Older (album)

Older
Studio album by George Michael
Released May 13, 1996
Recorded 1993–1996
Genre Pop, R&B, soul, jazz
Length 58:56
Label Virgin, DreamWorks
Producer George Michael, Jon Douglas
George Michael chronology
Five Live (EP) (with Queen and Lisa Stansfield) (1993) Older
(1996)		 Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael
(1998)
Singles from Older
  1. "Jesus to a Child"
    Released: October 13, 1995
  2. "Fastlove"
    Released: April 22, 1996
  3. "Spinning the Wheel"
    Released: August 19, 1996
  4. "Older / I Can't Make You Love Me"
    Released: January 20, 1997
  5. "Star People '97"
    Released: April 28, 1997
  6. "You Have Been Loved / The Strangest Thing '97"
    Released: September 8, 1997

Older is the third studio album from George Michael, released in Europe on 13 May 1996 through Virgin Records and one day later in the United States. The American release was the very first album released by DreamWorks Records. It was his first album since 1990's Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 – the five-and-a-half-year gap was due to the controversial legal battle that Michael experienced with his record company. Michael dedicated three years straight in the recording of Older, and the album found him exploring new musical territories in a more serious fashion compared to his previous work.

At the time of release, the album was a huge commercial hit, particularly in Europe, but was received in America with a lukewarm critical approval and mediocre sales figures.[1] In the UK, the album was particularly notable for producing six Top Three hit singles in a two-year span, creating a record still unsurpassed.[2] The high sales of the album presaged a re-issue of the album under the name of Older & Upper eighteen months after its original release.[3]

To date, Older has sold around 15 million copies worldwide.

Background

Following the release of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, Michael accused his record company, Epic Records, of failing to promote the album as well as lacklustre support for his charity recordings (particularly contributions to the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series) and requested to be released from his contract.[4] A bitter legal battle ensued through the courts, ultimately resulting in a loss to Michael. During the court battle, Michael stated that he would refuse to release any new material through Epic under his name should he lose the lawsuit.[5] Whilst essentially holding true to his word, Michael was not completely absent from the recording world during the six years between Listen Without Prejudice and Older. After a huge hit with a live duet with Elton John on "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (that reached No.1 in both the UK and the U.S.), Michael contributed several tracks to the charity album Red Hot + Dance in 1992 (even one of those songs, "Too Funky", was released as a single and reached worldwide Top 10 positions). The same year, he performed live at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium (in 1993, an EP of Michael's performances with Queen and Lisa Stansfield, entitled Five Live was released, and reached No.1 in the UK).

Style

Older found Michael experimenting with new musical styles and expanding his artistic horizons. Particularly notable was the jazz flavour of the album's sound.[6] The album marked a departure from the synthesised production of his previous projects, delivering a more organic sound with the inclusion of brass and strings. Michael was particularly inspired by the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim, who died in 1994, and to whom the album was dedicated. Another big influence was the album's producer, Johnny Douglas, who has mixed several George Michael songs as B-sides. They first met when Douglas produced Lisa Moorish's version of "I'm Your Man" in 1995, to which Michael added backing vocals. They both began to work together soon after, and they co-wrote "Spinning the Wheel" together and also co-wrote and produced "Fastlove". Douglas also played keyboards on those tracks.

Overall, the style of the album was melancholy, dark and sad. George Michael complemented this departure making a dramatic change of his clothes, hair style and overall appearance. The long hair, beard and jeans that Michael was known for during the late eighties were replaced with a buzz cut and mostly leather clothes. Michael commented, on the The Oprah Winfrey Show about that new appearance:[7]

"The way my image changed in Europe was that I looked very different, I had very short hair—I had really a kind of gay look in a way. I think I was trying to tell people I was okay with it [being gay], I just really didn't want to share it with journalists. The album I made in the middle nineties called Older was a tribute to Anselmo, really; there was a dedication to him on the album and fairly obvious male references. To my fans and the people that were really listening, I felt like I was trying to come out with them."

