2 May 1993
If ever you fear you’ve lost your cutting edge, go back and watch the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, the Woodstock of ’90s British soft rock. For all the funds and awareness it raised for AIDS charities, this Queen-fest really was a stinker of a musical event but also a fairly accurate bellwether of male white middle-aged musical taste. Find yourself liking this, and next thing you’ll be re-watching old Top Gear and complaining that you can’t say anything these days.
After ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ by post-cred Guns N’ Roses, this George Michael EP of live covers is our second number one arising from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Only two of its four (not five) tracks were from that outdoor Wembley Stadium extravaghastliness: George cheerleading the corny West End musical vibes of ‘Someone To Love’, and then duetting with Lisa Stansfield on the saccharine unguent of ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’ on its second stint at number one in Ireland. The two others are, happily, free of Queen content and were recorded at a George Michael concert in indoor Wembley Arena the previous year; maudlin US country-AOR ballad ‘Calling You’, and a medley of ‘Killer’ and ‘Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone’. That latter track promises to be the most intriguing but, instead of an inventive soundclash or mashup, it turns out to be a pretty formulaic two-part cut-and-shut in which George just sings one after the other with no real cross-pollination or bleedthrough. In fact, while the other tracks are expectedly bland, this one is the biggest disappointment.
Nothing on the Five Live EP plays to George’s strengths, namely the flashes of hurt and bitterness he reveals in ‘Careless Whisper’, ‘Last Christmas’, ‘A Different Corner’ and ‘Freedom ’90’. We’ll see those qualities in extremis on George’s next Irish number one, which will also be his last. Thankfully, it’ll be far better than this.
