Faith was the first solo release from the British Pop-Star, George Michael. George Michael previously had a series of hits under the British duo Wham!, but shortly after the release of the album Music From The Edge Of Heaven, decided to go solo. Michael said the decision revolved around him wanting to be seen more than a British boy group, in his words “He wanted to be taken more seriously.” The success of Wham! carried over to his solo success as Faith sold 11 million copies in the United States and 25 million worldwide. George Michael brought a new sound to his music with the release of Faith in 1987 and he would never go back to the style of Wham!. Faith produced a number of top hits including, Faith, Monkey, One More Try, and Father Figure which all peaked at the top spot with I Want Your Sex peaking at the second spot and Kissing A Fool at the fifth spot. Faith put George Michael in the spotlight, more than he was before with Wham!, and frankly he didn’t like the attention. He only ended up releasing three more studio albums after Faith and sadly passed away on Christmas in 2016.
10. A Last Request (I Want Your Sex)
This song is essentially a third part to I want your sex. It contains the same beat and overall the same message. Not awful, but doesn’t deserve to be any higher on this list of hits.
9. Hand to Mouth
Not an awful song, but compared to the others, it just isn’t that impressive. Hand to Mouth is a little too repetitive for my liking.
8. Look at Your Hands
Look at Your Hands is a song that’ll get you up and moving. It has sort of a “groovy” feel as the other Vinyl Boy, Jackson would say. I really enjoy listening to this song and suggest you should give it a listen. It is definitely one of his underrated songs, but because of the other top hits on the album it sits high up on the list.
7. Hard Day
Overall a very catchy song and it features a female at the end of the song which is a new thing for George Michael. It’s something different but still similar to his other stuff which makes it stand out a little bit.
6. Kissing a Fool
Kissing a Fool reminds me of a song that would be sung at a ball during a slow dance. Kissing a Fool is classic George Michael, singing about love and despair and overall a good listen. It is slower than some of the other songs on this record but has a similar speed to the other popular song on the record One More Try.
(You may ask why I chose that one, and I’ll just answer because George Michael and Michael Buble)
5. I Want Your Sex – Pts. 1 & 2
Unlike A Last Request, this song is super catchy and has a sweet beat behind amazing vocals and lyrics. At some points in this song I’m not sure how George Michael hit some of the notes he did, his vocal range is so wide. I’m not really sure why there are two parts to this song, but you can definitely tell when part 1 transitions into part 2 which just switches up the song a bit. I suggest giving it a listen though.
4. Monkey
Monkey is a very upbeat and happy song. I don’t really understand the point of the song because all he continues to say is “Why can’t you set your monkey free.” Maybe I’m missing the point of the song, but I still enjoy it.
3. One More Try
One More Try is by far the saddest song on the record. You can hear the pain and agony in his voice about losing his ‘teacher”. It really displays his vocal range and his ability to project his feelings onto the listener.
2. Faith
Faith is the titled track and also the first single from the album. Faith was commercially successful and was not technically George Michael’s first #1 hit because they give full credit to him for Wham’s hit, Careless Whisper. Faith is just a catchy song and I’m pretty sure that you have heard it at some point, but I strongly suggest giving it another listen or if you haven’t heard it, give it a listen.
1.Father Figure
Father Figure, another one of his #1 hits, is a rather sad song. He is referencing his dad in this song, I assume. The reason this song really hits the heart is because all through George’s career his dad continuously didn’t believe in him and continued to tell him he was wasting his life on being a pop star, but with this shot back at his dad, he proves he has what it takes to be successful. I could be wrong about the assumption, but it is an idea.
Faith is essentially a greatest hits album by George Michael, so many good songs. If it weren’t for Hand to Mouth and A Last Request, you might have been able to pass this off as a greatest hits album. This album deserves all the praise that it received and I personally give this album a solid 9/10. I strongly suggest that you give this album a listen no matter your musical taste. It has a little bit of everything on it for anyone’s musical taste.