Faith
George Michael
1987
Album Summary
Faith is the debut solo studio album by the English singer George Michael, released on 30 October 1987 by Columbia Records and Epic Records. In addition to playing various instruments on the album, Michael wrote and produced every track on the recording except for one, "Look at Your Hands", which he co-wrote with David Austin. A "black" inspired pop-R&B album, Faith's songs include introspective lyrics, which generated controversies about Michael's personal relationships at that time.Faith peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart and US Billboard 200. It stayed for 51 non-consecutive weeks inside the Billboard 200 top 10, including 12 weeks at number one. It was also the first album by a white solo artist to hit number one on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart. Faith spawned four number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey", making Michael the only British male solo artist to have four number one hits from one album on the Billboard Hot 100. Michael embarked on The Faith Tour to promote Faith in February 1988, opening at Tokyo's Budokan arena, before going on to dates in Australia, Europe and North America.Faith is one of the best-selling albums of all time having sold over 25 million copies worldwide and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1996. The album won several awards, including Album of the Year at the 31st Grammy Awards. Michael won 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. Often ranked as one of the best albums of the 1980s, Faith was ranked number 472 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In a revised list in 2020, it was listed at number 151.
WikipediaI could be misunderstanding but i do believe this gentleman wants to have sex with me
Honestly, there isn't a song on this album that isn't a highlight. This album is certainly George Michael's strongest of his discography, and each track is built well enough that it can be retooled into a club banger (because this happened already)..and the under-appreciated Part 2 of I Want Your Sex legitimately slaps, with its big horns. Monkey was a powerhouse sleeper hit followed by Kissing a Fool, with its sexy-suave swing beat.
George Michael, what is/was wrong with you, dude? There is so much to unpack in the transition from "Father Figure" to "I Want Your Sex." Come again, George? You talkin' to me? You can't have my sex. Especially with those awful lyrics. For 9 minutes and 17 seconds!? "I will be your father figure... I will be your preacher teacher," into "I'm not your father/ I'm not your brother." And who or what is "One More Try" about? Hoping the teacher referenced there is an older partner, and not an actual school teacher. Though considering the preceding songs, all bets are off. "Faith" stands the test of time, and holds up very well, but I feel bad for it. Even after you get through the weird stuff, there's a string of less offensive songs that really wear out their welcome with 4-5 minute lengths. "Faith" was completely forgotten about after what followed, unfortunately.
Oof. This is peak 80s and not in a good way. Michael Jackson did it better. And he was way less sleezy. Which is saying something because Jackson? Eesh. But ol' Georgie boy here takes the sleeze cake. The whole album is just so slimy. Every single track feels gross. And that's even if you leave out "I Want Your Sex" which ... what the actual hell. I'm pretty sure this album gave my ears an STD.
Was basically tantamount to committing cool-kid suicide by admitting to liking George Michael when I was younger. However, now I'm ready to come out of the closet. This album is pretty great. Wall to wall.
When I was a kid I was obsessed with this album. It's been a running joke for years in my family. All joking aside after listening to this from top to bottom (LOL) for the first time since I was probably 5 I can safely say it's a classic. Almost every damn song is good. Younger me had great taste!
Always has been one of my favorite albums of all time. I absconded with my sister’s copy when she got it for Christmas. It is his best albums and one of the best pop albums of the 80’s. I could listen to it on a loop.
