Following the dissolution of Wham!, there was no doubt that its lead singer, George Michael was going to be a solo star, what with "A Different Corner". Sure enough, six singles from this album hit the Top Five, with four #1s, garnering him a Best Album Grammy. It also showed a maturation point for Michael, where adult contemporary radio could play his songs instead of teeny-bopper fare from Wham!

"Faith" became George Michael's first #1 hit, and after its inauspicious church organ beginning to add to the theme title, jumps into a racing skiffle rhythm. Deon Estus, Wham!'s bassist, lends strong support here and other songs. I heard Limp Bucket's rendition and rolled my eyes; they ruined a great song.

"Father Figure" is an effective R&B ballad with gospel-tinged chorus sung by George Michael and Shirley Lewis. Another #1 hit for him.

"I Want Your Sex" got involved into quite a bit of controversy due to the title and the supposedly obscene lyrics. Originally on the Beverly Hills Cop 2 soundtrack, many radio stations here would NOT play this song, yet it peaked at #2 on the Hot Singles Chart. It's another case of "People, read the lyrics. Duh!" On one hand, yes, it's a case of the man begging for it, but another part dwells on the arguments he makes: "It's natural, it's chemical, it's logical, habitual" And a message here is aimed at PMRC types as well as the girl: "What's your definition of dirty, baby? What do you call pornography?" Part I of this song was the single with the thumping funky beat, while Part II-Brass In Love adds layers of piano and brass while maintaining the same melody.

"One More Time" is one of two great ballads. With keyboards giving an eerie atmosphere, say a more poppy "Whiter Shade Of Pale" but without the Bachian motif of the original. Michael really puts the most of his emotional self into this song than any here.

Two non-single songs here show Michael tackling social ills. "Hand To Mouth" soberly tells two stories of lives denied the American dream, someone who finally blows hit top and shoots out at people, the other a woman who has no one to turn to and becomes a prostitute. The criticism of Reaganite America is strong here: "I believe in the arms of America/I believe in the land of the free/But no one told me/that the gods believe in nothing/so with empty hands I pray."

The other, "Look At Your Hands", is on one hand a vengeful slap at a lost lover, but has fallen into an abusive marriage, domestic violence being a theme here.

By the time the anti-drug song "Monkey" came out, Faith had been on the charts for a full year, and the single went to #1. It has a pop-funk beat like "I Want Your Sex" and it's okay but I got the impression that Sony was leaning on Michael as a name. "Hey, it's by him, it'll sell well. Who cares which song it is?"

Now the piano cafe-jazz ballad "Kissing A Fool" is a different story. This was the last single released from this album, and . The recent Michael Buble rendition pales in comparison due to the soaring richness of George Michael's voice. Get the original, people. The sage wisdom of human nature is shown here: "People, you can never change the way they feel/Better let them do what they will/For they will, if you let them."

Part 3 of "I Want Your Sex", titled A Last Request, takes on a more devious tone, as the man waits for "that gin and tonic to go to your head" because in the end, "There's only so much a gentlemen can stand."

A landmark 80's pop album and considering George Michael's later troubles overshadowed his talent, a vital second step for him.

The album 'Faith' is a classic/landmark debut solo release by the talented singer-songwriter, George Michael in 1987, having just left his popular band Wham (George Michael & Andrew Ridgeley). The album 'Faith' was a worldwide instant success/smash, selling over 20 million copies & spawning 5 number one chart hits. The album also went to win a Grammy for album of the year. This 'Faith Special Edition' release has 2 CDs, 1 DVD & 40 page hardbound book with exclusive interview as well as rare photos. Disc 1 has 'Faith' album 10 tracks (2010 remastered versions). The production/sound quality is great as compared to that of my original Vinyl LP/Album I bought in 1987. With the hits "Faith", "Father Figure", "I Want Your Sex" (this song reached number one with minimal airplay/videoplay as the song was banned!), "One More Try" & "Kissing A Fool", one can't go wrong. Disc 2 (9 tracks, 2010 remastered versions) has great instrumentals ("Faith" & "Kissing A Fool"), great & rare remixes ("Hard Day", Shep Pettibone Remix, "Monkey", Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Remix), rare versions ("Monkey", great Maxi single, "Monkey", amazing alla cappella version & "Love's In Need Of Love Today, great live performance) & B-sides "Fantasy" & "I Believe(When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever"). The DVD has music videos of hits "I Want Your Sex" (2 versions : censored & uncensored versions, this is my first look as to what caused its banning in 1987),"Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", "Monkey" & "Kissing A Fool", promotional music videos as well as the 1987 Channel 4, UK 60 minutes interview. On overall, this is a great 're-issue' of George Michael's classic/landmark album, a must for his fans & hopefully acquiring new ones as well, a highly recommended listening & viewing.

