#151 George Michael, 'Faith' (1987)

Previously #472

George Michael spent the early to mid-‘80s as the lead singer for UK pop duo, Wham! Despite selling more than 30 million records in a short space of time, Michael grew tired of the group not being taken seriously, generally being dismissed as just a teenybopper bubblegum pop group. Michael left the group and the following year released this, his debut solo album; adopting the persona of a more serious musician. Michael wrote and produced all the songs and played a lot of the instruments too. This was a definite statement. 

The title track, which also happened to be the first track on the album, works as a bridging song between Wham! and George Michael’s solo career. The album opens with an epic church organ playing Wham!’s single, ‘Freedom,’ before an acoustic guitar playing a Bo Diddley-esque rhythm kicks in. The song would spend 4 weeks in the #1 position on the Billboard chart and would go on to become the #1 song of the year in the USA for 1988. Next up is ‘Father Figure,’ a song that sounded like nothing else that George Michael had done before. A sparse mid-tempo song featuring a gospel choir. Michael’s voice takes centre stage, however. ‘I Want Your Sex,’ the first single from the record, is more of what we’re used to from Michael. Synth sounds over a danceable beat. Lyrics, however, more risqué. ‘One More Try,’ takes its production cues from Prince, once again with Michael’s voice sounding better than ever. The album continues a varied path throughout a tapestry of genres; nothing is off limits for Michael. The album culminates in ‘Kissing A Fool,’ a Jazzy, piano bar-sounding song. Michael recorded the vocals acapella before dropping the music in later. This was the most grown up the 25-year-old artist had ever sounded. With ‘Faith,’ George Michael successfully rebirthed himself as a solo artist. It won Album Of The Year at the Grammys and has gone on to sell 25 million copies.

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