George Michael - Faith

George Michael - Litsen Without Prejudice

Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 is the second solo album from George Michael (on this album, it is spelled as George Michæl), released in September 1990. Following the massive worldwide commercial success of his first album Faith, this release found Michael awash in somewhat of an identity crisis, and a sudden and desperate bid to quickly create a new image for himself as a serious-minded artist (fresh off the heretofore-omnipresent George Michael media-blitz express), while still generating sales. Seemingly torn at first between his previous role as the camera-friendly media darling and his new role as abhorrer of all things visual, the album's title won out as a clear indication of his desire to be taken more seriously as a songwriter and artist in general (although cameras were allowed access to the recording studio on a number of occasions, the results of which ended up on an MTV "Rockumentary" soon afterward). The album was deemed by many as a reverse-psychological tactic to generate renewed interest from an ever larger (and more adult) fan base, but ended up a commercial disappointment sales-wise, compared to Michael's track record to date. Critical opinion of the album was mixed, with some hailing it as George's magnum opus, and a slight majority panning it as pretentious, overly plaintive, and boring.

The album won Best British Album at the 1991 BRIT Awards.

George refused to appear in many of the music videos that accompanied the singles released from this album. As a result, the now-seldom-seen video for "Praying for Time" simply consists of the song lyrics projected artfully against a dark, ambient background, while the video for "Freedom '90" featured several famous supermodels lip-synching to the track instead of the absent Michael. Directed by David Fincher, an acclaimed director hot off the success of Madonna's "Vogue" video, it featured the literal destruction (by fire and explosions) of several icons from the artist's recent Faith period; Fincher would go on to become a high-profile and critically acclaimed mainstream Hollywood film director.

The anticipated follow-up album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2 was scrapped for reasons unknown, the most probable of these being Michael's ongoing legal battles with Sony Music Entertainment. Three of the tracks intended for the album appear on the AIDS-benefit album Red Hot + Dance, while a fourth ("Crazyman Dance") turned up on the B-side of that album's lead-off single "Too Funky." Leaked copies of this supposed album surfaced years later when Georges cousin Andros sold off some of his collection of items he had ammassed during his time at Aegean records.

• The track "Mothers Pride" gained significant airplay on U.S. radio stations during the first several months of the Gulf War in 1991. Programmers often fielded telephone calls from soldiers' loved ones, and mixed their greetings into the song as tributes, along with other patriotic sound bites.

• George Michael's cover of "They Won't Go When I Go" by Stevie Wonder showcases his dynamic range and soul-influenced vocal style. It was actually recorded live at the Nelson Mandela Birthday tribute in early 1988 (carried by Fox in February as the day-long all-star concert "Freedomfest"), but all crowd noise was removed, and vocal overdubs were added to the final mix in post-production.

• The track "Waiting for That Day/You Can't Always Get What You Want" interpolates a sample of James Brown's "Funky Drummer" drum break, which was also used in "Freedom 90." Heretofore regarded as a hip-hop technique, this was deemed quite unorthodox for a pop song. The song's reprise at album's end, "Waiting (Reprise)," also includes some interpolated lyrics from the Rolling Stones classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

Statistics

The album sold around 8 million copies, a weak number compared to the 20 million copies moved for Faith. Reception was particularly poor in the United States, where Faith had become the best-selling album of 1988. At 2 million copies sold, Listen Without Prejudice was a clear commercial disappointment for such a successful and renowned artist. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #22, but the following week climbed to #5, then to #4, and finally reached its peak position of #2, being blocked from the top spot by MC Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em. From there, the album spent the rest of 1990 inside the top 10, with a total of 42 weeks inside the entire chart—not even half the 87 weeks spent by the previous Faith.

In the U.K., reaction was quite impressive. The album was a huge success, eclipsing even Faith in total units sold. Listen Without Prejudice debuted there at #1, but held that position for just one week. It held at #2 for the following two weeks. It spent 34 consecutive weeks inside the Top 20—making, in its 24th week, an impressive sales increase with a #13—#3 movement. It spent a total of 88 weeks inside the U.K. Albums Chart, and was certified Platinum four times by the BPI on January 2, 1992.

