop singles into global stardom that saw him sell over 100 million albums worldwide. Blessed with good looks, a fine voice, and a knack for writing engaging melodies that worked well with dance-friendly rhythms, Michael became the rare teen sensation who matured into a respected star as an adult, though his life after achieving pop icon status was not without personal and creative challenges. Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963 in the North London suburb of East Finchley; his father was a Greek Cypriot restaurant owner who changed his name from Kyriacos Panayiotou to Jack Michael when he immigrated to England in the 1950s. Michaels family relocated to Bushey, Hertfordshire when he was in his early teens, and he struck up a friendship with one of his new schoolmates, Andrew Ridgeley. Both Michael and Ridgeley were interested in music, and in 1979 they formed a ska band called the Executive; the group didnt go far, but it gave them a taste for the spotlight, and they took what they learned and in 1981 formed a pop duo called Wham! The early Wham! demos impressed executives at Innervision, an independent record label that signed the group to a contract. By 1982, Wham! had hit the U.K. pop charts with "Wham Rap" and "Young Guns (Go for It)," and scored an American record deal with Columbia. However, Michael and Ridgeley soon discovered how unfavorable their deal with Innervision was, and they opted out of their contract by forfeiting all future royalties on material from their first album, Fantastic, to sign with Sony worldwide. The choice proved to be shrewd; Wham!s second album, 1984s Make It Big, transformed them from British hitmakers to a genuine international sensation, as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," "Everything She Wants," "Careless Whisper," and "Freedom" became wildly successful in the U.K., Europe, and the United States. Wham! soon became one of the biggest new acts of the era, and in 1985 they became the first Western pop group to tour the Peoples Republic of China. But Michael displayed an ambition that went beyond Wham!s new success, and the "Careless Whisper" single was released with the credit "Wham! Featuring George Michael," setting the stage for him to strike out on his own. In 1986, after Michael had released a proper solo single, "A Different Corner," Wham! announced their breakup and said farewell to their fans with a sold-out concert at Londons Wembley Stadium. Michael wasted no time making his mark on his own, releasing his first solo album, Faith, in 1987. He produced and arranged the album, as well as writing the songs, and it managed to top Wham!s phenomenal success, spawning a series of major hit singles (including "I Want Your Sex," "Father Figure," "Kissing a Fool," and the title track) and selling over 20 million copies worldwide (close to ten million in the United States alone). Michael promoted the album with a series of stylish, sexy music videos and a concert tour that found him playing 137 shows over the space of 16 months. Faith left no doubt that Michael was one of the new icons of pop music, and after recording successful duets with Elton John ("Wrap It Up" and "Dont Let the Sun Go Down on Me") and Aretha Franklin ("I Knew You Were There [Waiting for Me]"), he proved he had the respect of veteran acts as well as the younger audience. However, Michael felt reined in by his image as a sexy pop singer, and after taking a well-deserved vacation in 1989, he released Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 in 1990, a set that was noticeably more somber, sophisticated, and personal than his previous work. Presumably to put the focus on his music rather than his image, Michael refused to appear in any music videos for the album and declined to tour in support; the album fared well commercially, but not as well as Faith, and Michael began expressing dissatisfaction with Sony, declaring his contract was financially inequitable and creatively stifling. Michael sued Sony to end his contract, leading to a long and costly legal battle that ended in 1995, with Michael signing to the newly launched DreamWorks Records label in the United States and Virgin in the rest of the world. (During the interim, Michael released a live EP that included material he performed with the surviving members of Queen at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.) In 1996, Michael finally released his third solo effort, Older, which followed in the more contemplative vein of Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1. While the album went platinum in the United States, it was considered a commercial disappointment considering the success of Michaels previous work, though