After reading all the negative reviews for George Michael's latest album Patience, I have a question: is this album really bad or is it just bad compared to Faith? Although it's true that Faith was his best album (and thus may make all his other albums pale in comparison), that doesn't mean THIS album is dismissible.

There are several good songs to find on here, like "Amazing" and the mellow title track. And as usual, there is a nice variety of introspective tracks, like the feel-sorry-for-yourself (and maybe suicidal) "I'm Through". There's also the political "Shoot the Dog", which was actually removed from the album at the last minute due to its controversy, so it looks like you'll have to download it if you want to hear it.

I just couldn't get into some of the other songs, though, especially "John & Elvis Are Dead". And "Please Send Me Someone" is a nice tribute to George's first boyfriend (who died from AIDS), but maybe the song would have been better if it wasn't so uptempo. Also, "Freeek! `04" might be a little too crazy for his own good.

Everything else is pretty listenable except for the fact that you might find a generic lyric here and there. Patience may not be George's best album, but it's living proof that he's still talented and he won't be going anywhere for a while.

Anthony Rupert

By now, George Michael's battles with the music industry & his bid to be taken seriously as an artist are a part of modern pop music legend. Sure, his solo albums have been years in the making, only this time, it wasn't legal reasons that kept him from returning to the stores, but mostly personal ones & just plain perfectionism. So is PATIENCE the best album to make a comeback? Not really, but it'll do just fine.

1. "Patience"---This brief ballad opens the album with lyrics that appear to be about both the importance of religion & why it is never there when we need it. George shows how far he has grown vocally in the last 2 decades. The reprise of the song that closes the British version of PATIENCE was left off of America's one probably for the sake of redundancy.

2. "Amazing"---The first single in America, a better one could not have been chosen, for it shows that George still knows his way around a groove. A #1 hit on the Billboard Dance charts, perhaps America has forgiven George his past indiscretions, not all of them musical.

3. "John & Elvis Are Dead"---Continuing the religious-of-sorts nature of "Patience", George makes perfect sense when he asks, "If Jesus Christ is alive & well, then how come John & Elvis are dead". Maybe George had asked the same question of some of the other people close to him who passed on while this album was being recorded.

4. "Cars & Trains"---A song about how the alluring nature of love will make us do the strangest things, it nevertheless is one of the album's least-engaging tracks. The music is somewhat catchy, but doesn't linger long in the mind after it's finished. If George had gone all perfectionist, he could have paid to flesh this song out some more.

5. "Round Here"---For those who've liked George's ballads since "Father Figure" or even "Careless Whisper", this song reigns supreme. Apparently about his childhood, George again works magic with his voice, showing that maybe with age, it's begun to work better on slower tunes than dance numbers.

6. "My Mother Had A Brother"---No doubt the emotional height of the album, this has to be closest to George's heart. About his uncle who committed suicide on the day George was born because he couldn't cope with his homosexuality, for someone with his own issues in that respect, maybe I'm lucky not to have been faced with that kind of choice George's uncle had.

7. "Flawless [Go To The City]"---Returning to the infectious delights of "Amazing", it certainly has the highest amount of beats per minute, and it's no wonder this is being considered for the second single. The "Flawless" part comes from the Ones song of the same name being sampled, so really the song's title is "Go To The City".

8. "American Angel"---Singing the praises of his current partner (the most heartfelt tribute to a lover from Texas since Roxy Music's "Prairie Rose"), George again shows his mastery of the slow jam with music you can easily imagine on a soft rock radio station.

9. "Precious Box"---The epic of the album at 7 1/2 minutes, the stream-of-consciousness approach to lyrics may put some off. However, the beat of this song is its saving grace, and it's easy to picture club patrons everywhere getting their groove on to this one.

10. "Please Send Me Someone [Anselmo's Song]"---George pays tribute to his first lover whose passing had inspired most of the songs on 1996's OLDER. Only this time, George is rather thankful for having been sent someone like his late boyfriend in his current one, thus contributing to the song's more upbeat, yet still ballad-driven, air.

11. "Freeek! '04"---This had been released in England nearly 2 years before PATIENCE finally came out, and maybe the perfectionist in George encouraged him to update it. By far his most salacious musical come-on since "I Want Your Sex", I wonder if George was listening to Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" while working on this song for "Freeek!"'s beat is identical to it, along with the lyrics' praising of the more sexual side of love.

12. "Through"---The American version of the album closes out with this somber ballad that is said to be the tell-tale sign of George's wishes to get away from the music business. Only a decade & a half ago, George was decrying the tabloid media with one of his hottest ever dance beats on "Freedom '90". But now he's not willing to dance his troubles away even if he remains just as disgusted with a medium that really hasn't changed in the years since, just gotten even more vicious.

The second single that came out in England before the album's release was the controversial "Shoot The Dog", which skewered Bush-era politics & the cozy little niche Tony Blair has carved into W.'s circle. Left off the American version because this is an election year (which I can understand with the whole equal time issue), I have to be honest that this song isn't all it's cracked up to be. Perhaps I need to listen to it a few more times, but the inflammatory nature of the song is lost on me at the moment.

Sure, PATIENCE may be George Michael's last album, but given the amount of years that he has put between his albums, I tend to think that George will just begin to take his time with subsequent records. Besides, very few artists who have "retired" ever stuck to that promise. So maybe George wants to spend quality time with his partner, and put music in the back of his mind for awhile. That is just fine, but let's hope PATIENCE is not really the last we hear of him. If anything, maybe he's just telling us to be even more patient with him while he works on the next album.

