Vinyl Icons

Sessions for Faith began in August 1986 at SARM Studio 2 in West London. In February 1987 the locale changed to PUK residential studios in Aarhus in western Denmark, which was both secluded and – thanks to it having a 56-channel SSLE series digital desk and Mitsubishi 32-track machines – state-of-the-art.

The acoustic instruments, guitars, drums and percussion were recorded in the live room, although the rhythm section – including ex-Wham! bassist Deon Estus – never actually played together and most instrumental tracks were overdubbed. The LinnDrums and keyboard were recorded in the control room.

Engineer Chris Porter noted in an interview with Sound On Sound that George Michael made simple two- or four-bar LinnDrum patterns that weren't necessarily formulated to sound like something a drummer would play. In his opinion some of the more angular rhythms, which Michael liked, sound rather ugly now.

And although Michael had limited instrumental ability, sometimes he would take over from the technically superior session players to ensure that the parts had the right feel, and played all the instruments on 'Hard Day' and on 'Monkey' except for Roddy Matthews' guitar.

Apart from brass and piano, the soundscapes were produced by a Yamaha DX7 keyboard, a Roland Juno 106 for the bass and strings, and a Greengate DS3 sampler. Michael's vocals were recorded with a Neumann M49 microphone, as in the right hands its warmth at the top end could be used to counterbalance the harshness of some early digital recording equipment.

The recordings were finished in September 1987 back at SARM West's Studio 2, which had a compatible SSL 3038E console.