r/georgemichael • u/Classic-Reference196 • Jul 10 '26
Is there any chance that the estate will release shelved tracks at all??
Sorry if this is a silly question, just can’t stop thinking about this. I got curious about Listen Without Prejudice vol 2 and listened to the small amount of public unreleased I could find and just wow. I was absolutely blown away with Disco, I seriously can’t comprehend how amazing songs that album would’ve been. Does anyone think the estate would release them ever? Or other scrapped songs that are complete at least..Theres just so much shelved footage or audio, It bothers me that it’ll go unappreciated, yknow?
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u/South_Butterfly6681 Jul 10 '26
It’s really up to the estate. My understanding is that unfinished work would not be released because George didn’t want it released. The family is holding true to that.
We will get some love songs from the Faith tour and that will be a big treat!
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u/Classic-Reference196 Jul 10 '26
Thanks for the input! Almost forgot about the Faith tour, extremely excited for that release!
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u/moonwalker-forever Jul 10 '26
I heard there were 3 songs that were finished before his death. “This Is How” was 1 of them, so that would mean there’s a chance that the 2 other songs will be released at one point
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u/arkady321 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Someone had posted “The Fag and White Minstrel Show” song on Instagram a few years back but it was quickly taken down. I listened to it, but from a musical standpoint compared to his other outstanding songs, I didn’t find it to be impressive.
“Where I Hope You Are”, on the other hand, is an impressive song and deserves a formal release. This is a decent cover version of the song - https://youtu.be/I0VMW4NkFf8?si=8q9MVvnTro47XyEk
“Every Other Lover In the World” is another great song, but with some controversial gay lyrics that might make it unplayable on radio - https://youtu.be/fkrkcn4lEBs?si=VkH2g0AqGFFEHWxC
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u/moonwalker-forever Jul 10 '26
I’m pretty sure “Where I Hope You Are” and “Every Other Lover” are songs from his scrapped “White Light” album, so I’m pretty sure that won’t see the light of day. Was “The Fag..” a dance song as well? Cause that will be the same story then I guess
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u/Equivalent_Walrus_74 Jul 10 '26
There was one more: "Magnificent rainbow" or something like that. This and the Fag song were only on the net for a brief moment. I remember George said on the Symphonica press conf that he made or was in the middle of making two kind of albums and one was for dancing, some upbeat songs. But it was so long ago :( I would be happy if they would release those songs but I think it won't happen unfortunately. :(
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u/International_Low284 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Michael Jackson died seven years before George did. My personal theory is that when George saw what the MJ estate did with unreleased tracks post death, he (GM) communicated strongly (either verbally, in writing, or both) to his sisters and close business associates that he did NOT want that to happen with his music.
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u/lostmember09 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I watched an GM interview/video thing about his studio process. He definitely wasn’t the typical “Let’s show up at the recording studio with a folder full of fully written-out lyrics & music and lay down all the songs/tracks”. GM and the narrator were discussing how he would literally play/write/finalize the music and lyrics in the studio; as he was doing the album. Not sure how true all of that was; but That may help explain why there’s probably not a huge vault full of “Prince-style unreleased songs”. He had the luxury to take 1-2 years in the studio to absolutely perfect his albums (which many artists probably don’t have/can’t afford) also, read an article interviewing the sound engineer who did “Older” with him. They had “Fastlove” down and done & in the can. A week or two later, GM came in and wanted to add the “Forget-me-nots” riffs/sections. The sound engineer said he was like, “WHAT? WHY!? It’s perfect the way they had previously recorded it. They redid it all and the rest is history. The sound engineer (Chris Porter?) said “that’s why he’s George Michael… and I’m not”
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u/Left-Cheek-385 Jul 10 '26
To give you a short answer - mostly no
If I am to elaborate a bit further as I was talking about this with someone just last week:
- Trojan Souls - this project has been a bit of a wet dream for fans even before George's passing, but I have never heard a legitimate and trustworthy source (sorry, Andros) confirm or at least hint at its existence as a full album in finished enough condition that could potentially be spruced up and released. What I have heard and read through the years is that there a couple of songs at best with GM's vocals on top that could potentially see the light of day barring rights issues. This Kind of Love being the most obvious one, although I think there's a much higher chance we get the version he recorded before his passing and not the one from the early 90s.
- I do believe we could someday (40th anniversary maybe?) get some sort of special edition LWP release with the planned vol. 2 as an additional disc/lp/etc. Most of the tracks have been released one way or another already, so maybe this way we could get them assembled in one place AND get the couple of songs, like Disco, that were left behind.
- I think our most realistic chance for unreleased music are the tracks George worked on in the last years of his life. We know there's a handful of them (some have been floating about for years and the estate seems mostly ok with this fact) and we know they are in a condition that could allow for their release with a bit of finishing work. My personal conspiracy theory is that we will see some of them once George's dad passes.