George Michael: Patience

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George Michael’s Older (1996) is in my Top 10 favourite albums. So there. Now that that’s out of the way let’s tackle the long-awaited new album.

‘Precious’ won’t make my top 10 because it’s not really an album. It’s a collection of songs that goes on a little too long, has two old singles on it and sounds just a tad dated. So it’s good old fashioned George Michael schtuff then? Yes. ‘Amazing’, the single, has grown on me, ‘My Mother Has A Brother’ is the touching stand out ballad, but it’s the 7 minutes and 36 seconds long dance floor dark horse ‘Precious Box’ that I’ve been playing on repeat. This despite the fact that it sounds like a theme tune for a mid-90s TV show about the hard-core dance scene in, I don’t know, Sheffield. Yes, it’s got under my skin, as George himself sings in this tribute to… what? Satellite TV? You tell me (lyrics). At the end of the album, George bids the business that comes with music farewell. Here’s to many many future downloads. He may be ‘Through’, but he’s not finished.

  • Guardian review
  • Interview w/ Jo Whiley March 10, 2004
  • Older & Wiser: The George Michael story (BBC Radio 2 )