Patience is an appropriate title for the latest effort from the King of the Five O’Clock Shadow. It has been five years since George has recorded a pop album. Patience – much awaited and anticipated – it’s billed as the comeback album. After a tempestuous career of highs and lows for this British icon, after selling millions of albums and selling out world tours, George experienced the "rise and fall". The lengthy battle with his record company which halted his recording for years, the bathroom scandal and the public statement acknowledging his homosexuality (it’s not like no one knew he was guy in the tight, white short shorts parading around singing "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go") – seems George has spent more time in damage control and in courtrooms than in the studio.

Patience must be the healing album for George Michael. It plays like a diary of poetic expression and emotional venting, taking you into the mind, body and soul of Mr. Michael. Patience is mostly ballads with a few mid-temp tracks thrown in for effect and to keep you from falling into depression. Though Patience is not George’s best body of work, nonetheless and to his credit, his voice sounds incredible. He soars over those high notes effortlessly and his writing is that of an experienced, mature man.

Long gone is the sweet sugar of his earlier work. You can hear the songs are crafted from a deeper soul with infinite talent. George wrote the songs and played most of the instruments on this CD – impressive for someone we wrote off fourteen years ago. Patience has elements of a ground-breaking album. Individually each song is great, but as a whole the album doesn’t gel like one would expect. There are some defining moments that put you in awe of his talent and remind you that George is still a music icon, not to be forgotten.

The track "Amazing" rolls out true George Michael style – funky bass line, sexual lyrics, smooth R&B melody with vocals so tight you’d think he was from Motown. My favorite track on the disc is "Precious Box". I just can’t get enough of this song. I’ve listened to it about 50 times; it’s one of those songs that grab you and never let go. It seems to be left over from his last album Older, where George toyed with electronica. "Precious Box" is electronica meets chill-out house – it’s begging to be remixed.

Other tracks to check out are "John And Elvis Are Dead", the personal ballad "My Mother Had A Brother", and the string-driven "Through". Patience will not top the charts, nor will it define the artist, but it’s an intimate, emotional exploration. In some ways it makes it worth the wait.