Michael grew back a longer hair style during 1998, as was first shown on the video he recorded for "Outside", premiered near the end of that year.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
Entertainment WeeklyC[9]
Los Angeles Times[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Yahoo! Music UK[6]

Older was a huge commercial success, specially in the European markets. In the UK the album was largely anticipated, and debuted at No.1 with an impressive 281,000 copies, becoming one of the biggest debuts ever in British history (it currently ranks as the 23rd fastest-selling album in the UK). It is also Virgin's fastest-selling album of all time.[12] It became Michael's biggest-selling album in his homeland, achieving over 1.8 million copies sold, and receiving a 6xPlatinum certification by the BPI on 5 December 1997. In the UK, it spent a total of 147 weeks inside the Top 200, 99 of them on the Top 75, and 35 of them on the Top 10 (including 23 consecutive weeks).[13] The steady sales of the album were the result of good promotion market and the release of six hit singles throughout a 2-year period. All of these singles (except for the one for the title track) were released and promoted as EP's, in two available formats, most of them containing previously unreleased material (including live tracks, alternate versions and, in the case for the Spinning the Wheel EP, two new studio recordings of brand-new George Michael compositions). Most of these singles were promoted with live performances at Top of the Pops and also music videos were recorded for the four first singles. All of this helped to push the album sales from one week to another, with the album usually returning to the Top 10 in the British charts. For example, when "Star People '97" was released in mid-1997, Older achieved a 21-14-10-7 progression on the charts. Very much the same happened when "You Have Been Loved/The Strangest Thing '97" was issued as the sixth single (fourteen months after the original release of the album), and Older showed a 24-14-7 move on the UK charts. In all, Older currently sits as the 97th best selling album of all time in the United Kingdom.

In the United States, the album was received with lukewarm success. There (and in Canada), the album release was particularly notable as it was the first album released by the now-defunct DreamWorks Records. It was preceded nicely, with "Jesus to a Child" and "Fastlove" reaching the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, but debut sales for the album were very disappointing – the album only reached No.6 in the Billboard 200, it slipped down the charts very quickly, and in all it just sold over one million copies.[14]

Singles

Older was particularly notable for the release of its six singles. All of them reached the UK Top 3, hitting a record for the most singles at the British Top 3 released from a single album. At the time of release of the fifth of them, "Star People '97", chart specialist James Masterson noted George Michael's success on the singles charts, writing: "Ironically enough denied by the very main who some say he is trying to emulate [Gary Barlow], George Michael nonetheless makes an impressive Top 3 entry with this single. The Older album has now proved itself to be far and away his most commercially successful recording ever. Five singles now lifted and every single one has been a Top 3 hit. Compare this with the two Top 3 hits produced by Faith and Listen Without Prejudice's scant total of one Top Tenner and one single which missed the Top 40 altogether. This sustained single success has, of course, been achieved with a little help from marketing tricks such as remixes – or in this case a new recording of the album track which gives it a much-needed transformation into a deserved commercial smash."[15]

Awards and live shows

In 1996, George was voted 'Best British Male', at the MTV Europe Awards and the BRITs; and at The Ivor Novello Awards, he was awarded the prestigious title of 'Songwriter of The Year' for the third time.[16]

At the beginning of October 1996, George performed his first live shows for five years with a gig for Radio 1 FM followed by an Unplugged Session for MTV. The Radio 1FM audience consisted of just 200 people and the MTV Unplugged session slightly larger at 500. Both audiences included competition winners, some of whom had flown to London from all over the world, as well as various specially invited guests.[17]

Re-release

The album was re-released on 1 December 1997 in a box package including two discs: The original album and an extra CD entitled Upper in a cardboard sleeve with the same cover as the box (which was a close-up of Michael's green eye from the original Older album). The set was issued as Older & Upper, with both compact discs printed in gold (instead of the original black from Older.) Upper includes six tracks previously released on the different singles from the album. The most notable of them is "Fastlove (Part II)", which is in fact a rare version of the track. It is not the same as the "Fully Extended Mix" on the "Fastlove" single (which runs at 9 minutes 27 seconds) nor the edit version (4 minutes 39 seconds) of the song on the first "Fastlove" promo. It can only be found on the second "Fastlove" promo single which is credited as the "Fully Extended Mix – edit". The Upper CD also includes interactive elements. When released, Older & Upper was not listed in the UK charts as a different album than the original Older, and helped the album to jump from No.65 to No.36 during the competitive Christmas season.

Track listing

CD

All songs written and composed by George Michael, except "Spinning the Wheel" co-composed by Jon Douglas; "You Have Been Loved" co-composed by David Austin. 