it fared better in Europe and the U.K. In 1998, Michael released Ladies and Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael, a two-disc anthology that featured solo material as well as recordings with Wham! It also included a new song, "Outside"; the song and its video were created in response to a widely publicized incident in which Michael was arrested by an undercover cop in Los Angeles for "performing a lewd act" in a public restroom. After the arrest made headlines, Michael publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, and in time it was revealed that the song "Jesus to a Child" from Older was written in tribute to his late partner Anselmo Feleppa, who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 1993. In 1999, Michael released an album of covers, Songs from the Last Century, which was released worldwide by Virgin after Michael parted ways with DreamWorks. In 2002, Michael signed a new record deal with Polydor and released the single "Freeek," with a new album expected to follow. However, the subsequent full-length release, Patience, didnt arrive until 2004, and in a surprising move, it was issued not by Polydor, but the Sony-affiliated Epic label after Michael returned to the company hed left nine years earlier. Michael also told journalists that he expected it to be his final commercially released album, adding he hoped to release future material online, with any proceeds going to charity. A second two-disc collection, Twenty-Five, was issued in 2008, and arrived after Michael once again found himself the subject of some controversy. In 2006 and 2007, he had been arrested on drug-related offenses in the U.K., and in 2010, hed served four weeks in Suffolks Highpoint Prison after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of cannabis. During a 2006 television interview, Michael smoked what appeared to be a joint and spoke openly of his marijuana use, saying, "Id say its a great drug, but obviously its not very healthy. You cant afford to smoke it if youve got anything to do." Michael continued with the Twenty-Five tour in 2008, touring North America for the first time in 17 years. Over the next five years, Michael toured regularly, starting the Symphonica tour in 2011. An orchestral pop show, it was captured on record by producer Phil Ramone, although Ramone died before the album could be released. Michael completed the album and issued it under the title Symphonica in March 2014; it reached number one in the U.K., and number 60 in the U.S. His next project was a documentary, Freedom, plus the announcement that he was working on new recordings, but he died before anything was released, succumbing to heart failure on Christmas Day of 2016. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 15 Title: Faith Released: 1987-11-01 Tracks: 9 Duration: 44:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Faith (03:15) 2 Father Figure (05:37) 3 I Want Your Sex (05:36) 4 One More Try (05:50) 5 Hard Day (04:48) 6 Hand to Mouth (04:36) 7 Look at Your Hands (04:37) 8 Monkey (05:06) 9 Kissing a Fool (04:35) |
| Faith : Allmusic album Review : A superbly crafted mainstream pop/rock masterpiece, Faith made George Michael an international solo star, selling over ten million copies in the U.S. alone as of 2000. Perhaps even more impressively, it also made him the first white solo artist to hit number one on the R&B album charts. Michael had already proven the soulful power of his pipes by singing a duet with Aretha Franklin on the 1987 smash "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," but he went even farther when it came to crafting his own material, using sophisticated 70s soul as an indispensable part of his foundation. Of course, its only a part. Faiths ingenuity lies in the way it straddles pop, adult contemporary, R&B, and dance music as though there were no distinctions between them. In addition to his basic repertoire of funky dance-pop and airy, shimmering ballads, Michael appropriates the Bo Diddley beat for the rockabilly-tinged title track, and proves himself a better-than-decent torch singer on the cocktail jazz of "Kissing a Fool." Michael arranged and produced the album himself, and the familiarity of many of these songs can obscure his skills in those departments -- close listening reveals his knack for shifting elements in and out of the mix and adding subtle embellishments when a little emphasis or variety is needed. Though Faith couldnt completely shake Michaels bubblegum image in some quarters, the albums themes were decidedly adult. "I Want Your Sex" was the most notorious example, of course, but even the love songs were strikingly personal and mature, grappling with complex adult desires and scarred by past heartbreak. All of it adds up to one of the finest pop albums of the 80s, setting a high-water mark that Michael was only able to reach in isolated moments afterward. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 15 Title: Monkey Released: 1988 Tracks: 4 Duration: 20:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Monkey (extended version) (08:06) 2 Monkey (a cappella) (03:40) 3 Monkey (extra beats) (03:43) 4 Monkey (7" edit) (04:47) |
