Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1

That’s more like it! A few bangers, and one of the best voices in the game. Favourite track: They Won’t Go When I Go

Such a glorious voice. How can you not dance to 'Freedom'?

Looooove his voice! This album has a nice amount of variety to it too.

Freedom 90 is a great song but it doesn’t carry the whole album, which is equal parts poppy and somber. Not sure we needed more than one George Michael album on the list, and my vote is for Faith. 3⭐️

I’ve always had a soft spot for George Michael without much caring for his music that much, apart from Careless Whisper, but I really enjoyed this.

This was mostly easy listening. Well constructed songs but underwhelming and had little bite to them. Freedom is cool but the Faith days were over so it’s horrible but not for me.

Never really listened to a lot of George Michael or Wham other than the hits. There were more somber/slower numbers than I was expecting. Freedom! 90’ is an absolute bop, and what a fun surprise that was. I also really liked Praying for Time. Other than that, I thought they were just kind of okay. He’s got a great voice, but it was dragging more than I expected.

Upbeat and fun pop songs, melodic and haunting ballads, George Michael does it all. His voice is just so powerful, regardless of the style; it simply suits everything. The album's lyrical material is also great, moving me emotionally track for track. Love the mix of instruments heard throughout the record like the different synth sounds and acoustic guitars. This album is pretty heavy on side 1 and alright on side 2, but the reprise making the experience more cohesive certainly pleased my ears. Very high 4, wonderful singer.

Freedom

Hard to hate George Michael. I’d never heard anything on this album except the obvious Freedom 90. What a refreshing set of songs. They’re nice and pop heavy, but also toned down, acoustic in places, honest. What a great voice he had. It wasn’t wasted.

I always thought "Freedom '90" was a great pop tune, totally mainstream but borrowing from the contemporary Madchester sound in a way that wasn't a ripoff but a recognition. The rest of the album is consistently good to great. Even at the time, this album and some of Madonna's early 90s hits felt like mainstream pop music paying attention to more underground sounds, and it was changing pop music. Even though pop isn't my thing, my personal list of 1001 must hear albums probably has room for this. 4/5 stars.

George was my first love, I was obsessed. My music tastes moved on as I grew older, but I always kept George with me. I haven't listened to this album in a long time. I was a little pre-occupied as it played, but he did it to me again. 'They Won't Go When I Go' took me by surprise. As he started belting it out halfway through, my tear ducts exploded, I didn't even feel it coming on, just Boom, tears. I still love George, that voice gives me chills.

Not bad, but it doesn’t have much going for it to be a good album. Freedom! ‘90 is such a tune tho easily my fav song of the album. Praying for Time was my fav first listen. Not the most exciting album otherwise

It sounds like the music vaporwave is the ghost of.

I was surprised by this one, quite revealing and open while being epic and poppy. Some tracks fall into the trappings of the time, pan flute and the like, but overall very enjoyable listen

6.5/10 He tries very hard to be both sincere and profound and the result is sometimes rather cheesy, but honestly its a well crafted pop record. Highlights: Freedom '90 Praying for Time Waiting (reprise)

Meme avec quelques bons souvenirs, cela reste de la soupe, il échappe à la punition suprême pour freedom

I came to this album with PLENTY of Prejudice. Ended up feeling the prejudice fade away, but at the same time realizing that prejudice is the main reason this album is getting 3 stars instead of 2 stars. Thus, it is my theory this album should be called "Listen With Prejudice".

Probably worth a return but I was expecting to dig it a little more based on Freedom 90.

I can't believe there isn't a German, French, or Japanese album better than this to bump it out of the top 1000. English bias in the list is strong. His voice has a horrible sound and the this is just more well-engineered crap.

Nisam očekivala da će ovo biti ovoliko naporno i dosadno. Doduše, nikad ga nisam preslušavala aktivno, znam par dancy pjesama i to je to. 2/5, 4/10

I really struggled with this one. I felt like it was overproduced and the songwriting wasn't good enough to make up for that.

No, just no

#504 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ ✅ Revisit? ❌ ✅ George Michael's music has been on my yuck-list since mid 80's "Wake Me Up" was power played to smithereens. Pop radio and music video channels ruined so many songs and artists for me, I've lost count. I tolerate most of these things, but if I have a say, they're going to go and I'll switch to whatever else. The music is boring, lots of vocal gimmicks, trendy soundscapes and I just realised this remaster is practically all top end, noticeably lacking in bass frequencies. I'm tempted to give it a 1 out of spite, but since it's intentionally polished to a turd like this, I'll give 2/5.

