Faith (George Michael album)

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Faith
Faith cover
Studio album by George Michael
Released October 30, 1987
Recorded 1987
Genre Pop
Pop rock
Rhythm and blues
Blue-eyed soul
Length 53:16
Label Columbia Records (US)
Epic Records
Producer George Michael
Professional reviews
George Michael chronology
Faith
(1987)		 Listen without Prejudice, Vol. 1
(1990)

Faith is George Michael's first solo album, released in October 1987. The album is widely considered one of the greatest albums in pop history and won several awards including the Grammy Award album of the year. Faith currently sits as the 52nd best selling album of all time in the US.

Contents

[edit] History

After the split of Wham!, Michael spent the most part of 1987 writing and recording the songs for his breakthrough project. In addition to playing a large number of instruments on the album, he wrote and produced every track on the recording, except for one, which he co-wrote.

Faith was Michael's first digital recording, and used the revolutionary Synclavier 9600 Tapeless Studio.

[edit] Commercial reception

The album became a massive success. Between 1987 and 1988, Faith produced an amazing string of hit singles, including six Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hits, four of which ("Faith", "Father Figure" "One More Try" and "Monkey") reached #1, making him the only British male singer to have four #1 singles from one LP on the Billboard Hot 100. The album had also an impressive staying power, with 51 non-consecutive weeks inside the Billboard 200 Top 10, including 12 weeks at #1. It was also the first album by a white solo artist to hit number 1 on the US R&B charts. It also reached #1 in the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top spot for only one week. In all, it was the best-selling album of 1988 in the United States and eventually reached Diamond certification by the RIAA.

In 1989, Faith was ranked #84 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 480 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Faith was ranked 79th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Faith" – 3:16
  2. "Father Figure" – 5:36
  3. "I Want Your Sex (Parts I & II)"† – 9:17
  4. "One More Try" – 5:50
  5. "Hard Day" – 4:48
  6. "Hand to Mouth" – 4:36
  7. "Look At Your Hands" – 4:37
  8. "Monkey" – 5:06
  9. "Kissing A Fool" – 4:35

Additional tracks on cassette/CD releases

  1. "Hard Day (Shep Pettibone Remix)" – 6:29
  2. "A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Part III)" – 3:48

† In the liner notes, "I Want Your Sex" is listed as "I Want Your Sex (Monogamy Mix)", with the parts titled "Rhythm 1 Lust" and "Rhythm 2 Brass In Love", respectively. The full 13-minute Monogamy Mix of the song can be found on the 12" single of "I Want Your Sex".

[edit] Charts

Year Chart Position
1987 UK 1
1987 U.S. Billboard 200 1
1987 U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 1

[edit] Certifications & Sales

Country Certification Sales/shipments
Canada Diamond 1,000,000+
United Kingdom 5x Platinum 1,500,000+
United States Diamond 10,000,000+

[edit] Singles

  • I Want Your Sex (June 1987) UWC #1 (1 week) (platinum), US #2, UK #3
  • Faith (October 1987) US #1 (4 weeks) (Gold) , UK #2
  • Father Figure (January 1, 1988) US #1 (2 weeks), UK #11
  • One More Try (April 1988) US #1 (3 weeks) (Gold), US R&B #1 (1 week) ,UK #8
  • Monkey (July 1988) US #1 (2 weeks), US DANCE #1 (2 weeks), UK #13
  • Kissing a Fool (September 1988) US #5, US (AC) #1 (1 week), UK #18

[edit] Awards

Year Award Category
1989 American Music Awards Favourite Album (Soul/R&B)
1989 Grammy Awards Album of the Year
1989 Ivor Novello Awards International Hit of the Year "Faith"
1988 MTV Video Music Awards Best Direction of a Video "Father Figure"

[edit] Personnel

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi		 Billboard 200 Year-End Top album
1988		 Succeeded by
Don't Be Cruel by Bobby Brown
Preceded by
Dirty Dancing (soundtrack) by Various artists		 Billboard 200 number-one album
January 16 - January 22, 1988
February 6 - March 11, 1988
May 14 - June 24, 1988		 Succeeded by
Tiffany by Tiffany
v • d • e
George Michael
Studio albums
Compilations & EP
Solo singles
Duet singles
Tours
Related articles
v • d • e
Grammy Award: Album of the Year (1971-1990)