George Michael - Symphonica (2014) [Deluxe Edition]
 FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time - 79:12 minutes | 1,61 GB
Blu-Ray Audio Rip | Sourced Track - LPCM 2.0 Stereo | Front Cover

 2014 release, the sixth album from the global Pop superstar. Symphonica was recorded during the tour of the same name of 2011 and `12 and was co-produced by George himself, alongside the late, legendary Phil Ramone. Features new versions of old classics as well as new classics! Since he entered our lives in 1982 with the ground-breaking slice of exuberance that was `Wham! Rap (Enjoy What You Do)', George Michael has become an international artist of the highest order. He has sold well over 100 million albums in a world where Germany's population is 80 million and the United Kingdom's is 63 million. He's topped charts from Austria to Australia. He's sold-out stadiums from Tokyo to Tampa. He re-defined popular music with his debut solo album, 1987's Faith and has subsequently crafted a substantial, enormously popular body of work.


 Gestating for a long time -- at least two years, although George Michael hasn't released an album for a decade -- Symphonica is a curious way for the pop singer to return to action. A live album recorded on his 2011-2012 tour, Symphonica showcases a singer on the supper club circuit, trading in a few of his big hits, all middle-brow favorites ("Praying for Time," "One More Try," "A Different Corner") and spending a lot of time on songs the audience knows and love, whether it's Ewan MacColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," Anthony Newley's "Feeling Good," or the American Popular Songbook standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me." Michael does indulge in some personal favorites -- —he tackles Terence Trent D'Arby's "Let Her Down Easy" and the deep Elton John track "Idol" -- but the context is something familiar: a popular singer luxuriating in a symphonic setting. He doesn't push the limits of this template, choosing to enjoy the lush surroundings, so this winds up slightly anti-climactic: Michael is in good form but he's coasting, doing no more than he needs to, satisfying fans without surprising.  


Tracklist:

 01 - Through
 02 - My Baby Just Cares For Me
 03 - A Different Corner
 04 - Praying For Time
 05 - Let Her Down Easy
 06 - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
 07 - Feeling Good
 08 - John And Elvis Are Dead
 09 - Roxanne
 10 - One More Try
 11 - Going To A Town
 12 - Cowboys And Angels
 13 - Idol
 14 - Brother Can You Spare A Dime
 15 - You Have Been Loved
 16 - Wild Is The Wind
 17 - You've Changed