No. Title Length
1. "Jesus to a Child"   6:50
2. "Fastlove"   5:24
3. "Older"   5:33
4. "Spinning the Wheel"   6:21
5. "It Doesn't Really Matter"   4:50
6. "The Strangest Thing"   6:01
7. "To Be Forgiven"   5:21
8. "Move On"   4:45
9. "Star People"   5:16
10. "You Have Been Loved"   5:31
11. "Free"   3:00
Total length:
 58:52

Cassette/LP

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Jesus to a Child"   6:50
2. "Fastlove"   5:24
3. "Older"   5:33
4. "Spinning the Wheel"   6:21
5. "It Doesn't Really Matter"   4:50
Total length:
 28:58
Side two
No. Title Length
1. "The Strangest Thing"   6:01
2. "To Be Forgiven"   5:21
3. "Move On"   4:45
4. "Star People"   5:16
5. "You Have Been Loved"   5:31
6. "Free"   3:00
Total length:
 29:54

Upper

Interactive elements

Includes the MPEG music videos for "Jesus to a Child", "Fastlove", and "Spinning the Wheel", as well as various internet links.

Personnel

Production

Charts and certifications

Chart positions

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[18] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[18] 1
Belgian Flanders Albums Chart[18] 3
Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart[18] 2
Canadian RPM Top Albums[19] 3
Dutch Albums Chart[18] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[18] 3
French Albums Chart[20] 1
German Albums Chart[21] 3
Hungarian Albums Chart[22] 1
Italian Albums Chart[23] 2
Japanese Albums Chart[24] 3
New Zealand Albums Chart[18] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[18] 1
Spanish Albums Chart[25] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[18] 1
Swiss Albums Chart[18] 2
UK Albums Chart[26] 1
US Billboard 200[27] 6

Year-end charts

Chart (1996) Position
Australian Albums Chart[28] 15
Austrian Albums Chart[29] 14
Canadian Albums Chart[30] 15
French Albums Chart[31] 21
Italian Albums Chart[23] 6
Japanese Albums Chart[32] 116
Swiss Albums Chart[33] 11
UK Albums Chart[34] 5
U.S. Billboard 200[35] 99

Certifications

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Region Certification Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[36] Gold 25,000x
Brazil (ABPD)[37] Gold 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[38] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[39] Platinum 474,700[40]
Germany (BVMI)[41] Platinum 500,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[42] Gold 201,970[32]
Netherlands (NVPI)[43] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[44] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[45] Platinum 50,000*
Poland (ZPAV)[46] Platinum 100,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[47] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Sweden (GLF)[48] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[49] Platinum 50,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[50] 6× Platinum 1,800,000^
United States (RIAA)[51] Platinum 1,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[52] 5× Platinum 5,000,000*

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Singles

Year Title Chart positions
AU
[53]		 EU
[54]		 FR
[55]		 GE
[56]		 IE
[57]		 IT
[58]		 NL
[59]		 SE
[60]		 UK
[61]		 US
[62]
1996 "Jesus to a Child" 1 2 7 12 1 2 3 2 1 7
"Fastlove" 1 3 10 25 5 1 14 7 1 8
"Spinning the Wheel" 14 5 — 67 14 — 31 18 2 —
1997 "Older" A — — — — 6 — 29 60 3 —
"I Can't Make You Love Me" A
"Star People '97" — — — 64 7 — 24 37 2 —
"You Have Been Loved" B — 9 — — 11 — 21 53 2 —
"The Strangest Thing '97" B

A Released as a double A-side single.
B Released as a double A-side single.