The album produced five U.K. hit singles, all of which were released in quick succession, within an eight-month period. These were "Praying for Time" (which reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart—eventually his final #1 hit as a solo artist), "Waiting for That Day," "Cowboys and Angels," "Freedom 90," and "Heal the Pain."

George Michael - Older

Older is the third studio album from George Michael, released in Europe on 13 May 1996 (and one day later in the United States. It was his first album since 1990's Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 – the five-and-a-half-year gap was due to the controversial legal battle that Michael experienced with his record company. Michael dedicated three years straight in the recording of Older, and the album found him exploring new musical territories in a more serious fashion compared to his previous work. At the time of release, the album was a huge commercial hit, particularly in Europe, but was received in America with a lukewarm critical approval and mediocre sales figures. In the UK, the album was particularly notable for producing six Top Three hit singles in a two-year span, hitting a record still unsurpassed. The high sales of the album auspicied a re-issue of the album under the name of Older & Upper eighteen months after its original release.

Following the release of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, Michael accused his record company, Epic Records, of failing to promote the album as well as lacklustre support for his charity recordings (particularly contributions to the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series) and requested to be released from his contract.A bitter legal battle ensued through the courts, ultimately resulting in a loss to Michael. During the court battle, Michael stated that he would refuse to release any new material through Epic under his name should he lose the lawsuit. Whilst essentially holding true to his word, Michael was not completely absent from the recording world during the six years between Listen Without Prejudice and Older. After a huge hit with a live duet with Elton John on "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" (that reached #1 in both the UK and the U.S.), Michael contributed several tracks to the charity album Red Hot + Dance in 1992 (even one of those songs, "Too Funky", was released as a single and reached worldwide Top 10 positions). The same year, he performed live at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium (in 1993, an EP of Michael's performances with Queen and Lisa Stansfield, entitled "Five Live" was released, and reached #1 in the UK).

Older found Michael experimenting new artistic horizons, and making a particularly notable jazz flavor on his sound. The album marked a departure to the synthesized production of his previous projects, delivering a more organic sound with the inclusion of brass and strings. Michael was particularly inspired by the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, who died in 1994, and to whom the album was dedicated. Another big influence was the album's producer, Johnny Douglas, who has mixed several George Michael songs as B-sides. They first met when Douglas produced Lisa Moorish's version of "I'm Your Man" in 1995, to which Michael added backing vocals. They both began to work together soon after, and they co-wrote "Spinning the Wheel" together and also co-wrote and produced "Fastlove". Douglas also played keyboards on those tracks.

Overall, the style of the album was melancholy, dark and sad. George Michael complemented this departure making a dramatic change of his clothes, hair style and overall appearance. The long hair, beard and jeans that represented him to the common knowledge during the late eighties, were replaced with a buzz cut and mostly leather clothes. Michael commented, on the The Oprah Winfrey Show about that new appearance:

"The way my image changed in Europe was that I looked very different, I had very short hair—I had really a kind of gay look in a way. I think I was trying to tell people I was okay with it, I just really didn't want to share it with journalists. The album I made in the middle nineties called Older was a tribute to Anselmo, really; there was a dedication to him on the album and fairly obvious male references. To my fans and the people that were really listening, I felt like I was trying to come out with them."

Michael grew back a longer hair during 1998, as was first shown on the video he recorded for "Outside", premiered near the end of that year.