Ok, I'm not feeling great and I'm going to take a day off here. So, this isn't my thing and I'm not going to try and convince myself otherwise. Have fun, stay hydrated and enjoy your weekend.

Lots of stuff here, not a lot of it good…

Truly a masterpiece

War i.O. (Nix outstanding)

Freedom är tråkig och irriterande, och alla andra spår är antingen tråkigare eller mer irriterande än Freedom

Inte så långt men ändå för mycket av vad man nu ska kalla det här.

Mysigt!

Freedom i all ära men…

Meh. Yeah it’s music. I don’t hate it. The best song was the first song that came on after the album ended.

Pretty good! Some songs way better than others but a good listen

Feels like an amazing vocal talent completely lost in soul and sound searching without strong support and clear direction.. What a pity.

kind of mid, im not the biggest fan of george michael, overrated

Freedom 90 is quite good. It could have been by the Mock Turtles. Elsewhere he’s very deliberately being a serious artist and demanding we Listen Without Prejudice. I did it’s artfully put together toss. Wham! Was real. Real young people singing about real life things, a bit naff a times but ten times better than studious pretension that began George’s solo career.

I know George Micheal’s work from Wham. I heard some songs from his first solo album. This is his second solo album. This is quite different than his first album. Freedom 90 is the only song that really stands out. His vocals are very good of course. He seems to be trying to stretch himself as a solo artist but it doesn’t work, Lots of electronic instruments and acoustic guitar. Maybe he misses his partner from Wham, Andrew Ridgely. A mediocre effort. Two stars.

There's a lot of lower-key, broody tracks on here, but I prefer those to the more upbeat ones. There's quite a nice atmosphere in general, and he's a good singer. 3.5 rounded down.

No standouts

Context matters. For this album, as a closeted artist in the height of the AIDS pandemic, a style change from the party boy that already had success to a more heartfelt tone makes sense. At the same time, while I can sympathize, it’s not my lived experience. Much of the nuance misses me. I enjoyed much of it, but didn’t find the connection to really make it a personal favorite. Freedom! ‘90

showcasing his more sensitive/less sexy fun side. Not as a negative I just think faith is his definite peak. Enjoy a couple of the singles on this.

Definitely did not expect to like George Michael's "I can be a *serious* artist too" album as much as I did! Freedom is obviously the main highlight here, but I really enjoyed the sound of this album overall in a way that I didn't with Faith.

Much better than ‘Faith’ which also made this list. Less seedy and much more interesting. Freedom is obviously a banger, but a few other good ones on here too including Praying For Time and Heal the Day.

I listened, and did not like

Puh, ich fand auf "Faith" die Balladen ja schon recht öde und dann entschließt sich Herr Michael dazu, diese Platte mit Balladen zuzuklatschen. Für mich ziemlich unhörbares Hintergrundgeplänkel. Außer "Freedom! '90" traut sich nur "Soul Free", ein richtiger Uptempo-Pop Song zu sein; für mich beides die klaren Highlights. "Something to Save" und "Waiting for That Day" fand ich auch noch ganz nett, aber viel mehr ist hier für mich wirklich nicht zu holen.

Das war weniger befriedigend als ich - auch zu Beginn - des Albums dachte. Das wäre so ein Fall für mich von „Album zum Hit“, wobei das auch zu krass beschrieben wäre. Naja, das Album fällt stark zu Freedom! ab, ist kein kompletter Reinfall, aber für mehr als 2 Sterne reicht es für mich auch nicht.

Das Ding hat 2 Songs die bei mir und wohl auch beim Rest der Welt hängen geblieben sind, der ganze Rest rauscht an mir vorbei

Lots of whisper singing

9/10

Послушал и не осудил

ожидаемо хорошо - 3.5

Um disco pop agradável, mas sem nenhum apelo que impressione.

Stone cold classic. Where George went from being a pop star to a megastar. Even my jaded old soul loves this.

Freedom 90 is a favourite of mine but man, the rest of the album stinks. It's so poorly produced and mixed it's unlistenable. Not only is there way too much reverb on his voice but it's not even nice sounding reverb! And a lot of the instruments sound fake or very poorly recorded. I actually can't get past it enough to notice if the songs are any good.

I listened without prejudice and I thought it was alright.

The Good: We are listening without prejudice! The Bad: We realize that prejudice, sometimes, is not a bad thing... The Ugly: Our prejudice telling us what it is thinking... Jorge, Jorge, Jorge... what the fuck? Freedom was a smash hit, it could've used a little more of that smash and a little less of the "look at me trying to be something else". Not that this album was bad, it just wasn't what I had hoped it would've been... I love the album Faith because it is just fun... it oozes fun... this oozes pretentiousness, and I am not a big fan of that... So, a coin was flipped... and 3* will be given.

