GEORGE MICHAEL ALBUM BY ALBUMP
ersonal tragedy
dominates the behind-
the-scenes genesis of
Older where the
world-weary worries of LWP
have changed into tangible grief.
Synthesised electronic
fl ourishes are woven throughout
Older but the overall ambience
here is more organic than its
predecessor. Brazilian composer
Antônio Carlos Jobim is
name-checked in the liner notes- the man who brought The Girl
From Ipanema to the world - and infl uences Older’s jaz zier
infl ections. But more fundamental
to the project is the shadow cast
by George’s late partner
Anselmo Feleppa who died in- Reeling from the tragedy,
George poured himself into
writing opening ballad Jesus To
A Child. Themes of grief and
mortality are threaded through
Older’s tracklisting with the title
song a knowing look at the
passing of time.
A master at writing in varying
styles, Michael keeps the
arrangements diverse throughout,
after the sweeping string-infused
opening ballad comes the
dancefl oor-friendly Fastlove, an
ode to cruising which George
described as being about
“covering my pain, blunting out
that pain with fast love. There’s
not one track on the album that’s
not about Anselmo or the threat
of AIDS.” More certain of its
point of view is the trip-hop lope
of Spinning The Wheel, a
clear-cut warning of the dangers
of promiscuity.
The stripped-back beatbox-
driven It Doesn’t Really Matter is
atypically sparse and
gives George’s vocal
room to breathe.
It’s a hushed R&B
ballad with a
subtle nod to
Bacharach
and David’s
(There’s) Always
Something
There To Remind
Me (George has a
habit on Older of
dropping in sly samples;
Fastlove also includes a dash of
Patrice Rushen’s Forget Me Nots).
Maintaining the eclecticism,
The Strangest Thing has a
delicate World music vibe while
George returns to Bacharach
songcraft for the 60s pop of
To Be Forgiven, although its
self-lacerating lyrics are at odds
with its summery arrangement.
Amongst the overarching
despair, Move On is a supper
club anthem of defi ance andStar People is equally spirited;
a case of George distancing
himself from the showbiz
pack who feel
compelled to seek
fame as a means
to fi ll the hole of
an unhappy
childhood.
It’s only
fi tting, though,
that Older
leaves us on a
poignant note.
Revisiting the theme
of an unloving God that
Michael touched upon in Praying
For Time, the measured tone of
You Have Been Loved is an ode
to humanism in a cruel world.OLDER
Released 1996
Label Virgin
Chart Position
UK No.1 and US No.6“THEMES OF
MORTALITY AND
GRIEF ARE THREADED
THROUGH OLDER’S
TRACKLISTING”I
f one of Faith’s trump cards
had been the provocative
way it set out George’s stall
as a sexed-up mature artist,
Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1’s
title alone was wilfully
confrontational – an assured
(and perhaps a little narked)
dig at critics who still
saw him as pop
product. After
spending his
post-Faith years
hiding behind
sunglasses,
George
recoiled from
the glare of the
public eye and
sought solace in his
most introspective
collection of songs to date.
Stung by the backlash after
winning two gongs at the
American Music Awards,
remarks that he was a black
music interloper cut deep. After
all, as an avowed soul musicfan, he’d been celebrating, not
exploiting black music, since his
earliest Wham! days. And soul
infl uences are still brought to
bear at points in LWP. This time,
though, further stylistic shifts are
added to the mix including the
social commentary anthemics of
John Lennon on the beautiful,
stately opener Praying For Time.
A heartfelt plea for socio-
economic parity amid
widespread antipathy (“Charity
is a coat you wear, twice a
year”), it’s one of George’s fi nest
songs, his own Imagine. Heal
The Pain fl ips the infl uences to
the melodic heart-on-the-sleeve
balladry of McCartney. George
and Paul eventually re-recorded
it in 2005 for the Twenty
Five compilation.
While the
majority of LWP is
downbeat, the
urgent Funky
Drummer-
sampling
Freedom! ’ 90
is arguably
George’s most
irrepressible
dance anthem. Very
knowing, its self-
referential story looks back
poetically at his Wham! days,
simultaneously underlining his
new mission statement (“Today
the way I play the game has got
to change, oh yeah/ Now I’m
gonna get myself happy”).Meanwhile, George’s growing
maturity as a vocalist is best
evidenced in the virtuoso cover
of Stevie Wonder’s They Won’t
Go When I Go, which even
manages to improve upon the
original. No mean feat.
If we feel that we’ve been put
through the emotional wringer by
that then there’s a little respite on
the acoustic string-laden ballad
Something To Save, equally
introspective but with a little
lighter touch.
The seven-minute jazzy
Cowboys And Angels saw
George further move outside the
conventions of the three-minute
pop format although, despite
itself, George’s inherent pop
savviness can’t resist returning to
the Funky Drummer loop for the
second time on Waiting For ThatDay. Soul II Soul are undoubtedly
the touchstone for the percussive
Soul Free, which for once here is
more about the groove than the
lyrical content.
But sadness is at the heart of
Listen Without Prejudice. Mother’s
Pride, a heart-wrenching ballad
about those whose lives have
been torn apart by military
confl ict struck a chord with those
families affected by the Gulf
War of 1990/91.“GEORGE
RECOILED
FROM THE PUBLIC
GLARE FOR THIS
INTROSPECTIVE
COLLECTION
OF SONGS”LISTEN
WITHOUT
PREJUDICE VOL 1
Released 1990
Label Columbia/Epic
Chart Position
UK No.1 and US No.2