CD CHOICE:Faith Remastered
Sony ****
In 1987, George Michael was one of the world's biggest teenage heartthrobs, but he was ready for a bit of adult action. The Wham! singer had already proven he could do it himself via the chart-topping Careless Whisper, but Faithwas the moment he came out as a fully fledged solo megastar.
Of course, there would be no actual coming out – with Michael poised to become the world’s biggest sex symbol, the question of his own sexuality was deftly kicked to touch.
Faith would prove a smash-hit debut album, a strutting, super-confident calling card that seduced record buyers of all ages and sexual orientations. Michael's mission was clear: to create the UK's answer to Michael Jackson's Thriller, a genre-straddling album that would see him break out of the teenpop mould and blossom into a grown-up artist of depth and breadth.
The first single, I Want Your Sex, tried to out-perv Prince with its shocking-at-the-time lyrics, but the title track was the real clincher: a twanging, three-minute anthem whose video featured Michael in leather jacket, Levis, shades and cowboy boots, clutching an acoustic guitar and striking poses beside a jukebox. It was simplicity itself, and it hit the 1980s spot with deadly accuracy.
Faith spawned several hit singles, including the disco drug anthem Monkeyand the jazz-tinged Kissing a Fool.Michael was so keen to be taken seriously as a solo artist that he not only wrote all the tracks, he also produced and arranged, and played several instruments himself. A brave effort, but it was never going to challenge Quincy Jones's production on Thriller, and one or two of the songs have aged badly, with their lumpen drum-thumps and squelching synths.
George's subsequent albums, ( Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1and Older) saw him grow in stature both artistically and commercially. But ever since his infamous 1998 arrest for soliciting sex in a public toilet, Michael's career has been in terminal decline, his passion for roll-your-owns and rough trade having taken over from the business of making great records.
Still, before all the cruising, cottaging and cannabis busts, Faithwas the sound of a major pop force announcing itself to the world – and making the world truly believe.
