Vinyl release of George Michael - Symphonica (Vinyl). Released through Virgin EMI Records and available on 2LP. George’s live album from his 2011-2 tour features orchestral / big band arrangements of many of his songs, alongside a generous selection of covers. The SDE review expressed disappointment at the proliferation of covers and dearth of Michael originals (“George Michael continues to please himself rather than the fans”). Feeling Good is epic! George Michael performs this tune masterfully. That said, I still consider Nina Simone’s version to be the pinnacle recording of this classic song.

One of the things that ‘happened’ this week was George Michael‘s Older album turned 25. There are lots of interesting things to say about this record. First off, George was only 32 when he released it. Who’d have thought at that time that he’d have only ONE more studio album of self-penned material left in him? What a waste. Let Her Down Easy is a song I adore. It was originally written and recorded masterfully by Terence Trent D’Arby (Sananda Maitreya) on the album Symphony Or Damn. The song is just so soothing, especially as it’s presented in a lullaby style, and Michael performed it beautifully. We still don’t know what these ‘plans’ actually are, but manufacturing difficulties only really applies to vinyl right now so clearly a vinyl reissue of Older is the minimum we can expect. There are no such issues with CD manufacturing, so they could have chosen to split the ‘celebrations’ and issued something on CD this year with vinyl to follow next. The fact they haven’t done this makes SDE wonder if CD are in their plans at all. My Baby Just Cares For Me is upbeat and jazzy and would do any jazz club in New Orleans proud. The horn section in this song is perfectly balanced and I appreciate this as sometimes the brashness of brass instruments can overpower a song.If the album is 25 years old, the question must be are we going to see an anniversary reissue? One would hope so (the original vinyl goes for hundreds on Discogs) but so far we’ve only had hints and promises from GM’s official social channels and as SDE has commented before, their idea of ‘exciting news’ often differs from fans. Praying For Time was originally released as the lead single on Michael’s second solo album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 and is one of his greatest and most memorable tunes. While the original studio recording is marvellous, in its own right, this live performance takes the song to another level entirely; magnificent!

I will be happy to be proved wrong, but I think the best we can hope for later this year is a vinyl reissue of Older. But I’m not even sure that will happen, because there is a six-month lead time on vinyl at the moment and if it were to be issued in, say, November this year, all the work would have needed to be done already and the job submitted. I don’t think we’ll get an expanded box set or deluxe edition, either. I honestly believe that, in the minds of those who have control of George’s legacy, a CD box set full of rarities is not what they consider to be an exciting project. Never have the fans and those in control of the output been so misaligned.

Notes

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The only aspect that I wish they had worked on a little more would have been the reduction of sibilance in Michael’s vocals. Michael’s vocal has always had a tadof sibilance, so I look upon it as artistic expression at this stage, but on a couple of the songs, it’s quite pronounced and temporarily takes you out of an otherwise relaxed experience.Brother Can You Spare A Dime is an American Classic and one that George Michael recorded and previously released on Songs From The Last Century. As good as Michael’s studio recording is from 1999, this live interpretation is about as good as it gets. The orchestral elements are off the charts and are not that far removed from Michael’s original interpretation, while Michael’s velvety smooth vocal ensures that Brother Can You Spare A Dime will remain in the social consciousness for decades to come. Vinyl.com.au aims to provide up to date images of the products and accurate information. However, product detail may change from time to time and there may be a delay in making updates. Symphonica was destined to be the last George Michael album issued in his lifetime and was producer Phil Ramone’s last record too (David Austin is credited as ‘executive producer’). You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face is an absolute classic and this live recording represents one of the very best interpretations of the song I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.

John And Elvis Are Dead is a lovely live recording of Michael’s tune; first heard on Patience. While I never considered John And Elvis Are Dead to be a standout song, although it’s a wonderful studio recording, this live performance changes that perspective for it flows so incredibly well within the live album structure that I couldn’t imagine Symphonica without it. Plus, it’s a little more relaxed than the studio release meaning that it can be fully appreciated in a relaxed setting when listening to Symphonica. All this singles activity, over a long period of time (‘You Have Been Loved’ was issued 21 months after ‘Jesus to a Child’) made Older George’s biggest selling album in the UK. It has sold 1.8m copies – more than both Faith and Listen Without Prejudice. Finally, we may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.Through, a George Michael original from Patience , is a beautiful song to open the album with and it’s as if it should have always included an orchestra for this live performance trumps the original recording. The strummed introduction, intermingled with vocals and subtle symphonic elements, sets the tone for the entire album and subsequent performances. Make of that what you will, but let’s just say I’m not filled with confidence. The Estate have been ‘working’ on reissuing George’s Symphonica album on vinyl since late 2019. This is an album that was only released seven years ago and it’s not as if it wasn’t available on vinyl at the time, because it was. So why would anyone in George’s team even want to work on this as some kind of priority? And if you are going take on a reissue project that no one is interested in, then just do it! Get it out and move on to the next thing. I Remember You isn’t the strongest closer as it’s rawer, from a production and recording standpoint, than the rest of the songs featured on Symphonica. I also find the harp to be distracting, along with the audience, and subsequently, while I Remember You is included in this review, I remain convinced that the right decision, for me, is to omit it from my digital library, thereby allowing You’ve Changed to close the album out pleasantly. This draw is conducted in a secure enivironment selecting an identifier which can not be used to access your account and the data is deleted as soon as the draw has been conducted.