George Michael - Trojan Souls (1993)

George Michael's second studio album 'Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1' was released in September 1990, with its title being an indication of his desire to be taken more seriously as a songwriter. It reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, and peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, and spent a total of 88 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, being certified four-times Platinum by the BPI. The album produced five UK singles, and despite Michael refusing to do any promotion for the record, it won Best British Album at the 1991 Brit Awards. Later in 1991 he embarked on the 'Cover To Cover' tour in Japan, England, the US, and Brazil, where he performed at Rock in Rio, but this was not a proper promotion for 'Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1', but rather it featured Michael singing his favourite cover songs, one of which was released as a single that year, with his duet with Elton John on his 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' reaching No. 1 in both the UK and US. An expected follow-up album, 'Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2', was scrapped due to his lawsuit with Sony, with Michael donating three of the songs to the charity project 'Red Hot + Dance', for the Red Hot Organization which raised money for AIDS awareness. A fourth track 'Crazyman Dance' was released as the b-side of 1992's 'Too Funky', with Michael donating the royalties from 'Too Funky' to the same cause. Following the scrapping of 'Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2', Michael started a new musical project with childhood friend Andros Georgiou, with 'Trojan Souls' being due to be released on their joint record label Hardback in 1993. Michael reportedly pitched 'Trojan Souls' to Sony and recorded the album between 1991 and 1993, during his legal fight with the label, but he stopped working on music after the death of Anselmo Feleppa, who he called the first love of his life, and who he met at the Rock in Rio concert in 1991. 'Trojan Souls' was to feature songs he would perform himself, as well as songs he wrote and planned to get Elton John, Sade, Seal, Stevie Wonder and Anita Baker to sing, although it is unknown if those artists ever recorded their vocals, apart from Elton John, whose track has leaked online. Fans have long circulated bootlegs of 'Trojan Souls' tracks, most of which are only in instrumental form, as the project was never finished, but there are enough tracks with vocals to gain some idea of what it might have sounded like, and by adding a couple of instrumentals it can be fleshed out to full album length. Prince's guitarist Wendy Melvoin was involved in the project, and 'Sketch For Wendy' was to be her showcase, while 'Pieces' is a mood piece which sits nicely on the album. After 'Trojan Souls' was scrapped, Michael spent the next three years working on new music, which eventually surfaced as the 'Older' album in 1996, but here is the chance to hear what he was working on directly after the massive success of 'Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1', and what, with a bit more work, could have been its follow-up record. 

Track listing

01 This Kind Of Love
02 One Day I'll Know
03 Lonely Nights
04 Sketch For Wendy
05 You Slipped Away From Me
06 Day And Night
07 Waiting For A Heart
08 Pieces
09 So Damn Hard