I am not familiar with GEORGE MICHAEL’s FAITH. I have only really been exposed to the WHAM!’s songs: "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", which I liked, and "Careless Whisper", which did not make a favorable impression on me at the time. At the time, I generally, dismissed WHAM! and therefore GEORGE MICHAEL as pop music. After listening to FAITH, I still liked the album, there are some great songs, especially the instrumentals. The “Faith” Instrumental reminds me of THE CURE. I was very pleasantly surprised how good GEORGE MICHAEL’s voice is and the music is pretty good, too. I’m glad my ears are now “open” In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, GEORGE MICHAEL - FAITH Is joined by his next album: LISTEN WITHOUT PREJUDICE: VOL 1 (1990) Rate Artist: GEORGE MICHAEL (4.5) Rate Album (Year): FAITH (UK 1986 Original) (5.0) Rate Album (Year): FAITH (UK 2011 Box Set) (4.5) Ranking of GEORGE MICHAEL - FAITH songs No. Title Length Ranking 1-1 Faith 3:13 10.0/10 1-2 Father Figure 5:36 10.0/10 1-3 I Want Your Sex (Pt 1 & 2) 9:17 08.0/10 1-4 One More Try 5:50 07.0/10 1-5 Hard Day 4:48 08.0/10 1-6 Hand To Mouth 4:36 08.0/10 1-7 Look At Your Hands 4:37 09.0/10 1-8 Monkey 5:06 08.0/10 1-9 Kissing A Fool 4:40 10.0/10 UK 1986 Original Release 86.0/90 = 9.56 / 2 = 4.78 Bonus Tracks 1-10 A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Pt 3) 3:47 08.0/10 2-1 Faith (Instrumental) 3:07 10.0/10 2-2 Fantasy 5:02 08.0/10 2-3 Hard Day (Shep Pettibone Mix) 9:05 09.0/10 2-4 I Believe When I Fall In Love 7:05 08.0/10 2-5 Kissing A Fool (Instrumental) 4:37 10.0/10 2-6 Love's In Need Of Love Today (Live) 4:46 08.0/10 2-7 Monkey (7" Edit Version) 4:52 08.0/10 2-8 Monkey (A Capella & Beats) 7:30 07.0/10 2-9 Monkey (Jam & Lewis Remix) 8:06 08.0/10 UK 2011 Box Set (10 Bonus) Release 170.0/190 = 8.94 / 2 = 4.47
The more I listened to this the more I liked it. I thought the production was excellent and that George Michael is a strong singer with a powerful presence. I also felt like I was learning about him as I listened. Great pop.
I hadn't really listened to much George Michael music before this album. I like it. Upbeat, Smooth voice and suggestive lyrics are a winning combination.
Actually very good album which has plenty of great songs. At first glance I knew that Faith was good and expected other songs to be OK at best. But it was actually very good.
Unforgettable pop album. The one in which GM combines the commercial touch of Wham! with his artistic aspirations, which will be further developed in his later works. The mixture in here originates the almost perfect pop meets r&b album
En ce mois de pride, notre generateur se met a la page en nous proposant ce bel album du très efféminé George Michael
George has got a nice voice, and there are some good arrangements here, especially in the back half. Overall, though, it's an unengaging experience. Thankfully, not in a boring way: Even after almost an hour I wasn't checking to see how much was left. But after the opening tracks, which come across as nothing more than a very lame attempt to shock the audience, I couldn't stop noticing the unimpressive writing. I don't think there's a case for this being offensively bad pop music, but it loses me on every other level.
While the title track is undeniably dope, nothing else on here really held my attention. Sleazy style over content.
I feel like I'm listening to a 90's boy band. Respect where respect is due, clearly George Michael's music influenced those acts, and I can objectively recognize this is good pop music, but I am in no way feeling this. It's not my music.
George Michael is ok in small doses but this was way too much weird sexy 80s music.
this album is not good. well, it's well produced, but the songs just suck. they're all products of their time, with little to no heart. so many songs are just "please have sex with me i want sex so bad please it's good please i'm a gentleman but i want sex" stupid dumb idiot album
This album was hard to get to the end of, I can’t find a single redeeming quality here.
I guess I'm not the right audience? I don't know, I feel like the songs just blended together to form an amalgamation of the want/need of love described in a way I didn't like. Don't get me wrong, I love "Careless Whisper" (who doesn't?) but this just felt flat to me. I can get past lyrics, but the song structures felt similar and uninspiring. "Kissing a Fool" was my favorite, it felt the most refreshing and fun out of the bunch, but my favorite list stops there. Other than one specific setting that we all know this would work well for, I don't know why you would listen to this doing anything else but that. Not my thing, but don't let me dissuade you from returning to this to help stoke a fire burning between you and someone you love.
I was already going to give this a 1 because I hated it so much, but the last song really put it over the top. Both “I want your sex” songs were so creepy.
