The leather jacket, the blue jeans, the stubble. George Michael’s Faith era delivers one of pop’s most recognizable images, but The Faith Tour brings the focus back to the voice behind it. Recorded at Paris-Bercy in 1988 during his first solo concert tour, the new live album captures Michael taking command of the stage with a catalog already packed with songs that would follow him for the rest of his career.

Across 18 previously unreleased live recordings, The Faith Tour revisits the moment when George Michael’s ambitions as a singer, songwriter, and performer come together on an international stage. “Faith,” “Father Figure,” “One More Try,” and “Monkey” anchor a set that moves between pop, soul, funk, and the emotional pull of his ballads. Even with those solo hits at his disposal, Michael makes room for the music that first brought him to the world’s attention. Wham!’s “Everything She Wants” and “I’m Your Man” connect his new chapter to an earlier one that still has plenty of life in it.

The song choices also offer a revealing look at his musical instincts. Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s In Need Of Love Today,” Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” and Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music” share space with “Hard Day,” “Hand To Mouth,” “A Different Corner,” and “Careless Whisper.” It’s a set built around both the songs Michael wrote and the traditions he drew from, with room for dance-floor release and quieter vulnerability.

For collectors, the deluxe edition expands the presentation across three LPs and two CDs, accompanied by a 136-page book of previously unseen tour photographs. The recordings offer their own keepsake: a chance to return to Michael’s first solo world tour and hear the artist at the center of all that attention. The image may be inseparable from the era, but The Faith Tour gives listeners another way to remember it, with the microphone switched on and George Michael in front of a crowd.