The album was re-released on 1 December 1997 in a box package including two discs – the original album and an extra CD entitled Upper in a cardboard sleeve with the same cover as the box (which was a close-up of Michael's green eye from the original Older album). The set was issued as Older & Upper, with both compact discs printed in gold (instead of the original black from Older.) Upper includes six tracks previously released on the different singles from the album. The most notable of them is "Fastlove (Part II)", which is in fact a rare version of the track. It is not the same as the "Fully Extended Mix" on the "Fastlove" single (which runs at 9 minutes 27 seconds) nor the edit version (4 minutes 39 seconds) of the song on the first "Fastlove" promo. It can only be found on the second "Fastlove" promo single which is credited as the "Fully Extended Mix – edit". The Upper CD also includes interactive elements. When released, Older & Upper was not listed in the UK charts as a different album than the original Older, and helped the album to jump from #65 to #36 during the competitive Christmas season.

Statistics

The album was largely anticipated. The lead single, the melancholic ballad "Jesus to a Child", was first performed by Michael on the 1995 MTV European Music Awards, but wasn't released as a single until early January 1996, reaching #1 positions all over the world (including in the UK). The follow-up was a dance track, "Fastlove", which became the most enduring hit on the album (and was released before it). It also reached #1 in the UK and the American Top 10. During the next eighteen months, four other singles were released from the album, all of them reaching the Top 3.

Older was a huge commercial success, specially in the European markets. In the UK the album was largely anticipated, and debuted at #1 with an impressive 281,000 copies, becoming one of the biggest debuts ever in British history (it currently ranks as the 23rd fastest-selling album in the UK). It is also Virgin's fastest-selling album of all time.It became Michael's biggest-selling album in his homeland, achieving over 1.8 million copies sold, and receiving a 6xPlatinum certification by the BPI on 5 December 1997. In the UK, it spent a total of 147 weeks inside the Top 200, 99 of them on the Top 75, and 35 of them on the Top 10 (including 23 consecutive weeks). The steady sales of the album were the result of good promotion market and the release of six hit singles throughout a 2-year period. All of these singles (except for the one for the title track) were released and promoted as EP's, in two available formats, most of them containing previously unreleased material (including live tracks, alternate versions and, in the case for the "Spinning the Wheel E.P", two new studio recordings of brand-new George Michael compositions). Most of these singles were promoted with live performances at Top of the Pops and also music videos were recorded for the four first singles. All of this helped to push the album sales from one week to another, with the album usually returning to the Top 10 in the British charts. For example, when "Star People '97" was released in mid-1997, Older achieved a 21-14-10-7 progression on the charts. Very much the same happened when "You Have Been Loved" was issued as the sixth single (fourteen months after the original release of the album), and Older showed a 24-14-7 move on the UK charts. In all, Older currently sits as the 97th best selling album of all time in the United Kingdom.

In the United States, the album was received with lukewarm success. There (and in Canada), the album release was particularly notable as it was the first album released by the now-defunct DreamWorks Records. It was preceded nicely, with "Jesus to a Child" and "Fastlove" reaching the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, but debut sales for the album were very disappointing – the album only reached #6 in the Billboard 200, it slipped down the charts very quickly, and in all it just sold over one million copies. In America, also critics were not impressed with the album at all, with Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine declaring that it "lack[ed] the carefree spark of his earlier work."

George Michael - Ladies And Gentlemen

Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael is a greatest hits collection released by George Michael in 1998 .

The collection of 28 songs (29 songs are included on the European and Australian release) are separated into two halves, with each CD of the double set containing music of a particular theme and mood. The first CD, titled "For the Heart", predominantly contains Michael's hit ballads, while the second CD, "For the Feet", comprises mostly his popular dance tunes.

Ladies & Gentlemen is notable for containing a large number of compilation tracks and duets that have not previously appeared on a George Michael album, including his U.S. number-one duet with Aretha Franklin, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", previously available on Aretha Franklin's 1986 album Aretha; "Desafinado", the duet in Portuguese with Brazilian legendary singer Astrud Gilberto; and the Elton John duet "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", from Elton's 1993 album Duets.

Ladies & Gentlemen was released by Michael through Sony Music Entertainment as a condition of severing contractual ties with the label (Michael departed Sony with a great deal of acrimony and publicity prior to the release of Older in 1996). He would later return to Sony to release his 2004 album Patience.

