Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Michael, George
Label: EMI Records
Release date: 14.03.2014
Runtime: 69:00
Rating: 4/5
The album Symphonica was recorded on the tour of the same name, which ran in 2011 and 2012. On it, George Michael serves up a cross-section of music he felt would work with a big orchestra. He put the setlist together with Phil Ramone, for whom this was the last project of his life. This excellent producer won fourteen Grammys and counts a whole host of artists among his collaborators, from John Coltrane and Frank Sinatra to Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan.
Michael’s velvety, even plush voice has a special power of persuasion. Plenty of listeners of both sexes put the lyrics second with him, since the sound of his vocal cords alone wins them over. On Symphonica he was helped by David Austin, who he’s been making music with since primary school. Austin deserves credit for quite a few hits and for the sound of the album Faith. Because of his struggles with addiction, George Michael let his discography slip a bit, and a serious bout of pneumonia took its toll too, one that even landed him in a hospital in Vienna in 2011. Still, he always found his way back to the audience, whether after recovering from illness or after doing penance for offenses he committed while under the influence. For him, music is surely the best therapy. With Phil Ramone he found a way to blend classic tunes with more modern ones, which meant putting together the right arrangements. A few tracks on Symphonica come from Songs from the Last Century, which came out at the end of the previous millennium and passed pretty much unnoticed back then. George Miachel was also in a phase where he didn’t want any publicity. I can’t say other similar albums are bad, and maybe a performance or two on Symphonica is pretty ordinary or bland, but George Michael mostly wins you over with his heartfelt interpretation. Opera houses were a spot-on choice for a symphonic experience, since the closeness of the audience helps, and so does the fact that the acoustics there are superb and built for singers.
The standouts on Symphonica are A Different Corner, which is Michael’s most beautiful ballad apart from Careless Whisper, One More Try, dressed up in gospel garb, and a heartfelt take on Terence Trent D’Arby’s ballad Let Her Down Easy. Brother Can You Spare A Dime was popularized in the 1930s by Bing Crosby and Al Jolson, and he remembered his great friend Elton John with Idol, from Blue Moves, with lyrics by Bernie Taupin, of course.
Symphonica is an album that will please Michael’s die-hard fans, since they’re interested in everything he puts out. In recent years he’s been collecting individual songs, and a new studio album is supposedly due before the end of 2014. That makes Symphonica merely a transitional album, a marker of a period in his career that looked over the fence and offers a fresh take on the artist’s view of music history, both general and personal. As usual, Symphonica comes in several editions. George Michael is an outstanding artist who never runs short of ideas or ways to get his music to listeners, and he’s done it here with a dazzling style and great respect for the originals.
Line-up
George Michael – vocals
Phil Palmer, Graham Kearns, Mike Brown, Ben Butler – guitars
David Finck, Steve Walters – bass guitar, double bass
Gavin Greenaway, Steve Sidwell, Rob Mathes – conductors
Andy Hamilton, Luke Smith, Chris Cameron, Henry Hey – keyboards
Lucy Jules, Lincoln Jean-Marie, Sharon Perry, Lori Perry, Shirley Lewis Jay Henry – backing vocals
Carlos Hercules, Mark McLean – drums
Danny Cummings, Lea Mullen – percussion
Tracklist
01. Through
02. My Baby Just Cares For Me
03. A Different Corner
04. Praying For Time
05. Let Her Down Easy
06. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
07. Feeling Good
08. John And Elvis Are Dead
09. Roxanne
10. One More Try
11. Going To A Town
12. Cowboys And Angels
13. Idol
14. Brother Can You Spare A Dime
15. You Have Been Loved
16. Wild Is The Wind
17. You’ve Changed