A couple of good songs

Love George

Second and final George Michael, though this is the first album of his to present itself on the list. I assembled a pre-written review of "Faith" because I've been working my way down this list by order of descending runtime when I'm not busy listening to the albums I've been rolling in the present. His previous outing was fine. Not really my thing, though I can understand why it was novel at the time seeing that his vocal cadence is very boy band-sounding. Honestly, the listmakers robbed George Michael. Two list albums definitely feels like his significance is being undercut, though in all fairness his discography is relatively small and I don't know much about his career or music. Still, two George Michaels and a Wham! or three George Michaels seems right to me. Anyways, I'm expecting much the same as last time from this album, so play that thang. This was certainly a pivot. A very stripped-back and minimal release for a sophomore outing from world famous pop star. I didn't mind it. There's an operatic, flamboyant feel to the music that manages to connect with me despite being outside of my music-listening sensibilities. In particular, the sentimental strings, choral organs and invigorating jangle pop guitars lend an intensity to the music that is easy to appreciate. Michael's intense, smouldering vocals aren't necessarily my thing, though to George Michael's credit, they are well-performed and he does have the voice of a star. All in all, I thought this was quite good. The music of this album is more varied and complex than the offerings from Faith, and I do like the big city dramatism that hangs over much of the album. Book time. This album marked George Michael's "...decision to escape the restrictions of his wildly successful pop career and carve a niche as a critically acclaimed pop craftsman like Prince." "...since his arrest for indecency in 1998, it is tempting to read in Listen Without Prejudice more meaning than just a spot of career repositioning. Yet the truth is that, while being undoubtedly sincere, the lyrics reveal almost nothing about the singer's repressed sexuality." This album established Michael as an "artist of standing" for its wide spread of influences, namely Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Primal Scream. Loved by critics, though it apparently sold poorly and delivered a devastating blow to George Michael's career. Michael blamed his record label for the failure of the album, and "By the time he had signed a new contract with another label, his career - and his desire for success - had lost a lot of steam." That doesn't at all seem right. Wikipedia says this album marked a pivot in George Michael's sound and that he sued Sony over their perceived failure at marketing the album. Michael alleged that his record label had failed to promote the album because he didn't play into his status as a sex symbol, though the case was dismissed by a judge. Critics were very favourable, and the album was a smash on the charts, having made the top ten in 16 of the 18 countries where it charted. Notable chart placements include No. 5 in Canada, No. 3 in Japan, No. 2 in Australia, France, New Zealand, Spain and the US and No. 1 in UK. On the year-end charts for 1990, the album was notably the 100th best-selling album in the US, the 82nd in Japan, the 39th in New Zealand, the 31st in Canada and the 10th in the UK. On the year-end charts for 1991, the album was the 56th best-selling album in Canada, the 44th in the US, the 31st in Australia and the 30th in the UK. The album re-entered the charts in a shitload of countries when it was reissued in 2017, making the top ten in 12 of the 20 countries where it charted. Notable placements include No. 41 in the US, No. 35 in Japan, No. 34 in Canada, No. 5 in Australia and New Zealand and No. 1 in the UK. On the year-end charts for 2017, this was the 77th best-selling album in Belgium and the 17th best-selling album in the UK. On the decade-end charts for the 1990s, it was the 61st best-selling album in the UK. Yeah. I mean, I can't deny the popularity of this album, which has evidently been enduring. I cosign this inclusion

Don’t like George really much But it was ok for a change

Some nice songs, but not as good as his performance on Older, which is aptly named in comparison.

I mean it’s George micheal it wasn’t going to be bad

My relationship with George Michael is a long one. Wham was HUGE when I was in Grade 5, and full of enough sugar that the Grade 5ers were all-in. I played along, and there is something irresistible about how fun and poppy those early albums got. That said, I wasn't fully or deeply connected. As George went solo and got more serious, I would say the lack of connection has persisted. I actually feel a lot of empathy about how closeted he felt he had to be, and I respect the thoughtful and personal nature of his music that comes across as very honest and manages not to get too overwrought. I listened to this and liked it fine and thought all the thoughts I just wrote, and that makes for a good spin.

I can't deny the man's talent, but this is just pablum to me. I do like Heal The Pain.

