Faith (George Michael Album) - Legacy

Legacy

In 1989, Faith was ranked No.84 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s and No.57 on their list of 100 greatest albums of the year. In 2003, the album was ranked number 480 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Faith was ranked 79th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at No.24 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". Reviewing the reissue of the album in Metro in 2011, Arwa Haider claimed: "Faith still bursts with self-belief, designer vanity, classic songs and imagery, right from the opening title track which begins with a funereal church organ rendition of Wham!'s hit, Freedom, before clicking into jaunty rock 'n' roll. It's easy to hear why Faith achieved multi-million status, although the masterful ballads (Father Figure, One More Try) have stood the test of time better than Michael's funk-pop." Slant Magazine listed the album at #62 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980's"

With sales of more than seven million in 1988, Faith was named in the United States as the most shipped album of the year. Along with the success of the American singer Michael Jackson's album Bad, as well as breakthrough albums by many new and old artists, it was seen as a sign that US record sales were slowly recovering. By the end of 1988, the industry had sold millions of albums, an increase of approximately one percent, as recorded by Nielsen SoundScan. Compared with record sales in 1987, this showed a two percent increase.