George Michael has been a pop icon and music legend for two generations, enthralling audiences with every release - “Careless Whispers”, “Father Figure”, “Faith”, “Freedom”, just to name a few. His latest and supposedly-final offering, “Patience”, continues this trend with a mature blend of songwriting, lyrics, passion and expression, and definitely deserves a high status among his other brilliant works of the past.
Opening (and closing) with the title track, “Patience”, a soft yet very thought-provoking arrangement of piano and vocals, the album kicks off to a brilliant effort in songwriting, then flows into the more commercial first single release of the album, “Amazing”, which is a very listenable array of dance floor grooves and catchy melodies.
Other noteworthy songs in this album are “Cars and Trains”, a combination of grooves and great lyrics, and “My Mother had a Brother”, a musical journey into feeling, depth, pain, and some brilliant guitar and song. There is also the comeback of “Freeek”, which has always at been the center of controversy, and the very emotional and moving “Through”.
Overall, this album is a blend of beautiful and soulful ballads and uptempo dance grooves, both pulled off brilliantly and treating the listener to a variety of great music, depth, and very mature lyrics and songwriting skills. Welcome back, George!
This article was first published on 20 Mar 2004.