"Outside" was the first single from the album. The song was a humorous look at his arrest shortly before the release of the album for soliciting a policeman in a public restroom.

"As", Michael's duet with Mary J. Blige, was released as the second single in many territories around the world. It reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart. The track was left off the North American release of the album. There were rumours that Blige's label was uncomfortable with Michael being gay, but this is contradicted by Blige's embracing of her large gay fan base (see her recent cover story in The Advocate magazine where she said "most of my fans are gay").

To date, the album has reached worldwide sales of approximately 15 million copies.

"Waltz Away Dreaming", Michael's duet with Toby Bourke, was only available on the cassette and MiniDisc versions of the album.

Disc 1: For the Heart

1. "Jesus to a Child"
2. "Father Figure"
3. "Careless Whisper"
4. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
5. "You Have Been Loved"
6. "Kissing a Fool"
7. "I Can't Make You Love Me"
8. "Heal the Pain"
9. "A Moment with You"
10. "Desafinado"
11. "Cowboys and Angels"
12. "Praying for Time"
13. "One More Try"
14. "A Different Corner"

Disc 2: For the Feet

1. "Outside"
2. "As"
3. "Fastlove"
4. "Too Funky"
5. "Freedom! '90"
6. "Star People '97"
7. "Killer" / "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"
8. "I Want Your Sex (Part II)"
9. "The Strangest Thing '97"
10. "Fantasy"
11. "Spinning the Wheel"
12. "Waiting for That Day"
13. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"
14. "Faith"
15. "Somebody to Love"

George Michael - Songs From The Last Century

Songs from the Last Century is an album of cover versions by singer George Michael and acclaimed producer Phil Ramone, released in December 1999). It consists mainly of old standards, plus new interpretations of more recent popular songs, such as "Roxanne" (originally by The Police) and "Miss Sarajevo" (originally by U2 with Luciano Pavarotti).

This album is the only in George Michael's entire solo catalogue not to have not yet reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart, peaking at #2 instead. It was kept off of the top spot by Shania Twain's Come on Over (the best-selling album of the 1990s).

The cover album had a hit in The Police's "Roxanne", for which George realised a live video, shot in Amsterdam, in the so-called Red District, using ordinary people, not actors, who really live their lives on the street.

Another version exists of the record opener, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", sung by George with popular Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti at one of his famous "Pavarotti and Friends" live shows, and then included on the 2006 single for "An Easier Affair", the first song to be taken from Michael's triple edition of his Twenty Five greatest hits album of the same year, which also contains the live performance on the limited edition third CD, "For the Loyal".

1. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"
2. "Roxanne"
3. "You've Changed"
4. "My Baby Just Cares for Me"
5. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
6. "Miss Sarajevo"
7. "I Remember You"
8. "Secret Love"
9. "Wild Is the Wind"
10. "Where or When" / "It's Alright with Me"

George Michael - Patience

Patience is the 2004 album by George Michael. The much delayed follow-up to Older, it was very successful, debuting at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, and at number 2 in Australia on March 22, 2004. The work become one of the fastest selling albums in the UK, selling over 200,000 copies in the first week alone. The record reached the Top 5 on most European charts, and peaked at number 12 in the United States. It is considered as the album of George Michael's comeback to the spotlight in the new millennium, receiving a great critical acclaim. It sold around 7 million copies worldwide, spanning 6 hit singles (the first two of which, "Freeek!" and "Shoot the Dog", were released as early as 2002 already by Polydor, when the album was originally due, whereas the last, "John and Elvis Are Dead", was only sold through the Internet).

Patience was George Michael's first album composed of original material since 1996.