Remastered 24 years after it's release, 'Faith' 2011 style has certainly met with disappointment. It's fair to say I was expecting one of those boom-boom, highly compressed efforts that are sadly the norm these days. Recent reissues from the likes of Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet have been wrecked by over-zealous technicians artificially amping up the sound in an effort to make the albums sound modern. Well, 'Faith' isn't one of those... Quite the opposite, in fact. Back to back comparisons with the original 1987 CD show very little difference. The new version is a bit fresher but I can understand why a lot of fans are unhappy with the update. It doesn't feel like much effort or expense has gone into it's upheaval...

The bonus CD does sound a lot better, as many people have said, which is really odd! In truth any kind of Michael fan will own all these tracks already but it's nice to have them all in one place. The DVD also has nothing really new for fans though the Jonathan Ross interview is fun with George carefully skirting around the topic of his sex life. Incidentally, this interview lasts for 38 minutes and not an hour as some have claimed. After this there'a 27 minute 'press kit' for the 'Faith' album and tour and all the videos for the (many) hit singles from the album. Obviously the videos have appeared on video and DVD umpteen times and are all a bit one-note, like they were all shot on the same day! Again, though, the DVD wouldn't be complete without them.

I quite liked the packaging. The CDs and DVD are encased in a 40 page hardbacked book with itself rests in a good quality slipcase. The 'book' features a recent interview with George which is pretty good though he manages to take a few more potshots at his most successful album. I know 'Faith' isn't perfect but Michael is very dismissive of the whole thing, which perhaps isn't what's needed on this expensive reissue! To my mind, I'd much rather have 'Faith' over his 'serious artist' follow-up 'Listen Without Predudice Vol 1' (which he also poo-poos in the interview!) or the later overblown, overlong 'Patience' any day of the week. It's sad he feels the need to pour scorn on the project still. I know he claims to have been unhappy during the recording of the album and especially on the lengthy world tour that followed, but he's always been a snotty, miserable git anyway, so why single 'Faith' out?! Like it or not, this was his last great pop album. He's spent the last 20-odd years avoiding what he does best. Simple pop songs that sound somehow familiar. And though 'Faith' is good, his last Wham! album, 'Make It Big' beats it into fits for quality pop material!

So, this package has divided fans for different reasons. I agree the remastering could have been better but it's not as unlistenable as some may claim and the DVD is decent and well put together and the book is good too. I'm sure there'll be another revamp one day anyway. Hopefully it won't take another 24 years, though!

When people look back at George Michael's days with Wham!, it is either with disdain or as the beginning of a career in pop music that still shows some promise if the public will just accept it. True, George may have been both the brains & brawn behind Wham!, but he hadn't been accepted as his own man yet. So when he officially went solo in 1986, he set about conquering the world & proving that he wasn't one-half of Wham!, he was George Michael.

FAITH hit the shelves in the summer of 1987 & naturally took the charts & the world by storm. With an album that would eventually spawn 6 top 5 hits (a record not beaten until Janet Jackson did with RHYTHM NATION) & sell 10+ million copies, anyone would be a fool to say George didn't deserve it. The music was catchy & fresh & of course, George was not a bad looker either. While he would soon rebel against the things that he said held him back as an artist, I'm sure during the blockbuster success of FAITH, he wasn't complaining all that much.

