Patience
Studio album by
George Michael
Released15 March 2004
Genre
Length
  • 70:15 (UK)
  • 63:09 (US)
Label
ProducerGeorge Michael
George Michael chronology
Songs from the Last Century
(1999) 		Patience
(2004) 		Twenty Five
(2006)
Singles from Patience
  1. "Freeek!"
    Released: 18 March 2002
  2. "Shoot the Dog"
    Released: 29 July 2002
  3. "Amazing"
    Released: 1 March 2004
  4. "Flawless (Go to the City)"
    Released: 28 June 2004
  5. "Round Here"
    Released: 1 November 2004
  6. "John and Elvis Are Dead"
    Released: 3 October 2005
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(60/100)[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
BBC Music(positive)[3]
Blender[4]
Entertainment WeeklyC[5]
The Guardian[6]
Houston ChronicleC[7]
Slant Magazine[8]
Stylus MagazineD+[9]
Uncut[10]
Yahoo! Music UK[11]

Patience is the fifth and final studio album by the English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 15 March 2004. The much delayed follow-up to Older, at the time of its release it was considered Michael's comeback album since it was his first album composed of original material since 1996, and his first for Sony Music since 1990's Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1.

Patience spawned six singles. The first two, "Freeek!" and "Shoot the Dog", were already released in 2002 by Polydor, when the album was originally due.

In a 2004 interview with Adam Mattera for UK magazine Attitude, Michael explained how he felt reenergised and excited about the project: "There's something about the vocals on this album that's a lot more confident, more certain. There are proclamations of love that I've never made before – certainly since Wham! – and then there's going further into the truth at the same time, like on "My Mother Had a Brother" or "Through" – they're trying to get closer to the truth."[12]

Return to Sony

On 17 November 2003, Michael re-signed with Sony Music, the company he had left after a legal battle in which Michael claimed that his contract was stifling him and was keeping him in "professional slavery". As a result, his contract was sold by Sony to rival record companies Virgin Records and DreamWorks Records on 14 July 1995.

Release and reception

Patience went on sale in most of the world in late March 2004 and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and at number 2 in Australia on 22 March. It became one of the fastest-selling albums in the UK, selling over 275,000 copies in the first week.[13] The album went on sale in the US on 18 May 2004; however, it did not contain "Patience Pt. 2" and "Shoot the Dog". It debuted in the US at number 29 but after TV appearances, such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, the following week, it reached its chart peak of number 12. As of 2006, the album had sold 381,000 in the United States.[14] It has sold around four million copies worldwide.[13]

The first single "Freeek!" had already reached number one in Italy, Spain and Denmark in March 2002 and reached the top ten in the UK and top five in Australia. The album features a remixed version called "Freeek! '04".

The second single, "Shoot the Dog", was released in July 2002. It was not released as a single in Canada or the US over sensitivity to the 11 September 2001 attacks, and was not included on the Patience album in those countries. While it reached the top five in Spain, Italy and Denmark, it failed to reach the top ten in the UK.

The third single from Patience, "Amazing", was released in March 2004 and went to number one in Italy and Spain, also reaching number 4 in the UK and number 6 in Australia.

The fourth single, "Flawless (Go to the City)", was released in June 2004 and reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. It reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart.

In November 2004, Sony released a fifth single from Patience, "Round Here". The single reached number 32 on the UK charts.

"John and Elvis Are Dead", the sixth single was released in October 2005 and only sold through the Internet as a download.