Whatever happened to Vol. 2

6.6/10

Love his voice and delivery. Very talented man

this is such a weird project. i dunno how well i can say how much i connect to an album after 1 listen. all my reviews are useless. i could see myself growing fonder of this album, there's something about it that's compelling. but there's a larger part of me that doesn't dig the production and finds the whole thing too cheesy and cloying. will relisten

Mange gode bangers plus ekstra point for at være Michelsen damernes besættelse

Outside of Freedom, nothing really stood out to me. Maybe I was just in the mood for something more upbeat. 2.5 stars

cover top sonst? c

Never been a fan of George Michael or wham so no guess not surprising that in didn’t like this. As someone else has noted for most of the songs it sounded like the Mike was as far away from George as possible. I did actually quite like the last song (waiting (reprise)) but even so, a really boring album.

Pop genius. Without a doubt

This was actually pretty decent, Freedom! is a really great song, but it slowed down a bit from there. Solid 3 stars here that I was surprised by

Better than I expected. His voice is good and despite the terrible 90s production, there's plenty to like here. Highlight was "Something to Save" for me. Plenty of times this album sounded more like Sade than what I'd expect from George Michael. 3 stars.

This albums feels like it's trying too hard to have poignant lyrics and instead they just come across as preachy and on the nose. Really brings down songs that are otherwise simply fine. Disappointing, I thought I liked George Michael more than this.

Trevligt att lyssna på

His voice is rather good.

I have not heard this before. Or maybe I have, a guy down the hall from me in the dorms in college listened to Freedom 90 a lot so maybe we listened to the whole thing once or twice, I don’t remember. He was an asshole anyway. So Freedom 90 is a great song and there are some others here in the same style that are also great, and there are some ballads that are decent, and there’s nothing bad on here, though a few songs are on the mediocre side of good. This album is a lot more acoustic than I remember and the lyrics are more socially conscious than I remember as well and it’s a good mix of uptempo and downbeat. I can dig it.

Really like the majority of this album. Quite laid back.

One great song, clearly talented vocals. Needed better songwriting to back it up.

George Michael had quite a voice. This album was something of a reintroduction for him as an R&B singer, as opposed to the bubblegum pop of his former band, Wham. It showcases his flare for the dramatic. But there is little here to differentiate it from other R&B albums. Most of the songs are fine, 1 or 2 might be good. Overall, this is a 2.

It’s hard to pin down the musical style of this album, the best way to describe it really is pop. It’s George’s soulful vocals that carry it through. It’s a more serious fare compared to Wham or even the Faith album.

Another fine album. Kind of poppy and generally enjoyable to listen to. 3/5

Snooze fest

Meh

I thought this was pretty solid and has some parts worth coming back to. 7/10

There's not a lot to dislike but also I won't rush back. 'Something to Save', 'Waiting for That Day'

Wasn't amazed by it, but solid.

Not horrific but really not my sort of thing. Quite bland if I'm being really honest. He is clearly a talented guy but it's not for me

I feel like my George Michael experience up to this point has been the occasional Wham! around Christmas, Careless Whisper in every movie ever, and a smattering of commercials. What I found here was an incredibly cleanly produced pop album with silky smooth vocals throughout. He spends a large portion of the album showcasing his vocals with absolutely nowhere to hide, backing himself with simple pianos and acoustic guitars and using a backing choir not to augment but to accentuate. Cowboys and Angels was what I was looking for in the Sade album I listened to a few days ago. The whole album kind of oscillates between almost disgustingly upbeat and beautifully haunting.

Freedom 90 is trying to carry the album like Atlas carrying the world. The rest of the album is George Michael doing repetitive ballads with the reverb cranked up as high as it can go. 1.5

Freedom 90 was cool. The rest was OK, but not really my thing. I could see how this might’ve influenced Robbie Williams/boy bands later on. And I heard a surprising amount of Michael Jackson influence on George Michael.

love ngl

This seems like 2 different albums. You got the poppy hits of Freedom & Soul Free. A very jazzy Cowboys & Angels. Then the rest is just somber, slow, dull songs that go on for way too long. Even Freedom. Edit is your friend, Georgie. I feel like Heal the Pain is like let me Heal your pain with my penis. Freedom is a great song & at times I could see the iconic music video playing in my headspace. Still dull. 2

It sounds very 90's and dates. He has a good voice but this felt like you had to be there to enjoy it in real time. 2.5 of out 5.

Unfortunately, I did listen with préjudice. I have ears, and thus could hear that this sounds like shit.

An overall okay album that gets a higher score because of one song. Its not an album I will return to and Freedom! is already on some of my playlists. While they are okay no other song is really memorable or something that stood out from the rest. Although the saxophone solos were a really nice touch.

Ironically I just happened to listen to Freedom 90 yesterday and then I get this album. Overall, it is a decent album that I enjoyed listening to even if the rest of the album did not live up to Freedom 90. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️