His single "Freeek!" was successful in Europe going to number one in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Denmark in 2002 and reaching top 10 in the UK and top 5 in Australia. It made 22 charts around the world. However, his next single "Shoot the Dog" proved to be highly controversial when released in July 2002. It was highly critical of George W. Bush and Tony Blair in the leadup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The video showed a cartoon version of Michael astride a nuclear missile in the Middle East and Tony and Cherie Blair in bed with President Bush. The latter image was apparently intended as a homage to the 1986 video for "Land of Confusion" by Genesis. The cartoon was produced by the makers of 2DTV, a satirical animated television show broadcast weekly on ITV (independent television) in the UK. The song itself was a partial cover of The Human League's 1981 hit, "Love Action", building on instrumental samples from the song and featuring the same rap interlude.

In an interview with MTV, George Michael said the song was primarily intended to highlight what he saw as a lack of consultation by Tony Blair about the decision. "People are looking at the song in context of an attack on America, as opposed to an attack on Tony Blair. And really, my attack is that Tony Blair is not involving the British in this issue. He's perfectly happy staying up to watch the World Cup and enjoying the Jubilee (of Queen Elizabeth II), all things I'm perfectly guilty of, but there's a serious discussion about Iraq, which hasn't taken place. We don't know what Saddam Hussein is capable of, the British public has no idea."

"Shoot the Dog" was not released as a single in the US over sensitivity to the September 11, 2001 attacks. While it reached the top 5 in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Denmark, it failed to reach the top ten in the UK and its chart performance was disappointing by George Michael's career standards.

He has also recorded a version of "The Grave" (written by Don McLean as a protest against the Vietnam war) to emphasise his opposition to the invasion of Iraq. It was released as part of the War Child charity album Hope. Michael performed the song on long-running British chart show Top of the Pops on BBC Television on March 7, 2003, introduced by the writer and stand-up comedian (and fan of George Michael) Ben Elton. It was Michael's first appearance on the show since 1986, when he performed The Edge of Heaven as one half of Wham!. He ran into conflict with the show's producers for an anti-war, anti Blair t-shirt worn by some members of his band.

The album also makes great use of samples, for example; "Freeek!" samples of Aaliyah's song "Try Again""Breathe & Stop" by Q-Tip and also "NT" by Kool and the Gang (as stated on the liner notes of Patience), "Shoot the Dog" samples the Human League song "Love Action (I Believe In Love)" (it also features the "Gotta get up!" line taken from George's 1996 hit, "Fastlove" but is not credited for the writing credit goes to George already), "Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)" samples "Moonraker" by John Barry and Hal David (see the liner notes for the "Flawless (Go to the City)" single CD #1 and Patience for proof) and "Flawless (Go to the City)" samples a dance track, originally recorded by The Ones, called "Flawless".

On November 17, 2003, George Michael re-signed with Sony Music after a legal battle with the company led to his contract being sold to rival record companies Virgin Records and DreamWorks Records on July 14, 1995. Michael claimed that his contract with Sony was stifling him and was keeping him in "professional slavery".

George Michael announced that Patience will be the last record on sale to the public. He told BBC Radio 1 on March 10, 2004 that future music that he puts out will be available for download with fans encouraged to make a donation to charity. He said: "I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years so I really don't need the public's money. I'd like to have something on the Internet which is a charitable download site where anyone can download my music for free. I'll have my favourite charities up there and people will hopefully donate to that." He stated that the decision will put less pressure to produce a new album every so often and allow him to have more of a private life.

Statistics

George Michael - Twenty Five UK

Twenty Five is singer George Michael's 2006 greatest hits album, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of his music career.It was released on 13 November 2006 via Sony BMG.It debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart and #23 on the Billboard 200,and it reached the top 20 on most other album charts.

The album contains songs chiefly from George Michael's solo career, but also from his earlier days with Wham!. The album comes in two formats: a 2-CD set and a limited edition 3-CD set. The 2-CD set contains 26 tracks, including four recorded with Wham! and three new songs: "An Easier Affair", "This Is Not Real Love" (a duet with British singer Mutya Buena) and a new version of "Heal the Pain", recorded with Paul McCartney. The limited edition 3-CD version contains an additional 14 lesser known tracks, including one with Wham! and another new song called "Understand".