Anti-war song

The album contains the anti-war song "Shoot the Dog". When released in July 2002, "Shoot the Dog" had already proved to be controversial. It was highly critical of George W. Bush and Tony Blair in the leadup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The video showed a cartoon version of Michael astride a nuclear missile in the Middle East and Tony and Cherie Blair in bed with President Bush. The latter image was apparently intended as a homage to the 1986 video for "Land of Confusion" by Genesis.[15] The cartoon was produced by the makers of 2DTV, a satirical animated television show broadcast weekly on the independent television station ITV in the UK.[15][16]

In an interview with MTV, Michael said the song was primarily intended to highlight what he saw as a lack of consultation by Tony Blair about the decision of invading Iraq. "People are looking at the song in context of an attack on America, as opposed to an attack on Tony Blair. And really, my attack is that Tony Blair is not involving the British in this issue. He's perfectly happy staying up to watch the World Cup and enjoying the Jubilee, all things I'm perfectly guilty of, but there's a serious discussion about Iraq, which hasn't taken place. We don't know what Saddam Hussein is capable of, the British public has no idea."[15]

Final album

Michael announced Patience would be his last album on sale to the public as a physical release.[17] He told BBC Radio 1 on 10 March 2004 that music he put out in the future would be available for download with fans encouraged to make a donation to charity.[18] He said: "I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years so I really don't need the public's money. I'd like to have something on the Internet which is a charitable download site where anyone can download my music for free.[19] I'll have my favourite charities up there and people will hopefully donate to that." He stated that the decision would put less pressure to produce a new album every so often and allow him to have more of a private life.

Patience was Michael's final studio album of original material before his death on 25 December 2016.

Track listing

Standard version
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Patience"George MichaelMichael2:53
2."Amazing"
  • Michael
  • Jon Douglas
Michael4:25
3."John and Elvis Are Dead"
Michael4:23
4."Cars and Trains"
  • Michael
  • Douglas
  • Michael
  • Douglas[a]
5:51
5."Round Here"MichaelMichael5:55
6."Shoot the Dog"MichaelMichael5:07
7."My Mother Had a Brother"MichaelMichael6:17
8."Flawless (Go to the City)"Michael
  • Michael
  • A Touch of Class[b]
6:51
9."American Angel"
  • Michael
  • Niall Flynn
  • James Jackman
  • Ruadhri Cushnan
  • Michael
  • Flynn
  • Jackman
  • Cushnan
4:07
10."Precious Box"MichaelMichael7:39
11."Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)"Michael
  • Michael
  • Douglas[a]
5:26
12."Freeek! '04"
  • Michael
  • Flynn
  • Jackman
  • Cushnan
  • Michael
  • Flynn
  • Jackman
  • Cushnan
4:28
13."Through"MichaelMichael5:22
14."Patience (Pt. 2)"MichaelMichael1:30
Total length:70:15
Japanese version (bonus track)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)" (alternative version)Michael6:58
US version
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Patience"George MichaelMichael2:53
2."Amazing"
  • Michael
  • Jon Douglas
Michael4:25
3."John and Elvis Are Dead"
Michael4:23
4."Cars and Trains"
  • Michael
  • Douglas
  • Michael
  • Douglas[a]
5:51
5."Round Here"MichaelMichael5:56
6."My Mother Had a Brother"MichaelMichael6:17
7."Flawless (Go to the City)"Michael
  • Michael
  • A Touch of Glass[b]
6:51
8."American Angel"
  • Michael
  • Niall Flynn
  • James Jackman
  • Ruadhri Cushnan
  • Michael
  • Flynn
  • Jackman
  • Cushnan
4:07
9."Precious Box"MichaelMichael7:39
10."Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)"Michael
  • Michael
  • Douglas[a]
5:26
11."Freeek! '04"
  • Michael
  • Flynn
  • Jackman
  • Cushnan
  • Michael
  • Flynn
  • Jackman
  • Cushnan
4:28
12."Through"MichaelMichael5:22

Notes

Sample credits

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[20]

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[60] Gold 20,000^
Australia (ARIA)[61] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[62] Gold 15,000*
Belgium (BEA)[63] Gold 25,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[64] Gold 20,000^
France (SNEP)[66] Gold 121,000[65]
Germany (BVMI)[67] Platinum 200,000^
Hungary (MAHASZ)[68] Gold 10,000^
Italy (FIMI)[69] Platinum 100,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[70] Gold 40,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[71] Platinum 15,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[72] Gold 20,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[73] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[74] Gold 30,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[75] Gold 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[76] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States — 381,000[14]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[77] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  2. ^ Allmusic review
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External links

George Michael
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