Patience (George Michael album)

Patience
Studio album by George Michael
Released	18 March 2004
Recorded	2000–04
Genre	Pop, dance, soul
Length	70:15 (UK) 63:09 (US)
Label	Sony Music Entertainment
Producer	George Michael
George Michael chronology
Songs from the Last Century (1999) Patience (2004) Twenty Five (2006)
Singles from Patience
"Freeek!" Released: 18 March 2002 "Shoot the Dog" Released: 29 July 2002 "Amazing" Released: 1 March 2004 "Flawless (Go to the City)" Released: 28 June 2004 "Round Here" Released: 1 November 2004 "John and Elvis Are Dead" Released: 3 October 2005

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(60/100)[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
BBC Music	(positive)[3]
Blender	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	C[5]
The Guardian	[6]
Houston Chronicle	C[7]
Q	[8]
Slant Magazine	[9]
Stylus Magazine	D+[10]
Uncut	[1][11]
Yahoo! Music UK	[12]

Patience is the fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter George Michael, released in 2004. The much delayed follow-up to Older is considered Michael's comeback album since it was Michael's first album composed of original material since 1996, and his first for Sony Music Entertainment since 1990's Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. The album spanned six singles. The first two, "Freeek!" and "Shoot the Dog", were already released in 2002 by Polydor, when the album was originally due.

Return to Sony

On 17 November 2003, George Michael re-signed with Sony Music Entertainment, the company he had left after a legal battle in which Michael claimed that his contract was stifling him and was keeping him in "professional slavery". As a result his contract was sold by Sony to rival record companies Virgin Records and DreamWorks Records on 14 July 1995.

Chart success

Patience went on sale in most of the world in late March 2004 and debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, and at number 2 in Australia on 22 March. It became one of the fastest selling albums in the UK, selling over 275,000 copies in the first week.^[13] The record reached the top five on most other European charts. The album went on sale in the US on 18 May 2004, however it did not contain "Patience Pt. 2" and "Shoot the Dog". It debuted in the US at a rather disappointing 29 but after many TV specials such as on The Oprah Winfrey Show the following week it reached its chart peak of number 12. It sold around four million copies worldwide,^[13] and contained six singles.

The first single "Freeek!" had already been successful in Europe going to number 1 in Italy, Spain and Denmark in March 2002 and reaching top ten in the UK and top five in Australia. It made 22 charts around the world. The album would feature a remastered version called "Freeek! '04".

However, the second single "Shoot the Dog" proved to be highly controversial when released in July 2002 due to its anti-war theme. It was not released as a single in Canada or the US over sensitivity to the 11 September 2001 attacks, and was not included on the Patience album in those countries. While it reached the top five in Spain, Italy and Denmark, it failed to reach the top ten in the UK and its chart performance was disappointing by Michael's career standards.

The third single off Patience, ""Amazing", was released in March 2004 and went to number 1 in Italy and Spain, also reaching number 4 in the UK, number 6 in Australia and 22 different charts in total.

The fourth single "Flawless (Go to the City)" was released in June 2004 and performed well in the charts, reaching the top ten on the UK Singles Chart at number 8. It became a huge dance hit, especially in the US, reaching number 1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs.

In November 2004, 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 number 32.

"John and Elvis Are Dead", the sixth and last single was released in October 2005 and only sold through the Internet as a download.

Samples

The album makes heavy use of samples. For example. "Freeek!" samples "Try Again" by Aaliyah, "Breathe and Stop" by Q-Tip, and "N.T." by Kool & the Gang. "Shoot the Dog" samples The Human League song "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" and features the same rap interlude. It also features the "Gotta get up!" line taken from George's 1996 hit, "Fastlove" but is not credited for the writing credit goes to Michael already. "Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)" samples "Moonraker" by John Barry and Hal David. "Flawless (Go to the City)" samples a dance track, originally recorded by The Ones, called "Flawless".

Anti-war

The album contains the anti-war song "Shoot the Dog". When released in July 2002 "Shoot the Dog" had already proved to be controversial. 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.

In an interview with MTV, Michael said the song was primarily intended to highlight what he saw as a lack of consultation by Tony Blair about the decision of invading Iraq. "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, 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."

Final album

Michael announced that Patience would be his last record on sale to the public. He told BBC Radio 1 on 10 March 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.

Track listing

• The US version features 12 tracks, removing "Shoot the Dog" and the reprise of "Patience".
• An alternative version of "Please Send Me Someone", the B-side to "Flawless (Go to the City)", appears only on Japanese pressings of the album.

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.^[14]

Charts and certifications

Chart procession and succession

References

External links

• Discography George Michael (www.georgemichaelmusic.com)
• Patience at Metacritic