I'm not a fan of pop in general, but it started relatively OK with two catchy songs. Wouldn't rate it 5 stars, but not 1 either. And then, the rest of the album is just spiraling into boring, slow, low-key songs. The man can sing when he wants to -- at least he is not suffering from the common plague of people with a voice (singing loud and demonstrating what they can do all the time) -- but that doesn't make a good album.
Anyone who grew up as a teenager in the 80s will remember Wham as the ultimate disposable teeny-bop boy band who everyone thought would have a string of number one hits before flaming out and being replaced by the next sensation. No one expected that George Michael would mature into a one of the best singer song writers of his generation starting with the album Faith in 1987 followed by this one in 1990. Of the two, this is the more introspective and heartfelt record with fewer obvious hit singles. Apparently this made Sony nervous and they failed to promote it properly in the US, leading to long running legal wrangles. This didn’t stop it being a huge hit in the UK though, and it easily stands as one of George Michael’s best albums, made even more poignant by his tragic death in 2016.