Patience (CD - 2004)

Personnel: George Michael (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, drum programming); George Michael (bass guitar); Luke Smith (Wurlitzer piano, Wurlitzer organ); Johnny Douglas, Johnny Douglas (keyboards, drum programming); Joel Bryant, Jo Bryant (background vocals); Michael Brown , Phil Palmer (guitar); Chris Cameron (piano); David Austin, Pete Gleadall, Ruadhri Cushnan (keyboards, programming); James Jackman (keyboards, drum programming); Graham Silbiger (bass guitar).

Photographers: James Jackman; Jack Panayiotou; Abid Katib; James Dimmock; Eugene Adebari; Ben Smithard; Ellen Von Unwerth.

Arrangers: George Michael; Niall Flynn; James Jackman; Ruadhri Cushnan.

2004's PATIENCE finds George Michael attempting to transcend his tabloid notoriety with pure musical prowess. Remarkably enough, Michael achieves this feat with a batch of songs that reaffirms the notion that artists sometimes get their best material from unsettling personal experiences. Loss plays a big part in many of these songs, whether it's the sparse piano ballad "My Mother Had a Brother" (about an uncle who killed himself in despondency over his own homosexuality) or the mid-tempo, Latin-tinged "Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)" (about an ex-lover who died of AIDS).

The British pop icon also touches on religion with the sparsely arranged "John and Elvis Are Dead," which finds him questioning Christ's existence. Despite the somber subject matter on many of the aforementioned songs and the gorgeously rendered title cut, Michael can still turn out dance-inspired fare. "Flawless (Go to the City)" features the kind of thumping beats you'd expect to hear at a velvet-rope club, and "Freeek! '04" slows down the tempo while displaying a carnal frankness on par with "I Want Your Sex." minimize