The first song to reach the public was the controversial "I Want Your Sex". Featured in the movie BEVERLY HILLS COP II, the video for the song was only shown on MTV after midnight & in the now-AIDS-conscious time that was the 1980s, a song about wanting to have sex was more than a bit daring. George would defend it by saying it was about monogamy. You could see his point, but really the scorching nature of the song would have you believe otherwise. Either way, the song peaked at #2 on the charts, but wouldn't be the last we'd hear of George & FAITH.

The title track was a rockabilly-inspired number that was a far cry from, say, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". The change in sound proves that George really did have some more aces up his sleeve than just a dance-floor one. "Faith" topped the charts for 4 weeks & today remains a classic not even blemished by Limp Bizkit's sacrilegious "cover" of it. Three more songs would reach the pop summit: the sultry yet heartfelt "Father Figure" (later sampled by P.M. Dawn on their hit "Looking Through Patient Eyes & even later by LL Cool J on his hit "Father"); the soulful "One More Try" (which actually topped the R&B charts!) & the wonderfully funky "Monkey" (after it was remixed from its rather limp album version by Jam & Lewis).

The remaining songs on the album are equally pointed towards the dance floor with one exception. "Hard Day", "Hand To Mouth" (later covered by Joan Baez, no kidding!) & "Look At Your Hands" were overlooked in all the hoopla surrounding the songs that became hits, but they show the wonderful way George has of getting people to dance. These songs would become bigger club hits than chart singles.

Finally, we have the album's 6th & last top 5 hit, "Kissing A Fool". Probably the best-written song on the album, this jazzy ballad features one of George's best-ever vocal performances & shockingly only reached #5 on the charts. My guess is because it was released more than a year after FAITH first hit the stores, people were starting to grow tired of the album from overexposure. But the song is still an overlooked classic & the title to an equally-underrated romantic comedy.

With a blockbuster album & his face plastered on girls' bedroom walls all over the world, George Michael should have been & was probably rightfully happy with his accomplishments. But I guess George wanted to prove that FAITH only scratched the surface of what he could do. He must have thought the only way to prove to his fans new & old that he was about much more was to break from his past & virtually dismiss any of the adulation he had won courtesy of FAITH.

Unfortunately, George's record label Columbia didn't feel the same way & failed to stand behind his follow-up, 1990's LISTEN WITHOUT PREJUDICE, VOL. 1, as much as they did its predecessor. It would be the beginning of a long stand-off between George & Columbia that would win him his freedom, but alienate his audience. By the time 1996's OLDER came out, George's old fans had moved on to other things & to them, George was a relic of the past. But he hasn't given up, for there has been talk of a new album coming out sometime in 2002. The first single is said to be titled "Freeek", so perhaps George is returning to the winning way he has always had with dance tunes. Until that appears, we'll have an album like FAITH, which is truly a 1980s classic, to both bring back memories & remind us that George Michael is an artist whose talents are not to be underestimated.

OK, so maybe not to all people, but in addition to the urban hip of Janet Jackson's "Control" disc, this was THE album of my mid-teens.

George Michael was one of the pioneers of the artist as a package. He wrote his own music, produced it, then sang it; after all that, he created catchy, highly stylized music videos (also a strength of Janet's and Madonna's) to present the song the way he envisioned it to be. Many artists of the 80's (and, unsurprisingly, today) stuck to the format of the time, not taking risks and not advancing the art form we call pop music.

George, however, seemed to have an uncanny ability to know what the pop music-buying audiences WOULD want, and created just that.

Faith, as a whole, is a diverse set of musical genres, an obvious reflection of George's appreciation for all types of music. There are few who couldn't recognize almost every song on this album from the first few notes - the guitar on 'Faith,' the synth on 'Father Figure,' the lush piano on 'Kissing a Fool,' and the electronic 'primates' on 'Monkey'.

He stirred controversy when, at the 1988 American Music Awards, he won not only for best Pop vocal, but best R&B album, a move that demonstrated for the first (and, to my knowledge, only) time that white boys CAN have soul.

While his career since has been less impressive from a numbers standpoint, George Michael was and continues to be one of the most talented and engaging songwriters and performers of our time. This, and most of his other material, is timeless.