George Michael - Older (Best Songs)

Kissing A Fool for me. Don't like much of his pop stuff.

He also plays bass on that track which I thought was interesting.

 

He did play bass and some piano , drums , he could play many instruments , just wasn't well versed in any one. He played the violin in school and according to a teacher in a bio I read quite well. It's too bad the casual fan and general public doesn't know how he wrote, recorded most of his own background vocals and arranged and produced his own records . Really a rarity for such a big pop star.
The comments about Symphonica I take your point , that's an album I only grabbed a few off of ITunes . I thought it was rather disappointing that he had such similiar tracks to SFTLC. I only liked two or three on that album , didn't care for the choices and the arrangements weren't too good IMO .
Would of been better to me if he represented the Symphonica tour with a live compilation from it , not studio tracks mixed in.

 

From what I saw on the YT clips for his concert performance, George probably mainly focused on singing and often danced while he was singing. Playing instruments except for rhythm with guitar would be distraction. Personally, I think playing instruments while singing is a bit overrated. Prince may be the only one can dance, playing instrument and singing.

 

George Michael did more of what I would call "rhythmic stepping" than actual dancing, and he was a very utilitarian instrumentalist in that he had to spend a lot of time with the given instrument in order to play it, but once he got a feel for it he did pretty well in the studio. He tried to play the guitar during Faith on some of the 87-88 dates, but he wasn't very good in a live setting by most accounts.

Prince was better live in the later years IMO because he toned down the dancing. He was such a talented guitarist and a capable singer that the dancing seemed a bit over-egged.

 

True was only referring to his abilities in the studio .

 

Really ? I think it was more dancing , in some of the old live yt videos. You are right he wasn't proficient in any one instrument, he said so himself. Think it was just impressive how he could pick up many different instruments at all.

 

"rhythmic stepping" is probably accurate, although I find his "dancing" moves were spot on. GM did dance more during the Faith Tour, based on the YT clips.

It is interesting that IMO, among the three biggest pop artists, MJ is the best dancer, Prince the best guitarist, and GM the best singer.

 

Not sure how Madonna isn't in that three biggest pop artists list, but looking at just those three, I think most would agree with your bottom line statement.

I only know Jesus to a Child from this record, which I like. I will have to check out the rest at some point.

 

I meant to say the biggest male pop artists in the 80s....

 

All good.

All of my friends who almost exclusively listen to rock/metal give me a weird glance on the rare occasions where I talk up George Michael, like if we are chatting about best singers, but I do it with no shame. The guy was a world class singer.

 

I think we all just wish he would have used his voice a lot more in his prime - and he really shined in a live setting.

I have the well circulated soundboard from a concert he did on the Faith tour in the Netherlands and he just nails it to a wall. He did a version of Everything She Wants where it starts as a ballad before going into the dance number.

 

That's an interesting point made about your hard rock friends . But I don't get that , even if not your taste why can't people recognize talent ? I think in the states men in general did not seem to care for him or wouldn't admit it out loud. Was it the image , the fact that so many women adored him or just simply not their sort of music? Hopefully it wasn't anything against him due to his sexuality.
By the way does it matter on this site that we are veering away from thread topic? Is there a general GM discussion thread?

 

It could of been also that you were referring to real talent which it's hard to put Madonnna in that category , sorry if I'm offending any fans .

 

While I am not a big fan of Madonna (I like a couple of her songs), I think she is talented with strong will. Among the biggest stars of the 80s, she is the only one still alive and going strong.

 

That's true sadly she is only one left but she hasn't made anything considered relevant since Music which was what early 2000's? Not sure, only liked few of her hits back in 80's, 90's on radio.
Believe most of her songs particularly her hits were written for her, the voice wasn't particularly good , dancing ok .. Really think her success was due to smart marketing on her part , changing her look constantly and courting controversy.

 

Obviously there is very good music conversation going on here , but in case going to extend this to whomever may be interested , ( maybe some more old members here) I was on the old forum that closed for GM in 17' and one of the members there opened another one called :
www.GMfans.freeforums.net
There are less than 10 of us and while it's mostly GM talk there are threads about other interests , not just music. Feel free to come over ..

 

I think George quite easily had one of the best voices in pop music. Which is proved by the fact that he is one of the very few people that completely nailed a Freddy Mercury song. And he did it live!

Queen with George Michael – Somebody to Love:

 

I'm in minority here, but Spinning of the wheel is my favorite. I just love that feel and it gives me that Kissing a fool vibe imo.

 

Very good vibe on that track. Love the whole album really,SP is my least liked one.

 

I love Star People. What is it about the track you dislike?

 

I agree with GMfan, it’s my least favourite track. I still love it, but it’s kind of out of sync with the rest of the album for me. But I trust George, he obviously had something he wanted to say with that song so it belongs there...

 

I had posted early in this thread about it, it doesn't flow as well with rest of album imo but I don't dislike (just the least one I like on album) it per say, I really prefer the Unplugged version, much more oomph to it.
Would Safe or You Know That I Want To or One Day I'll Know have fit better in that slot?
My faves of non- released are To Be Forgiven, and Strangest Thing.
How about you?

 

I get what you mean about it being slightly out of sync with the overall flow of the album.

Also agree the unplugged version has more oomph.

That unplugged show really should have been a mega seller as an official album in its own right.

 

A DVD of that should see the light of day, probably with the Older box set if that is to be for 25th anniversary of album.

 

Spinning The Wheel is a great song. there is sth special in both melody and lyrics. the video is great too.

I recently heard a couple of songs by Sam Smith called How Do You Sleep, and Dancing With A Stronger. the former is about the similar subject to that in Spinning the Wheel, while the latter is about sth like Fastlove. But Sam Smith's songs sound pretty average.