GEORGE MICHAEL’S DEFINITIVE ARTISTIC STATEMENT GETS THE DELUXE EDITION TREATMENT TO MATCH. HERE’S HOW TO OVERCOME LIFE’S TRAUMAS WITH CLASS.
GEORGE MICHAEL’S DEFINITIVE ARTISTIC STATEMENT GETS THE DELUXE EDITION TREATMENT TO MATCH. HERE’S HOW TO OVERCOME LIFE’S TRAUMAS WITH CLASS.
JULY/AUGUST 2022
CLASSIC BEST REISSUE
SONY LEGACY
★★★★★
After losing his partner and enduring one of the last examples of the old-school pre-streaming music industry treating its great artists with utter contempt in the courts, George Michael would have been forgiven for screaming into the void for an hour on his first album in six years. It took George a long time to get to Older, but how privileged we were that he arrived on a record so redemptive and ultimately hopeful.
You’ll know of the grief and contemplation that inspired Jesus To A Child and You Have Been Loved. Well-worn as those songs are, they’re still devastating with each listen. Fastlove and prescient reality TV warning Star People remain stunning bangers 26 years later, as infectious as they are teasing and in love with pop music.
In the middle of those two extremes are the languid jazz of The Strangest Thing and To Be Forgiven, songs where George was able to stand outside of everything going on in music and be a pop star for the ages. Spinning The Wheel’s illicit thrills add a dark glamour.
In short, Older matches up to George’s claim that it was his finest work. And if it’s George Michael’s best work, it’s automatically the best album by virtually any pop songwriter. His production – the underrated side of an artist to rank with Prince as the only musician who really could do it all – is damn near perfect here.
There’s a generation to whom George is in danger of becoming elusive: Older was so long out of print on vinyl that copies were fetching £500.
That’s been solved, both by the regular vinyl reissue, now pressed as a 2LP heavyweight listen, and this long-awaited boxset. As well as the six-song Upper EP featuring three radio mixes, the hypnotic Safe and You Know I Want To, the boxset includes three CDs of mixes.
New to George’s orbit, co-producer Jon Douglas further justifies his place with his heart-stopping Spinning The Wheel mix, while the Forthright edit of Fastlove is even giddier than the album take.
Some have argued that this boxset still isn’t comprehensive enough. True, having just six songs on the Upper CD leaves room for a great live show from the era. But the genesis of Older is told brilliantly in the boxset’s book and everything else in the box adds to Older’s story.
A truly mighty album just got a whole lot mightier. Anything else is quibbling. Older could have been made in 1956 or 2026 and it would sound just as magnificent. An album apart, from a one-of-a-kind pop star.
JE