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Older

by George Michael

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After a two-year legal battle in which the pop star accused his former label of treating him like, well, a pop star while he demanded to be considered an artist, any designation short of masterpiece would qualify Older as disappointment. Since securing his release from Sony and hooking up with DreamWorks SKG (run by folks named Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen who could sympathize with Michael's two-ton ego) the question has been: Now that Michael got what he wanted, can he deliver that masterpiece? Older's answer: Of course not.

In fairness, however, the 32-year-old semireformed teen idol's return comes close enough to greatness to suggest he deserves to be cut a little slack. Where he overestimates his talent, perhaps we've underestimated it. Older has not forsaken the supermodel worldview of Michael's post-Wham! successes Faith and Listen Without Prejudice. Style is still a big part of his substance, and the word 'baby' is still used too much in his lyrics. But Older is, as implied, a more mature set. Paying homage to Brazilian bossa nova composer Antonio Carlos Jobim and his own Greek heritage, Michael stews his Brit/American R&B with Latin jazz pop and Mediterranean swirls. He even casts himself as a '90s Sinatra on a lounge-friendly track where he plays all instruments. And with all of Older's high-stakes ambition, Michael manages to keep the album immersed in a superbly melodic pop glaze that might have turned most of these tracks into hits. --Roni Sarig