 | Album: 3 of 15 Title: Listen Without Prejudice, Volume 1 Released: 1990-08-21 Tracks: 10 Duration: 48:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Praying for Time (04:41) 2 Freedom 90 (06:30) 3 They Won’t Go When I Go (05:06) 4 Something to Save (03:18) 5 Cowboys and Angels (07:14) 6 Waiting for That Day / You Can’t Always Get What You Want (04:49) 7 Mothers Pride (03:59) 8 Heal the Pain (04:39) 9 Soul Free (05:30) 10 Waiting (reprise) (02:27) |
| Listen Without Prejudice, Volume 1 : Allmusic album Review : George Michaels follow-up to the massive success of Faith found him turning inward, trying to gain critical acclaim as well as sales. Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 is not an entirely successful effort; Michael has cut back on the effortless hooks and melodies that crammed not only Faith but also his singles with Wham!, and his socially conscious lyrics tend to be heavy-handed. But the highlights -- the light, Beatlesque harmonies of "Heal the Pain," the plodding number one "Praying for Time," and also "Waiting for That Day" as well as the Top Ten "Freedom" -- make a case for his talents as a pop craftsman. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 15 Title: Five Live Released: 1993-04-20 Tracks: 4 Duration: 19:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Somebody to Love (05:17) 2 Killer / Papa Was a Rollin Stone (04:30) 3 These Are the Days of Our Lives (04:43) 4 Calling You (05:14) |
 | Album: 5 of 15 Title: The Older EP Released: 1996 Tracks: 4 Duration: 20:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Older (05:32) 2 I Can’t Make You Love Me (05:21) 3 Desafinado (03:21) 4 The Strangest Thing (live) (06:02) |
 | Album: 6 of 15 Title: The Spinning the Wheel E.P. Released: 1996 Tracks: 4 Duration: 18:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Spinning the Wheel (radio edit) (05:00) 2 You Know That I Want To (04:36) 3 Safe (04:24) 4 Spinning the Wheel (Forthright edit) (04:41) |
 | Album: 7 of 15 Title: Older Released: 1996-05-06 Tracks: 11 Duration: 58:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Jesus to a Child (06:51) 2 Fastlove (05:25) 3 Older (05:33) 4 Spinning the Wheel (06:21) 5 It Doesn’t Really Matter (04:50) 6 The Strangest Thing (06:01) 7 To Be Forgiven (05:21) 8 Move On (04:45) 9 Star People (05:16) 10 You Have Been Loved (05:29) 11 Free (03:00) |
| Older : Allmusic album Review : Older is the album that many observers initially believed Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 to be -- a relentlessly serious affair, George Michaels bid for artistic credibility. Its an album that makes Listen Without Prejudice sound like Faith. Michael has dispensed with the catchy, frothy dance-pop numbers that brought him fame, concentrating on stately, pretentious ballads -- even "Fastlove," the albums one dance track, lacks the carefree spark of his earlier work. Although Michaels skills as a pop craftsman still shine through -- several songs are well-constructed ballads that rank with his best material -- his earnestness sinks the album. It is one thing to be mature and another to be boring. Too often, Michael mistakes slight melodies for mature craftsmanship and Older never quite recovers. When melodies do pop up, he doesnt deliver them with enough force to make an impact, and the album slowly disappears as a result. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 15 Title: Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael Released: 1998-11-02 Tracks: 29 Duration: 2:28:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Jesus to a Child (06:51) 2 Father Figure (05:37) 3 Careless Whisper (05:01) 4 Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (05:47) 5 You Have Been Loved (05:29) 6 Kissing a Fool (04:35) 7 I Can’t Make You Love Me (05:21) 8 Heal the Pain (04:47) 9 A Moment With You (05:43) 10 Desafinado (03:21) 11 Cowboys and Angels (07:14) 12 Praying for Time (04:41) 13 One More Try (05:50) 14 A Different Corner (04:01) 1 Outside (04:45) 2 As (original) (04:44) 3 Fastlove (05:30) 4 Too Funky (03:46) 5 Freedom 90 (06:30) 6 Star People 97 (05:38) 7 Killer / Papa Was a Rollin Stone (04:16) 8 I Want Your Sex, Part II (04:37) 9 The Strangest Thing 97 (04:41) 10 Fantasy (05:02) 11 Spinning the Wheel (06:08) 12 Waiting for That Day / You Can’t Always Get What You Want (04:49) 13 I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me) (04:01) 14 Faith (04:13) 15 Somebody to Love (05:25) |
| Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael : Allmusic album Review : When George Michael was riding high on the charts, only a handful of critics acknowledged that he was a brilliant mainstream pop singer/songwriter who, at his best, rivaled his idol Elton John in crafting state-of-the-art pop songs and productions. For nearly a full decade, he was a superstar in his native U.K. and the U.S., and even when Older failed to win an American audience, he retained his stranglehold on the British and European charts. As a solo male hitmaker, virtually nobody could touch him between 1984 and 1994, and even when his grasp began to slip, he still made compelling music. All of this is proven by his first hits compilation, Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael. Spanning two discs, 28 songs, and two distinctive halves -- one "For the Heart" (ballads), one "For the Feet" (dance tunes) -- the collection is a monster, as impressive for its size as it is for its achievements. To some casual listeners, the sheer scope of the collection may seem overwhelming, since it doesnt just have the hits, but also rarities, compilation tracks, lesser-known singles, and duets. Of course, thats precisely what makes it worthwhile for anyone who owns all the albums. (Theyll also be interested that many of the mixes sound slightly different -- as if the masters were run through the antiquated "Q Sound" process that marred Madonnas similar Immaculate Collection.) And some skeptics may be swayed after listening to the individual discs, which are surprisingly consistent works that reveal forgotten gems, and thereby the true depth of his talent. It is true that listening to both discs in a row is a little exhausting, but theres little question that Ladies & Gentlemen comes close to being definitive. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 15 Title: Songs From the Last Century Released: 1999-12-06 Tracks: 10 Duration: 43:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Brother Can You Spare a Dime (04:22) 2 Roxanne (04:10) 3 You’ve Changed (04:25) 4 My Baby Just Cares for Me (01:45) 5 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (05:17) 6 Miss Sarajevo (05:10) 7 I Remember You (04:12) 8 Secret Love (02:39) 9 Wild Is the Wind (04:02) 10 Where or When / It’s All Right With Me (instrumental) (07:00) |
| Songs From the Last Century : Allmusic album Review : Unlike many covers albums, Songs from the Last Century is a cohesive, enjoyable diversion. With the help of co-producer Phil Ramone, George Michael has crafted a warm, intimate album built around a small combo of piano, guitar, bass, and drums. Orchestras, big bands, harps, and on one occasion, a rock band augment the basic combo, yet the flourishes never change the essential, close-knit nature of the group. For the first time ever, Michael sounds relaxed. Hes lying back, singing songs he loves, not worrying about chart success, and the end result is quite fetching, even if it isnt perfect. The main flaw with Songs from the Last Century is that its so smooth, its occasionally a little sleepy, a trait thats emphasized by Michaels fairly predictable taste in covers -- "Brother Can You Spare a Dime," "My Baby Just Cares for Me," and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," among others. Nevertheless, he does bring style and sophistication to these standards, even such often-covered yet still difficult tunes as "Wild as the Wind." When his selections are idiosyncratic -- whether its a jazzy reading of "Roxanne," the brassy "Secret Love," the little-remembered "I Remember You," or a revelatory reading of "Miss Sarajevo," a song commonly dismissed as a U2 side project -- the album is delightful. Certainly, Songs from the Last Century isnt a major work; its a way for Michael to decompress and have some fun, and the diehards who stuck with him through the turbulent 90s are likely to be charmed. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 15 Title: TV History 2000 Released: 2000 Tracks: 34 Duration: 30:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Careless Whisper (?) 2 Jesus to a Child (?) 3 The Strangest Thing (?) 4 They Won’t Go When I Go (?) 5 Father Figure (?) 6 Heal the Pain (?) 7 Fastlove (?) 8 You Have Been Loved (?) 9 Mother’s Pride (?) 10 Fantasy (04:01) 11 Kissing a Fool (?) 12 Spinning the Wheel (?) 13 Waiting for That Day (?) 14 I Can’t Make You Love Me (?) 15 A Moment With You (?) 16 Waiting (reprise) (?) 17 Too Funky (?) 1 Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (04:09) 2 Outside (?) 3 Last Christmas (?) 4 Desafinado (03:21) 5 Older (?) 6 Freedom 90 (?) 7 Somebody to Love (05:17) 8 Cowboys and Angels (?) 9 As (?) 10 One More Try (?) 11 Faith (?) 12 Praying for Time (04:41) 13 These Are the Days of Our Lives (05:10) 14 Killer / Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone (?) 15 A Different Corner (?) 16 Star People (remix ’97) (?) 17 I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me) (04:01) |
