Faith (George Michael album)

By 1986, Michael had spent five years as the lead singer of the popular duo Wham! and had grown tired of accusations that the group, which featured his best friend Andrew Ridgeley, was nothing more than a teenybopper group despite the serious subject matter that was included on albums such as Fantastic and Make It Big. After the success of Make It Big Michael had grown weary of continuing the group, and expressed to Ridgeley the desire that they should split up. A decision was made that the group would dissolve following the end of a tenure at Wembley Stadium for what was titled Wham: The Final. Following the split, Michael began to work on songs that eventually would make his first solo album, which would be titled Faith.[6]

Michael spent the greater part of 1987 writing and recording the songs for the Faith album. With the exception of Part 1 of "I Want Your Sex" and "Look At Your Hands" (working title "Betcha Don’t Like It"), both of which were recorded in August & September 1986 (respectively) at Sarm West Studios in London, both serving as a prelude for the album.[1][7] In addition to playing various instruments on the album, he wrote and produced every track on the recording except for one, "Look at Your Hands", which he co-wrote with David Austin. A contemporary "black" pop-R&B album, Faith showcases the vocals of Michael in a new style mode. Its songs are littered with introspective lyrics, which generated controversies about Michael's personal relationships at that time. Most of the material was recorded at Puk Recording Studios in Denmark and Sarm West Studios in London. The album covered many styles of which included soul ("Father Figure", "One More Try"), rock ("Look at Your Hands", "Faith", "Hand to Mouth"), funk ("Monkey", "Hard Day") and jazz ("Kissing a Fool").

Some of the material was more graphic than Michael's previous efforts with Wham! One such song was "I Want Your Sex", which had three parts: the first part was titled "Rhythm 1: Lust", which was the version that would eventually be released as a single and featured electro funk influences; the second part was titled "Rhythm 2: Brass in Love", which mixed a more instrumentally-based funk live instrumentation with a smoother R&B arrangement during the verses; the third part, which was edited to be the final song on the album, was titled "Rhythm 3: A Last Request", featuring a jazz-influenced quiet storm and R&B sound combined with lyrics telling of Michael drunkenly trying to bring his lover to his bed.

The title track began with an organ fanfare that was actually the music to Wham!'s "Freedom" played as if in a cathedral. After this, the song featured a rockabilly sound similar to Bo Diddley while Michael added his own style with his vocals.[9] "Father Figure" originally was a dance-styled production until Michael removed the snare drums from it and kept it that way because he loved what he heard, making the song a mid-tempo R&B ballad. "One More Try" was a soul song in the tradition of songs by Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder; its lyrics tell of a man who pushes his lover away out of fear of repeating past relationships, only to accept the invitation in the end.

"Hard Day", much like the first two parts of "I Want Your Sex", was inspired by funk. The social commentary song "Hand to Mouth" had a slight pop and folk approach while a similar social commentary song, "Look at Your Hands", co-written by Michael and David Austin, produced a pop song with rock elements featuring a piano and saxophone. "Monkey" returns to the funk influences of some of the other songs. A remix of the song by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis brings a new jack swing approach to the original. "Kissing a Fool" is a jazz-influenced ballad with lyrics solemnly describing a breakup.

The equipment used by Michael on the album include Yamaha DX7 rev 2, Roland S-50, Roland D-50 and Roland Juno-106 synthesizers. Drum machines were a LinnDrum, Roland TR-808 and a Yamaha RX-5, while drum parts were played on a Pearl drum kit and Roland Octapad. Bass parts were played on a Fender Precision Bass.[10][11]

Michael during a Faith Tour concert in 1988. The album propelled him to solo stardom and one of the most successful English acts of the 1980s.

25 weeks after its release, Faith reached number one on the US Billboard 200.[12] Its early, and successive, success on the chart was said to be partly sustained—with help from plenty of press appearances and promotions—by its strong single releases. After "I Want Your Sex" helped propel Faith to its debut atop the chart, the second single "Faith" aided the album's continuing sales dominance. It also reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, although it stayed at the top spot for only one week. Faith stayed for 51 non-consecutive weeks inside the Billboard 200 top 10, including 12 weeks at number one.[13] It was also the first album by a white solo artist to hit number one on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart.[12]

In a 1988 interview with Jet magazine, Michael was quoted as saying: "I was much happier with [Faith] being the No. 1 Black [chart] album than I was when it became the No. 1 Pop album. There was much more of a sense of achievement. I knew this album would be a shock or a surprise to people in this country. The uptempo side of the new music is more overtly sexual, more black."[3]

During 1987 and 1988, Faith produced a string of hit singles for Michael, including six top-five Billboard Hot 100 hits, four of which ("Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey") reached number one, making him the only British male solo artist to have four number one hits from one album on the Billboard Hot 100. "Faith" was 1988's best-selling single in the United States; with "Careless Whisper" having been the best-selling single in 1985, Michael became the first musician to achieve two Billboard Year-End number one singles chart since the Beatles' "Hey Jude" topped the Year-End singles chart in 1968 after "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had done so in 1964. Michael also had both the year's number one album and the number one single, which hadn't happened since 1970, when Simon & Garfunkel grabbed both positions with Bridge over Troubled Water and its title track.

Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone praised Michael for emerging as "one of pop music’s leading artisans, a painstaking craftsman who combines a graceful knack for vocal hooks with an uncanny ability to ransack the past for musical ideas and still sound fresh" and dubbed Michael the "Elton John of the 1980s". Coleman also claimed that Faith is "a concept album of sorts" incorporating "disco groove [varying] from urban thump to slow tropical heat wave", praising it for being "grounded in a passion and personal commitment".[15]

Faith earned Michael numerous accolades, including Album of the Year at the 31st Grammy Awards. Michael was awarded three awards at the 1989 American Music Awards: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album for Faith. He was also honoured with the MTV Video Vanguard Award. Faith was the best-selling album of 1988 in the United States, and eventually reached Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. According to Nielsen SoundScan, current sales of the album stand at 11 million copies, making it the 52nd-bestselling album in the United States. Faith has sold around over 25 million copies worldwide.[5]

Reappraisal

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]
The Boston Phoenix	[17]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[18]
Entertainment Weekly	A[19]
Los Angeles Times	[20]
Pitchfork	8.7/10[21]
Q	[22]
Rolling Stone	[23]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[24]
The Village Voice	B+[25]

In a Billboard review, Faith was considered to have "cemented [Michael] as an MTV icon and a global superstar" and shaping the sound of "late-'80s pop as much as any LP of its time."[26] Writing for BBC Music, Ian Wade praised Faith for being a "classic of its era" and "one of the more listenable major releases of the 80s." He also regarded the album being responsible for turning Michael into a "proper international superstar, confirming his rightful place at pop’s top table."[27]

Reviewing the reissue of Faith for the Metro in 2011, Arwa Haider claimed: "Faith still bursts with self-belief, designer vanity, classic songs and imagery, right from the opening title track which begins with a funeral church organ rendition of Wham!'s hit, "Freedom", before clicking into jaunty rock 'n' roll. It's easy to hear why Faith achieved multi-million status, although the masterful ballads ("Father Figure", "One More Try") have stood the test of time better than Michael's funk-pop."[28] Following the 30th anniversary of the release of the single "Faith", Nate Hertweck wrote in a Grammy Awards review that the song "change[d] everything".[29]

In 1989, Faith was ranked at number 84 on Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Albums of the 80s.[30] In 2003, the album was ranked at number 480 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time while in 2012, the album ranked eight places higher at number 472 on an updated list by the magazine. In a 2020 revised list, it moved up to 151.[31][32] Faith was ranked 79th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at number 24 in its list of 40 Best Albums of the '80s.[33] Slant Magazine listed the album at number 62 on its list of Best Albums of the 1980s.[34]

All tracks are written and produced by George Michael, except "Look at Your Hands" written by Michael and David Austin.

Note

• In the liner notes, "I Want Your Sex" is listed as "I Want Your Sex (Monogamy Mix)", with the parts titled "Rhythm One: Lust" and "Rhythm Two: Brass in Love", respectively. However, on the album, the start of "Rhythm One" is slightly different from how the corresponding section starts on the actual "Monogamy Mix" as featured on the previous single release: on the album, the song starts with a synthesized bass and electronic effects, while the drums and programmed percussion come in some seconds later; on the single, the song starts only with drums and percussion.

• George Michael – vocals, keyboards (2, 3, 5, 6, 8), bass (6, 9), drums (7), programming, percussion, arranger, producer
• Robert Ahwai – guitar
• J.J. Belle – guitar
• Hugh Burns – guitar
• Roddy Matthews – guitar on "Monkey"
• Chris Cameron – piano, keyboards, organ, backing vocals
• Betsy Cook – keyboards
• Danny Schogger – keyboards
• Deon Estus – bass guitar
• Ian Thomas – drums
• Andy Duncan – percussion
• Rick Taylor – trombone
• Steve Sidwell – trumpet
• Malcolm Griffiths – trombone
• Jamie Talbot – saxophone
• Paul Spong – trumpet
• John Altman – saxophone
• Mark Chandler – trumpet
• Steve Waterman – trumpet
• Shirley Lewis – backing vocals
• Chris Porter – engineer
• Paul Gomersall – assistant engineer
• Paul Wright – assistant engineer
• Shep Pettibone – remix, additional production
• Steve Peck – remix engineer

• List of best-selling albums
• List of best-selling albums in the United States
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1988
• List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of 1988