The DVD version of Twenty Five contains 40 videos on two discs, including 7 with Wham!.

The 2-CD version was released in the United States on 1 April 2008, with two changes from the international version: "Feeling Good" replaced the Wham! track "Freedom", and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (from Songs from the Last Century) replaced "Round Here", a track from Patience that was not released as a single in the U.S.

A 3-CD limited deluxe version was released in the United States exclusively by Best Buy. The track listing for the third CD is the same as the international version, but unlike the 2-CD U.S. version, the deluxe version includes "Freedom" instead of "Feeling Good". The 3-CD version is packaged in a digipak. It includes a 36-page color booklet with lyrics for every track, along with screen shots from the videos for most of the tracks on the first two CDs. TwentyFive debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200 chart. Current U.S. sales stand at 94,000 copies sold. The album currently holds a 2 times IFPI platinum certification, having sold more than 2 million copies. Worldwide sales stand close to 3.5 million copies.

Disc 1: For Living

1. "Everything She Wants"
2. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
3. "Freedom"
4. "Faith"
5. "Too Funky"
6. "Fastlove"
7. "Freedom! '90"
8. "Spinning the Wheel"
9. "Outside"
10. "As"
11. "Freeek!"
12. "Shoot the Dog"
13. "Amazing"
14. "Flawless (Go to the City)"
15. "An Easier Affair"

Disc 2: For Loving

1. "Careless Whisper"
2. "Last Christmas"
3. "A Different Corner"
4. "Father Figure"
5. "One More Try"
6. "Praying for Time"
7. "Heal the Pain" (featuring Paul McCartney)
8. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
9. "Jesus to a Child"
10. "Older"
11. "Round Here"
12. "You Have Been Loved"
13. "John and Elvis Are Dead"
14. "This Is Not Real Love" (featuring Mutya)

Disc 3: For the Loyal (limited edition only)

1. "Understand"
2. "Precious Box"
3. "Roxanne"
4. "Fantasy"
5. "Cars and Trains"
6. "Patience"
7. "You Know That I Want To"
8. "My Mother Had a Brother"
9. "If You Were There"
10. "Safe"
11. "American Angel"
12. "My Baby Just Cares for Me"
13. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?")
14. "Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)"
15. "Through"

Statistics

George Michael - Twenty Five USA

The 2-CD version was released in the United States on 1 April 2008, with two changes from the international version: "Feeling Good" replaced the Wham! track "Freedom", and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (from Songs from the Last Century) replaced "Round Here", a track from Patience that was not released as a single in the U.S.

Disc 1: For Living

1. "Everything She Wants"
2. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
3. "Feeling Good"
4. "Faith"
5. "Too Funky"
6. "Fastlove"
7. "Freedom! '90"
8. "Spinning the Wheel"
9. "Outside"
10. "As"
11. "Freeek!"
12. "Shoot the Dog"
13. "Amazing"
14. "Flawless (Go to the City)"
15. "An Easier Affair"

Disc 2: For Loving

1. "Careless Whisper"
2. "Last Christmas"
3. "A Different Corner"
4. "Father Figure"
5. "One More Try"
6. "Praying for Time"
7. "Heal the Pain" (featuring Paul McCartney)
8. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
9. "Jesus to a Child"
10. "Older"
11. "Round Here"
12. "You Have Been Loved"
13. "John and Elvis Are Dead"
14. "This Is Not Real Love" (featuring Mutya)

Disc 3: For the Loyal (limited edition only)

1. "Understand"
2. "Precious Box"
3. "Roxanne"
4. "Fantasy"
5. "Cars and Trains"
6. "Patience"
7. "You Know That I Want To"
8. "My Mother Had a Brother"
9. "If You Were There"
10. "Safe"
11. "American Angel"
12. "My Baby Just Cares for Me"
13. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?")
14. "Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)"
15. "Through"