It was very good , as the rehearsal was as well. I liked "39'", too. GM looked like he was genuinely having fun doing that one .
I have listened to those songs you mentioned, I just don’t like them, Older wasn’t as strong as his previous work apart from Jesus To A Child which is for me his best ever vocal, and his finest song. But it’s not unfair that I said his late 90s and beyond output was mediocre because that is my opinion, and I’m entitled to it. You can’t be precious on these forums, you gotta expect that not everyone will hear what you hear, it’s based on age, and style and many other things. I stand by what I said, it doesn’t change the fact that I think George was a genius, he just let other things get in the way of his songwriting genius and he lost the ability to write classic material, Elton John explained it pretty well.
There are songs that I dislike mainly the ballad ones but that is mainly due to my age really. But I can appropriate the way he sang them with pure emotions.
Yes he did seem to lose some of that ability. But no artist keeps writing hits and classic material through out their career no matter what the other life circumstances are. Some of later material required more listens in order to appreciate it. Not liking something doesn't necessarily make it mediocre. Of course this is a discussion forum with varied opinions and we are all entitled. I just wanted to know if you came across those songs.
Absolutely, there's no one out there I like everything they've done. Even some of the songs I mentioned in his later work are not favorites or even all ones I listen to but I think they were still good work. What ballads do you not like, FMonkey?
Indeed. I remember him saying that he was listening to a song on the radio and started thinking about how he would have done the song differently, which made him realise he wanted to write music. Something along those lines.
George seemed to be the happiest when he was in the Wham and with Andrew. Wham music sounds happy and energetic. It amazes me that how different the music is btw his solo albums esp Older and those with Wham. of course we know the reasons now.
Wham was so different, you are right . But I don't think it was only because of his life experiences, he wanted to be taken seriously as a solo artist so he wrote more personally and the songs had more emotional depth.
Losing George after Bowie and Prince was a real knockout blow in that terrible year. He was such a huge part of my adolescence. Wham! released some great pop songs — I love their funky and unexpectedly anarchic early singles, as well as the glossier stuff from 1984 onwards. I'm still realising today what a brilliant artist he was. I recently re-watched his performance of 'Somebody To Love' at the Freddie Mercury Tribute and it literally took my breath away. You could tell he loved the song so much and he gave it everything he had. I think that was his peak as a singer.
This may not be the right thread. But too lazy to start a new one. Given the Whitney Huston has been nominated for RR Hall of Fame, do you think GM would be nominated next year? I think so. They both are fantastic singers.
Wasn't he nominated last couple of years? Anyway, he should be inducted given the talents that he had and his contribution to the music.
GM deserves to have a thread , besides being a great pop songwriter/singer he was also a kind soul I have been listening to him since i was like 8 years old (back in 1984) with Wham! , followed him on his first 2 great solo albums (Faith/LWP) but kinda lost him afterwards but still give spins to Faith/LWP/Wham the final even today (and my music taste has come a very long way since the 80s/90s so that speaks volumes about the staying power of his music....) his first 2 solo albums plus his brilliant ''all hits/zero fillers'' Wham! best-of 'The Final' are essential pop documents imho one more point of loving the guy as an artist , he had a huge love for 'black' music and always treated it with utter love and respect especially stevie wonder must have been his favorite artist , seeing how he covered beautifully 2 songs of his (they won't g when i go / as) in his albums , while also covering other SW tracks in his solo tours he is underrated , not in a commercial way (how could he be, when he was the biggest selling pop artist during the Faith period...) but in an artistic way - the guy had great vocal chops , wrote all his songs , did the production and arrangements and also played many of the music himself in the studio/recording process (check the info of WLP in the wikipedia page and see the tasks he took as musician there...) to sum up - great voice ,pop master , and most importantly a very kind person A great loss , and not just in the musical aspect.
Faith tour (Paris 88') FFigure IYMan ADC OMT IKYWWaiting Hard Day C2C Tour: ANobody (Rio) SYName MPride (10/91') WFTDay (NYC) IYMan (NYC) (Wham's)Freedom (Oakland) 25 Live In London : (All from that show except where noted) Waiting (Reprise) FLove IYMan STWheel ESWants (Copenhagen 08') Amazing Faith JTAChild FTEISYFace CWhisper F90' (Wembley 06') Symphomica Tour : Through ( Palais Garnier) BCYSADime (Hamburg 10/18/11) LHDEasy (Prague 8/22/11) YHBLoved (Copenhagen 9/13/11) Patience (Palais Garnier) C&A (11/14/11, Prague) LIALGame (8/22/11, Prague) KAFool (9/8/11, Mannheim) IDRMatter ( 8/22/11, Prague) STTSiren (Milan) YAndI (8/22/11, Prague) WFTD IRYou (9/8/11, Mannheim) Encore - Amazing/IYM/F90'
i have this fantastic SBD show of GM from Paris 1988 , sound is pristine soundboard since it is a bootleg (not official release) i guess i coud share it with folks here , if anyone is interested shoot me a pm George Michael - 5-31-88 Paris, France Source - Soundboard 01-Hard Day 02-Everything She Wants 03-I'm Your Man 04-A Different Corner 05-Love's In Need Of Love Today 06-Father Figure 07-One More Try 08-I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) 09-Careless Whisper 10-Lady Marmalade 11-I Want Your Sex Pt. I, II & III Notes: This is truly one of the very best George Michael bootlegs to ever surface. This was recorded during the height of his commericial success, on the wildly successful Faith Tour. George is at the very top of his game vocally, even hitting the high notes in "One More Try" with ease. "Hard Day" comes off much better here than it does on record, making for an excellent lead-off track. The Stevie Wonder cover, "Love's In Need Of Love Today" is a song that suits George's voice perfectly and he really shines on it. The hit duet with Aretha Franklin, "I Knew You We're Waiting" is performed solo here, and you really don't miss Aretha, George nails it on his own. "Careless Whisper" is milked to the extreme, with an extended saxaphone solo that really takes this epic to the next level. Deon Estus, bass player and backround vocalist is a standout on this recording, laying down a solid groove throughout the show. The 1996 unplugged shows are excellent, but this recording, with a full band is very, very special. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Please share your GM bootlegs if you have. Happy Holidays! - Ryan "Lil King" Lineage Westwood One Recording ----> CD-R ----> EAC ----> WAV ----> Goldwave (for volume boost) ----> Flac level 8
It's there under his name, Live 88', and there's a video or two that may have same sound quality . Jeffmo789 - do you have any homemade GM CDs?
I’m a big fan of George and his music, even when he called himself Wham! I think he was underrated as a singer. Just listen to his singing on Queen’s Somebody To Love. It’s jawdroppingly good and it’s all live. most of his music is already discussed in this thread, but I would like to add his New Order cover, True Faith. I’m a big New Order fan, but I like (t)his version better.
You have to be first I heard say that ! I remember he took a lot of flak for this cover with vocoder used. I don't personally care for it but I'm not a fan of the song either. We haven't discussed it all here so contribute all you like
IMHO bringing the tempo down changed a rather bland song in a good song. The vocoded vocals suit the lyrics that I think are about alienation from normal life. the feel of the whole song suddenly fits the lyrics quite nicely. Much better than the New Order version.