1 Late review because I definitely wasn't listening to this at the office and... wtf. I've never been much of George Michael fan, but goddamn this album is CREE-PY. I felt uncomfortable for the entire listening of Father Figure, and then if that wasn't bad enough, he decided to double down on the following track subtly titled I Want Your Sex. I probably shouldn't over-analyze something that's intended to be a serviceably danceable slice of '80s pop music, but goddamn this whole song is Michael trying to convince someone to have sex with him who clearly doesn't want to. "I'm not your brother I'm not your father Oh will you ever change your mind I'm a gentle lover with a heart of gold But baby you've been so unkind Come on I want your sex" And this isn't even the only questionable lyric... this about how every verse goes. When I wasn't completely unsettled, I was bored out of my skull listening to substance-devoid lyrics and unoriginal 80's pop beats. It sounds like he's trying to do a Michael Jackson thing on quite a few of these songs, but while equally as creepy, I'd take a Jackson album over this any day. Once you've had a chance to slog through the boring back half of this album, guess how Michael decided to close it out? Yep, that's right, with a reprise of I Want Your Sex. Ultimately, I just don't think this album has aged well at all. Make the argument all you want that I "had to be there" - you all should have realized this album was bad then, and I'm holding everyone alive in 1987 accountable.
Damn. I forgot how great this album is. The first album I ever purchased, as well.
El tipo de algún que me gusta todito. Obviamente todo el sonido ochentero y pues a riesgo de decir una babosada: michaeljacksonesco. Hace mucho no escuchaba el hitazo "Faith". Hasta las baladas me gustaron, la voz de GM es virtuosa pa'l pop. Mis canciones fav fueron ambas partes de "I Want Your Sex" y "Monkey", grandes beats. En fin, fan. 10/10.
George Michael tiene una forma muy particular de ponerme de buenas. Me parece un disco bien producido, con canciones pegajosas y que yo describiría como sensualonas.
Totally not my style of music. But you cannot help but smile when listening to this. So full of passion and is just beautiful. And it does have some classic songs on it. A-
Faith was the first time I'd ever liked a George Michael song, but the remaining songs left me cold. At the time I was a pub rock devotee with a dislike for anything that had a dance or electronic bent. How my tastes have changed. Anything with a bit of funk lures me in and this album oozes funk. Yesterday's album was that batshit crazy "There's a Riot Going On," which is the godfather of '70s funk. This is its sexy nephew.
Faith capolavoro, bellissima anche Father figure. Un album molto vario e interessante.
George Michael really just can’t do anything wrong in my eyes. I guess I’m just biased.
10/10 I love the way George Michael makes everything sound so fun and engaging a very talented soul :)
top notch album that was somewhat controversial when it came out due to its lyrics
So many great tracks on this. Definitely his finest album in my opinion.
A pop classic of it’s time- not For me , but I recall a lot of my friends loved this album.
Listened Before? Y Oh yes!!! This album was iconic in the late 80s! Everyone was all up in arms about "I Want Your Sex", and now we've got WAP. You can't stop music. And you can't ignore the fact that this album is just literally banger after banger top to bottom. One of the greatest pop albums of all time? Certainly one of the best I've ever heard. He was a special talent. Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist: I Want Your Sex, Father Figure
It's easy to look back now and dismiss but this was and still is an incredible achievement. There's a few weaker tracks but this album contains some real outstanding music that was very successful. And yes, godammit I enjoyed listening to them!
Apologies, I ADORE this album. Actually, no apologies. I didn't actually own a copy until last year. Back in '87 and early '88 and it was everywhere in my world. You couldn't escape it. Not that I wanted to. The songwriting and production is perfect pop for me. Yes, Georgie is trying to grow up. He lays down a marker for this on tracks like Kissing a Fool and Father Figure. But the fun is still there on I Want Your Sex. Ewww. This actually seemed radical at the time. He's a great artist, and this is his peak. Spin on that, MUTHAS.
Front end loaded with hits, other songs are very cool. It’s a great record!
4/22 This man can sing his heart out. Standout Tracks: One More Try, Hard Day, Hand to Mouth, Kissing a Fool
Such an incredible album-- yeah it has the hits, but this album showcases George Michael's ability to take sound and make it unique.
A great pop album with well-written tunes; every song is bop-worthy with a lot of variety. I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. STANDOUTS: -Faith -I Want Your Sex -One More Try -Hard Day -Hand Over Mouth -Monkey -Kissing a Fool
Faith is the most popular song on this album by far in terms of plays but Father Figure is very good and probably the best song on this album. 8/10.
Christian-inspired music goes sexual. Pues muy característico sonido de finales de los ochenta, letras de canciones supercagadas, pop, r&b, gospelish a ratos. Suave al oído, me imagino que re mainstream en la época. Estoy seguro de que ha de haber un buen de vaporwave con samples de este disco XD. Canciones favs: Faith, monkey y Hard day. Mood: Góspel pop horny
This is a great popalbum by the greatest popsinger in history in my opinion. Catchy songs, controversial topics. Great respect!