Patience [PA] - George Michael > Reviews > 8 Long Years Of Patience

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money

Advantages:	It’s new music from George Michael
Disadvantages:	It’s taken 8 years to reach us

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Patience is a very apt title for this latest offering from George Michael. The fans have had to wait 8 years since the last original material on the album Older was released in 1996 and the CD itself has taken 5 years to record, produce and get onto the shelves of the record stores. George himself is very pleased with the end result, but what about from a fan’s perspective?

Over the years George’s music has been increasingly and heavily influenced by jazz and he seems to favour piano-led songs with his own distinctive, lilting voice putting the meaning into his well-written lyrics. This album is no different with some of the slower tracks being quite jazz like. Personally I’m not a huge fan of jazz or easy listening music and therefore some parts of the album, conversely, made for some quite difficult listening on the first run through.

The title track “Patience” is very much in the style described above. It’s a short song lasting only a couple of minutes and not the kind of opening track I would have expected on the album. It’s so short it only really feels like a filler-type song that may be “hidden” on a CD. It’s taken a few listens for me to appreciate it fully but there can be no faulting the quality of lyrics and vocals on the track. Other tracks in this style (although longer songs) are “My Mother Had A Brother”, “American Angel” and “Through”.

My Mother Had A Brother is written somewhat autobiographically and tells the story of a mother’s brother who killed himself on the day the singer (George?) was born. I have no idea whether the story is true but the photograph that accompanies the lyrics on the inlay sleeve is of George’s mother with a pram next to a graveside and the photographer is named as Jack Panayiotou – George’s father – so I think we’re left to draw our own conclusions.

American Angel is a song dedicated to George’s current lover (not me – sob!). Since his infamous “outing” in 1998, I think George has found the freedom to write exactly how he’s feeling without the need for the ambiguous lyrics that were found on Older. There’s certainly nothing ambiguous about this song and it’s a thank you to Kenny Goss for enabling George to love again after the death of previous lover, Anselmo, had devastated him so much.

Through is the final track on the CD (apart from Patience Pt II – a shorter instrumental of Patience) and again is quite a hard track to get into, mainly because of the jazz influenced rhythm and key changes. Again it is a quiet track instrumentally which means you are drawn into George’s vocals and lyrics.

The album also includes several more upbeat tracks, the most memorable being the 3 singles that have already been released – Amazing, Shoot The Dog and Freeek!

I loved Amazing the first time I heard it. It’s in the vain of previous hits such as Fastlove and Outside. If you’re a fan of those songs then you will definitely enjoy Amazing. As George says in his own words, it’s unusual for him to sing about love in such a happy manner. He’s normally wallowing in self pity and despair! But this track works and he should try happiness a bit more often because it really suits him.

Shoot The Dog was released in 2002 as a response to the political uncertainty surrounding events after September 11th but before the war had actually started. George was slated in various media circles for releasing this song and when it reached No.12, there was talk of his music career being over. In hindsight the message in the song, in that the British government were too willing to go along with the Americans, whatever the consequences, is probably correct and the humorous, tongue in cheek video that went with it adds to my enjoyment of the song.

Freeek! also released a couple of years ago, is the reason the CD comes complete with an “Explicit Lyrics” sticker. The “f” word is used frequently throughout the song but I don’t see this as too much of a problem as George’s intended audience is no longer the “youf” market. I can’t see many pre-teens rushing out to buy the CD. But if you are offended by such graphic lyrics then this is perhaps a track to be skipped over.

Other than the singles, further upbeat songs include Cars and Trains, Round Here, Flawless (Go To The City), Please Send Me Someone and Precious Box.

John And Elvis Are Dead is another slower track on the album and was written by George on the same piano that John Lennon composed "Imagine" on. I get the feeling that George took inspiration from the White Room and piano featured in the Imagine video for his album photography. The outer sleeve is very simple, plain and white with the front cover featuring George dressed in black sitting on the end of a white sofa. The inlay sleeve contains lyrics on the left and on the right there is an accompanying photograph. All the photographs could be described as “arty” but relate to the lyrics for each particular song really well. They’re the type of pictures that could speak 1000 words and add a nice touch to the album.

So we’ve waited patiently for this material. Has it been worth it? I would say definitely yes. I will admit that after a first run through there were few tracks which came across as being immediately memorable. However, having listened to it once or twice more since then, I know all these tracks are going to become very well played on my stereo – (Slam! Is that Paul I can hear running down the street?)

My overall opinion is that it is an “adult” CD, perfect for background music at dinner parties or for relaxing to. It’s not the kind of CD you would put on to get in a party mood before a night out but if you liked Older, then this album should certainly be on your “to purchase” list. It is generally a happier album than Older and shows George in a better place in his life. As usual all the tracks have been produced to perfection. It may also be the last traditional CD George Michael releases with future material being made available as downloads from the internet with any charges for the service going to charity.

My copy cost £12.99 from WHSmith but HMV are selling it for £11.99 and CDwow for £8.99 if you’re willing to wait for delivery – which after 8 years, some of us weren’t!
 

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Patience