 | Album: 11 of 15 Title: Patience Released: 2004-03-15 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:03:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Patience (02:53) 2 Amazing (04:26) 3 John and Elvis Are Dead (04:24) 4 Cars and Trains (05:51) 5 Round Here (05:56) 6 My Mother Had a Brother (06:19) 7 Flawless (Go to the City) (06:52) 8 American Angel (04:08) 9 Precious Box (07:38) 10 Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo’s Song) (05:26) 11 Freeek! ’04 (04:28) 12 Through (04:55) |
| Patience : Allmusic album Review : Almost immediately after he became an international superstar with 1987s Faith, George Michael developed a complex that he was not taken seriously as an artist. He was right -- he wasnt being taken seriously, but at the height of their success, mainstream pop stars rarely are; its only after theyve been around for a while that critics and audiences alike appreciate the craft behind their best work. Elton John and Madonna both are pop icons who earned good reviews after they proved their lasting power, but Michael, for want of a better phrase, didnt have enough patience to wait to be regarded as an artist, not just a pop star. So, he followed Faith with 1990s Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1, whose very title was a plea to skeptics to shed their preconceived notions of him and hear the music anew. At the time, it seemed like this was temporary hiccup, a somber exorcism Michael needed to work through as an artist, but over the years, its clear that this was the blueprint for his solo career. Not that there have been that many albums since then, of course. Michael took six years to deliver Older, a delay that was initially blamed on a vicious battle with his record company, Sony, but its own successor, Patience, didnt appear for another eight years, a time which not only had no spats with the label but also saw him re-signing to Sony. Those long, long separations between albums suggest that Michael is a painstaking perfectionist in the studio, and Patience sure sounds like the work of a musician who spent every day of those eight years working on these 14 tracks (12 on the U.S. version; the anti-Bush and -Blair "Shoot the Dog" was excised for the American CD, presumably because it would be too controversial, but who knows why the reprise of "Patience" was cut). While there are unifying lyrical and musical themes throughout the album, each track is its own entity, scrubbed, polished, and manicured without regard to how it fits alongside the next. Theres an excessive attention to detail to each song, and that tunnel vision means each song runs about a minute or two longer than it should, which ultimately makes Patience seems twice as long as its actual running time. Thats unfortunate because the core of the album is quite good: its hard not to admire his studiocraft, theres a starkly confessional streak in his writing thats disarmingly direct, and, as an album, it balances the moody ballads and sleek neo-disco better than Older, feeling much brighter than that claustrophobic affair. If theres a lack of incessantly catchy hooks or undeniable rhythms -- in other words, singles as indelible as those on Faith, or even Listen Without Prejudice -- that feels like a conscious decision by Michael, as if any concession to chart-bound pop would cheapen his music and diminish his chances of being taken seriously. They would have lightened the mood of the decidedly somber and portentous Patience, which is clearly not what Michael wants, since by stretching out each song and burying his hooks beneath the albums shiny surfaces and preponderance of mid-tempos, hes forcing listeners to work to understand his intentions. For some fans, its worth the effort, particularly since its his best album since Listen Without Prejudice (not saying much since its only his second album of original material since then), but its hard not to hear it and think that Michaels ultimate ambitions would be better served if he tightened up and lightened up just a little bit. