So, despite being a big fan of George's solo output, I never paid too much attention to the Wham! catalog. I always considered it a warmup for his solo career. George and Andrew were, after all, only 19 years old when they made this album. My perception was that it was just a bit too teenybopper to be taken seriously. In addition, unlike
Make It Big, this album went pretty much unnoticed here in the USA when it was released. So I was completely unfamiliar with all the songs on this one.
But damn, this is a pretty solid album. It fits in well with some of the better British pop of its time (like ABC's
Lexicon of Love) with a dose of Chic influence for good measure. Never realized that they had covered "Love Machine". (It's a favorite 70's guilty pleasure of mine). And while (in terms of the songwriting) there's nothing here that scales the heights that George would later achieve with songs like "Fast Love" or "Praying For Time", you can hear that it's a fresh new talent just getting his feet wet. It's clear that he's very ambitious and has the musical skill to match.
As for the mix, I'm listening downmixed to 5.1 but it's crazy discrete. Can't wait to get over to a friend's place so I can hear it in full Atmos. Chris Porter isn't afraid to make some bold choices, like having the battle between George and the female singer on "Young Guns" go back and forth between the rear left and right speakers. Porter did a very solid job here. I don't see him listed with any other titles on the Surround Engineers list. If this is his first time mixing for surround, I can't wait to see what he does next...
Kudos to
@PaulatSDE for knowing that fans will want bonus content. The addition of multiple bonus tracks (with some in Atmos) should be a given on HFPA discs but too many record companies can't be bothered. It's great that this series is being run by someone who is a music lover and collector.
So I've spent the last six days confined to my recliner while I recover from foot surgery. I thought that maybe how much I enjoyed my first listen a few days back that....well....it may have been the Percocet talking, LOL. But as I ween myself off the pain meds, I'm still digging it! A great mix of a solid album with nice extras. How can that not be a
10?