George Michael has a voice which touches, motivates, lifts and sometimes chills me depending upon his mood, his lyric and his music. This CD is nothing short of WELCOME and pure ARTISTRY. I was a fan of his in the 80's when he was with WHAM but have become a die-hard fan since he matured and got off the pop train he was riding back then. I have listened to George plaintively, soulfully, and impressively spin his art and he always, always genuinely exposes the listener to his life, emotion and spirit in his music while entertaining, enlightening and helping us to remember the common threads of humanity and nature we all share. He is nothing less than phenomenal on this CD and offers the listener both ballads to cling to and upbeat dance music to move to (either way with Mr. Michael's talent and voice is winning combination) and you are in for a treat.

Apparently everyone wrote a review for the IMPORT version of "Patience"....i KNEW i should have gotten the import!! anyways, this is album is great! The man has one of THE best voices in pop music ever. His voice is so clear and pure that it's an injustice to not listen to him sing. Standout songs for me on this album are "Patience", "Amazing", "John and Elvis are Dead", "Cars and Trains", "Flawless", and "Freek". But THE best song has got to be "My Mother Had a Brother". oh my word...he was singing that song!! "Through" is another huge highlight showcasing George's vocal talents and the emotion he puts in a song. Well, be sure to check this album out. Maybe with enough sales George Michael will think about touring in the US again! :)

George Michael has always been ballsy; even when in Wham!, he was a perfectionist who refused to suffer the banality of the music business, forcing his way to the production boards and doing what he does best: crafting immortal records. Ten years before TLC, he signed himself into slavery with a small and greedy label, knowing that the power of his success would sooner or later attract a bigger label (with bigger lawyers...) to pull him out of it. Then when Sony wanted to dictate marketing obligations (despite the fact that the artist usually pays for such things as well as having to endure them), he took them on, too, knowing full well he could lose but needing to get the air cleared. When "the incident" occurred, he made lemonade (and one of the best damn club records of the decade, make that video, too!) from a lemon situation. (Note-I meant nothing by "making lemonade" but it's too good to pass) In the process he "one-upped" Sony enough that they wanted him back after the much publicised split. They got him back, but I'll tell you i know it wasn't on the cheap! Despite the fact that George was clinically depressed and feeling creatively dry at the time, he dutifully fulfilled his obligations to Dreamworks with a sublime, understated effort that will hold great catalogue value for that label in years to come. He doesn't hold a grudge, he just wants to create his art HIS way and get the same respect he gives. Which is really where "Patience" comes in...

George has collected thoughts and observations over the last few years and applied his genius talent for writing and recording to a savory and substantial assortment of musical vignettes which run the gamut in terms of music, politics, and places in life. There is something here for everyone, and all offered with loving honesty and a caring dose of cynicism that is always balanced with the knowledge that something better is out there. George is loath to express misery for it's own sake, and there is always a nobility to his negative observations. For example, "Precious Box" obstensibly tells the tale of a lonely worker whose only refuge, make that only COMPANIONSHIP is the daily dose of celebrity that shines behind the glass of his t.v. screen (this theme pops up more on the album...). The techno-driven music is some of the best damn composing he's ever done, building a monotonous and icy tension perfectly-synched with the lyrical delivery and, like the protagonist in the song, heating to near meltdown without really collapsing. The lyric sees all sides of the celebrity/paparazzi /stalker issue in exacting detail, while offering useful commentary in the process. I don't think George has ever been near-psychotic and isolated in a flat with a t.v. as a shrine, but he GETS what such a person would go through. That's what has always set him apart, even as a "pop" star. He has a genuine grasp of humanity that far too many of his contemporaries prefer to fake for the occasional photo op. Counterbalancing "Precious Box", the whisper-soft title track "Patience" grasps the complexity of human viewpoints that compose the current East-West conflict. I'm near sure that both songs will go 'over the head" of people most needing to listen to them, but a true artist does not pander to the masses, he will please them in time. George does this brilliantly with the haunting, life-affirming "Amazing", which was running non-stop in my head for months. It's well-titled, original and a true breath of fresh air. Why it wasn't a big hit Stateside I'll never know...
Space prevents commentary on every track, but I've got to mention "Shoot the Dog" (reportedly absent on the US version. My copy is an Argentine import) and "Flawless". Among George's many musical talents (singing, writing horn parts, meticulously choosing the CLASSIEST synth sounds)is his singular and downright classy nack for using samples in way that ADDS prestige to the sampled material as well as enhancing his own composition without overpowering either in the process. With George, everyone gets paid for use AND gets more sales on their own sides in the bargain! Listen to "Fast Love" for more of this approach.
"Freek!" is a case of having to get something out, even if it's overall effect isn't exactly positive in nature. There are very well-couched drug references in there that gay men will get and no one else will, and George hasn't offered commentary, he may even be unaware of the double meanings (i doubt it). I think he's documenting a moment in sexual history without advocating or damning it, like a good reporter that you can dance to.
"Cars and Trains" is a delightful and deceptively-saccharine take on self-destruction and how many of us, especially those hurt in childhood, will actually finish the job of our absent tormentors. George doesn't claim to know why, he just wants us to knock it off. "Through" is George throwing a bit of melodrama our way; being openly gay allows him that affectation now, so he'll take it. I'm sure it was written in an honest emotional state, I'm also sure George isn't through.
This album, like "Listen Without Prejudice" seems destined to be an under-received classic. Years from now people will be waxing nostalgic to a great work they never bought in the first place... I'm through.