Older (George Michael album)
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| Studio album by George Michael | ||||
| Released | 13 May 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1993–96 | |||
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| Length | 58:56 | |||
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| Singles from Older | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | C |
| Los Angeles Times |  |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Rolling Stone (Germany) | |
| Yahoo! Music UK |   |
| Sputnikmusic | |
Older is the third solo studio album by George Michael, released in Europe on 13 May 1996 through Virgin Records and Aegean 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 legal battle that Michael experienced with his record company. Michael dedicated three years to 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. 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. The high sales of the album presaged a re-issue of the album under the name of Older & Upper 18 months after its original release.
To date, Older has sold around 8 million copies worldwide.
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. 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. 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 number one in both the UK and the U.S.), Michael contributed several tracks to the charity album Red Hot + Dance in 1992 (with one song, "Too Funky", being released as a single and reaching 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 number one in the UK).
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Wikipedia