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 15 Title: Twenty Five Released: 2006-11-13 Tracks: 46 Duration: 3:47:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Everything She Wants (06:34) 2 Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (03:51) 3 Freedom (05:20) 4 Faith (03:15) 5 Too Funky (03:46) 6 Fastlove (05:25) 7 Freedom 90 (06:30) 8 Spinning the Wheel (06:08) 9 Outside (04:45) 10 As (original) (04:44) 11 Freeek! (04:32) 12 Shoot the Dog (05:09) 13 Amazing (04:26) 14 Flawless (Go to the City) (radio edit) (04:50) 15 An Easier Affair (04:38) 16 Kissing a Fool (04:35) 1 Careless Whisper (05:05) 2 Last Christmas (04:24) 3 A Different Corner (04:01) 4 Father Figure (05:37) 5 One More Try (05:50) 6 Praying for Time (04:41) 7 Heal the Pain (04:44) 8 Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (05:47) 9 Jesus to a Child (06:51) 10 Older (05:33) 11 Round Here (05:56) 12 You Have Been Loved (05:29) 13 John and Elvis Are Dead (04:24) 14 This Is Not Real Love (04:57) 15 Club Tropicana (04:28) 1 Understand (05:55) 2 Precious Box (07:38) 3 Roxanne (04:10) 4 Fantasy (05:02) 5 Cars and Trains (05:51) 6 Patience (02:53) 7 You Know That I Want To (04:32) 8 My Mother Had a Brother (06:19) 9 If You Were There (03:43) 10 Safe (04:25) 11 American Angel (04:08) 12 My Baby Just Cares for Me (01:45) 13 Brother Can You Spare a Dime? (performed at Pavarotti & Friends) (04:27) 14 Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo’s Song) (05:26) 15 Through (04:55) |
 | Album: 13 of 15 Title: December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas) Released: 2009 Tracks: 4 Duration: 15:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas) (03:32) 2 Jingle (03:30) 3 Edith & The King Pin (03:45) 4 Praying for Time (04:57) |
 | Album: 14 of 15 Title: Symphonica Released: 2014-03-07 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:19:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Through (05:09) 2 My Baby Just Cares for Me (01:56) 3 A Different Corner (04:14) 4 Praying for Time (04:58) 5 Let Her Down Easy (03:50) 6 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (05:24) 7 Feeling Good (03:15) 8 John and Elvis Are Dead (04:31) 9 Roxanne (04:20) 10 One More Try (05:14) 11 Going to a Town (04:45) 12 Cowboys and Angels (07:24) 13 Idol (04:29) 14 Brother Can You Spare a Dime (04:52) 15 You Have Been Loved (05:41) 16 Wild Is the Wind (04:15) 17 You’ve Changed (04:44) |
| Symphonica : Allmusic album Review : Gestating for a long time -- at least two years, although George Michael hasnt released an album for a decade -- Symphonica is a curious way for the pop singer to return to action. A live album recorded on his 2011-2012 tour, Symphonica showcases a singer on the supper club circuit, trading in a few of his big hits, all middle-brow favorites ("Praying for Time," "One More Try," "A Different Corner") and spending a lot of time on songs the audience knows and love, whether its Ewan MacColls "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," Anthony Newleys "Feeling Good," or the American Popular Songbook standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me." Michael does indulge in some personal favorites -- —he tackles Terence Trent DArbys "Let Her Down Easy" and the deep Elton John track "Idol" -- but the context is something familiar: a popular singer luxuriating in a symphonic setting. He doesnt push the limits of this template, choosing to enjoy the lush surroundings, so this winds up slightly anti-climactic: Michael is in good form but hes coasting, doing no more than he needs to, satisfying fans without surprising. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 15 Title: Listen Without Prejudice / MTV Unplugged Released: 2017-10-20 Tracks: 36 Duration: 3:03:07 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Praying for Time (04:41) 2 Freedom 90 (06:30) 3 They Won’t Go When I Go (05:06) 4 Something to Save (03:18) 5 Cowboys and Angels (07:14) 6 Waiting for That Day / You Can’t Always Get What You Want (04:49) 7 Mothers Pride (03:59) 8 Heal the Pain (04:39) 9 Soul Free (05:30) 10 Waiting (reprise) (02:27) 1 Freedom! ’90 (06:02) 2 Fastlove (05:12) 3 I Cant Make You Love Me (05:55) 4 Father Figure (06:19) 5 You Have Been Loved (05:55) 6 Everything She Wants (05:13) 7 The Strangest Thing (06:00) 8 Older (05:47) 9 Star People (06:15) 10 Praying for Time (05:29) 1 Soul Free (special radio edit) (04:25) 2 Freedom! ’90 (Back to Reality mix) (06:16) 3 Freedom! ’90 (Back to Reality mix edit) (04:07) 4 Fantasy (05:02) 5 Freedom! ’90 (edit) (05:21) 6 Cowboys and Angels (edit) (04:36) 7 If You Were My Woman (04:06) 8 Too Funky (03:46) 9 Crazyman Dance (06:00) 10 Do You Really Want to Know (04:49) 11 Happy (04:09) 12 Too Funky (extended) (05:37) 13 Too Jazzy (happy mix) (05:55) 14 Fantasy 98 (04:32) 15 Heal the Pain (04:44) 16 Desafinado (03:21) |