Patience (George Michael album)

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Patience
Patience cover
Studio album by George Michael
Released March 22nd 2004
Recorded 2002-2004
Genre Dance Pop
Length 71:16
Label Sony Music
Producer(s) George Michael
Professional reviews
George Michael chronology
Songs from the Last Century
(1999)
 Patience
(2004)		 25
(2006)


Patience is a 2004 album by George Michael. It debuted at number one on the UK album charts and at number 2 in Australia on March 22, 2004.

Contents

[edit] Career controversy 1998–2002

Patience was George Michael's first album of original material since 1996. Since then, he was arrested on indecency in a public toilet in Los Angeles in 1998 and came out as gay. His album of cover versions Songs from the Last Century released in 1999 reached number 2 in the UK but generally sold poorly by his standards in the rest of the world.

His single "Freeek!" performed well in Europe going to number one in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Denmark in 2002 and reaching top 10 in the UK and the top 5 in Australia. It made 22 charts around the world. However, his next single "Shoot the Dog" proved to be highly controversial when released in July 2002. It was highly critical of George W. Bush and Tony Blair in the leadup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The video showed a cartoon version of Michael astride a nuclear missile in the Middle East and Tony and Cherie Blair in bed with President Bush. The latter image was apparently intended as a homage to the 1986 video for "Land of Confusion" by Genesis. The cartoon was produced by the makers of 2DTV, a satirical animated television show broadcast weekly on ITV (independent television) in the UK. The song itself was a partial cover of The Human League's 1981 hit, Love Action, building on instrumental samples from the song and featuring the same rap interlude.

In an interview with MTV, George Michael said the song was primarily intended to highlight what he saw as a lack of consultation by Tony Blair about the decision. "People are looking at the song in context of an attack on America, as opposed to an attack on Tony Blair. And really, my attack is that Tony Blair is not involving the British in this issue. He's perfectly happy staying up to watch the World Cup and enjoying the Jubilee (of Queen Elizabeth II), all things I'm perfectly guilty of, but there's a serious discussion about Iraq, which hasn't taken place. We don't know what Saddam Hussein is capable of, the British public has no idea."

"Shoot the Dog" was not released as a single in the US over sensitivity to the September 11, 2001 attacks. While it reached the top 5 in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Denmark, it failed to reach the top ten in the UK and its chart performance was disappointing by George Michael's career standards.

He has also recorded a version of "The Grave" (written by Don McLean as a protest against the Vietnam war) to emphasise his opposition to the invasion of Iraq. It was released as part of the War Child charity album Hope. Michael performed the song on long-running British chart show Top of the Pops on BBC Television on March 7th, 2003, introduced by the writer & stand-up comedian (and fan of George Michael) Ben Elton. It was Michael's first appearance on the show since 1986, when he performed The Edge of Heaven as one half of Wham!. He ran into conflict with the show's producers for an anti-war, anti Blair t-shirt worn by some members of his band.

[edit] Back with Sony Music and final album

On November 17, 2003, George Michael re-signed with Sony Music, which he had accused of keeping him in "professional slavery" in 1993 in a court case. He had been bought out of his contract by Virgin Records but he had failed to achieve the success of his earlier career while with Sony.

George Michael announced that Patience will the last record on sale to the public. He told BBC Radio 1 on March 10, 2004 that future music that he puts out will be available for download with fans encouraged to make a donation to charity. He said: "I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years so I really don't need the public's money. I'd like to have something on the Internet which is a charitable download site where anyone can download my music for free. I'll have my favourite charities up there and people will hopefully donate to that." He stated that the decision will put less pressure to produce a new album every so often and allow him to have more of a private life. Another song on the album, "Flawless (Go to the City)", samples a dance track originally recorded by The Ones called "Flawless".

[edit] Chart success

The first single off Patience released in 2004, "Amazing", went to number 1 in Italy, Spain and Portugal and topped the world airplay chart for 20 March 2004. The song reached number 4 in the UK and number 6 in Australia and the song made 22 different charts.

Patience went on sale in most of the world in late March and debuted at number one in the UK and number two in Australia and has sold well in Europe. The album went on sale in the US on May 18, 2004, however it did not contain "Patience Pt. 2" or George's scathing anti-Tony Blair song "Shoot The Dog". It debuted in the US at a rather disappointing 29 but after many TV specials such as on Oprah the following week it reached its chart peak of number 12.

In November, Sony released a fifth single from Patience - "Round Here". Featuring the album version as the lead track and the album version of "Patience" as the b-side, the only real lure for fans was the video for "Round Here". The single stalled in the UK charts at #32.

[edit] Track listing

UK

  1. "Patience"
  2. "Amazing"
  3. "John and Elvis Are Dead"
  4. "Cars and Trains"
  5. "Round Here"
  6. "Shoot the Dog"
  7. "My Mother Had a Brother"
  8. "Flawless (Go to the City)"
  9. "American Angel"
  10. "Precious Box"
  11. "Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)"
  12. "Freeek '04"
  13. "Through"
  14. "Patience Pt. 2"

US

  1. "Patience"
  2. "Amazing"
  3. "John and Elvis Are Dead"
  4. "Cars and Trains"
  5. "Round Here"
  6. "My Mother Had a Brother"
  7. "Flawless (Go to the City)"
  8. "American Angel"
  9. "Precious Box"
  10. "Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)"
  11. "Freeek '04"
  12. "Through"

[edit] Singles

  1. "Freeek!" (18 March, 2002)
  2. "Shoot The Dog" (26 August, 2002)
  3. "Amazing" (1 March, 2004)
  4. "Flawless (Go to the City)" (28 June, 2004)
  5. "Round Here" (1 November, 2004)
  6. "John And Elvis Are Dead" (2005, online release)

[edit] External links

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