References

  1. ↑ "George Michael Biography". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  2. ↑ "George Michael Album – Older". Sortmusic.com. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Handbook of attachment: theory ... – Google Books. Google Books. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  4. ↑ "The Long GOODBYE (article for a US magazine explore Michael)". Web.archive.org. 9 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "New York Times:George Michael Loses Lawsuit Against Sony". The New York Times. 22 June 1994. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  6. 1 2 "George Michael 'Older' Album Review, New album reviews and latest album releases on Yahoo! Music". Yahoo! Music UK. 15 April 1996. Archived from the original on 17 January 2006. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  7. ↑ Archived 14 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Older - George Michael". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  9. ↑ David Browne (17 May 1996). "Older Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  10. ↑ Gardner, Elysa (12 May 1996). "Record Rack: Michael's Maturity Takes Its Toll". articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  11. ↑ Weisel, Al (2 February 1998). "Older". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  12. ↑ "GMA: Albums Index". Members.lycos.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "GEORGE MICHAEL – The Official Charts Company". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  14. ↑ "Older – George Michael". Billboard. 1 June 1996. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  15. ↑ "GMS: Star People '97". Members.lycos.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  16. ↑ "George Michael". Gaylife.about.com. 25 June 1963. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  17. ↑ "George Michael on". Tv.com. 20 December 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Peak positions. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  19. ↑ Top Albums/CDs – Volume 63, No. 15, 27 May 1996. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  20. ↑ "'Les Chart Runs de chaque Album classé'". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  21. ↑ Longplay-Chartverfolgung. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  22. ↑ Hungarian Albums Chart. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  23. 1 2 "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1996" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  24. ↑ George Michael albums sales ranking. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  25. ↑ Spanish Albums Chart. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  26. ↑ Top 75 Releases. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  27. ↑ Older – George Michael. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  28. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 50 Albums 1989". aria.com.au. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  29. ↑ "Austriancharts.at - Jahreshitparade 1996". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  30. ↑ "RPM Year End Top 100 Albums". RPM. 16 December 1996. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  31. ↑ "Classement Albums – année 1996" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  32. 1 2 Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  33. ↑ "Hitparade.ch - Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1996". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  34. ↑ "UNITED KINGDOM (CIN) BEST ALBUMS OF 1996". Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  35. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1996". billboard.biz. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  36. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – George Michael – Older" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter George Michael in the field Interpret. Enter Older in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  37. ↑ "Brazilian album certifications – George Michael – Older" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
  38. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – George Michael – Older". Music Canada.
  39. ↑ "French album certifications – George Michael – Older" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  40. ↑ "Les Albums Platine". infodisc.fr (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  41. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (George Michael; 'Older')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  42. ↑ "RIAJ > The Record > July 1996 > Page 5 > Certified Awards (May 1996)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-09-08.
  43. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – George Michael – Older" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.
  44. ↑ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  45. ↑ "Norwegian album certifications – George Michael – Older" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  46. ↑ "Polish album certifications – George Michael – Older" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  47. ↑ "Spanish album certifications – George Michael – Older" (PDF) (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Select the "Chart", enter ' in the field "Year". Select ' in the field "Semana". Click on "Search Charts"
  48. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  49. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (George Michael; 'Older')". Hung Medien.
  50. ↑ "British album certifications – George Michael – Older". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Older in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  51. ↑ "American album certifications – George Michael – Older". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  52. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2005". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  53. ↑ ARIA Charts (1996). "Australian Singles Chart". Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  54. ↑ Peak positions for singles on the Eurochart:
    • Jesus to a Child: "Billboard" 108 (6). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 10 February 1996: 53. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
    • Fastlove: "Billboard" 108 (20). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 18 May 1996: 44. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
    • Spinning the Wheel: "Billboard" 108 (38). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 21 September 1996: 48. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
    • You Have Been Loved / The Strangest Thing '97: "Billboard" 108. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 27 September 1997: 65. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  55. ↑ Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (1996). "French Singles Chart" (in French). Les Charts. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  56. ↑ "Chartverfolgung / Michael, George / Single" (in German). Music Line PhonoNet. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  57. ↑ Irish Recorded Music Association (1996). "Irish Singles Chart (searchable database)". Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  58. ↑ Peak positions for singles in Italy:
    • Jesus to a Child: "Billboard" 108 (6). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 3 February 1996: 56. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
    • Fastlove: "Billboard" 108 (20). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 18 May 1996: 44. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  59. ↑ Peak positions for singles in the Dutch Top 40:
  60. ↑ Sverigetopplistan (1996). "Swedish Singles Chart". Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  61. ↑ The Official Charts Company (1996). "UK Singles Chart". Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  62. ↑ Billboard magazine (1996). "Billboard Hot 100". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
Preceded by
1977 by Ash		 UK number one album
25 May 1996 – 15 June 1996 		Succeeded by
Load by Metallica
Preceded by
To the Faithful Departed
by The Cranberries		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
26 May 1996 – 1 June 1996 		Succeeded by
Down on the Upside by Soundgarden
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