.jpg "gm") |
Long before he was driving into storefronts and gladhanding undercover police officers in public restrooms, George Michael was in the closet and struggling to break free from having been in the short-shorts-wearing duo Wham! Faith did the trick, despite the ready-to-pin-up cover art. The title track remains an ideal melding of rockabilly and dance, rescued from Limp Bizkit's late-'90s torturing by its appearance during that unforgettable bedroom shimmy scene in The Rules of Attraction. The once controversial "I Want Your Sex" is still the definition of dirty, baby; "One More Try" aches with a wanton emotion and soul that the James Blunts of the world only dream about possessing. Even questionable numbers like the smoky-lounge "Kissing a Fool" and the beat-happy "Monkey" shine because you can sense the seriousness with which Michael takes them. A bonus disc unearths nuggets like a "Faith" instrumental, and there are the forgettable but requisite B-Sides and remixes. It's always curious to see how re-releases hold up in retrospect. Nearly a quarter-century in, Faith isn't timeless, but it fits into an '80s time capsule where horns, cheesy-sounding drum machines, and four-day-old stubble were the standard.
