Review: Wham - Make it Big

 

Today’s Review and also first review shall be as the title states, Wham, Make it Big! This album was released in 1984, Oct 22nd for the UK, and Nov 5th here in the states. It is the group’s Sophomore album and was a MAJOR commercial success going #1 in both the US and UK. It was so well received, Wham became the first western pop group to perform in China. Let’s see if the album has stood the test of time!

The album is fairly short coming in at 38 minutes with 8 songs. Let’s break these songs down one by one.

1. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go: Right off the bat this is possibly Wham’s third most well known song. It’s almost funny, like damn already? A lot of people misremember the name of this song and simply call it “jitterbug” as that is the opening line of the song. The song is cute, uses a lot of onomatopoeia’s like “bang bang” and “boom boom” giving it a lighthearted feel. This song is very responsible for Wham’s “teen” image which wasn’t really shaken off until George went solo. Vocally the song sounds amazing as George Michael is a phenomenal singer overall. With that being said he doesn’t do much complicated throughout the song. Overall the song is something sweet for the kids (7/10)
2. Everything She Wants: This song is a personal favorite of mine. What I really enjoy about this song is that it feels much more damp than the previous song as it starts with just synth drums and a repeated high hat, and the vocals come in along with the other instruments. What I enjoy most about this track is the emotion you can hear in the lyrics and the subject matter. I am someone who enjoys when artists’ emote so this is sort of everything to me. I also had a stint where I would work like 60 hours a week, then after work I’d listen to this song. George not only has a lot of fun vocally but Andrew’s guitar playing and his backing vocals are utilized really well here. I give this one a 9/10, only reason it’s not a 10/10 is because the remix version is better (9/10)
3. Heartbeat: Alright, this is a song that I think is a bit aged. To start the mixing is a bit off here, the vocals sound rather far away and the instrumental also seems like it’s turned up 2 notches. This is another “teen” song. When I think of the 80’s this is what I think of in the most generic sense. When someone talks about the 80’s I guess I understand why they only think of synths but I feel this is much more accurate. The instrumental almost gives Coke(THE DRINK) commercial. It’s rather forgettable but I do think the “beachy” sounding section starting at about 3 minutes is cute. But as a whole? It’s a grocery store song. (6/10)
4. Like a Baby: Ok, this song is so funny to me. There is absolutely no singing until 1:40. When I first listened to the album I was like “oh this is cute…ok…instrumental I guess! Oh!” I really enjoy this song. Short and sweet. The beat is amazing utilizing that tambourine again, and George’s singing is very smooth in this. I think the song would actually be worse if the singing started immediately. It’s almost like someone setting up to write in their and thinking before writing. Cute! (7/10)
5. Freedom: Now, I might catch some flack for this and that’s ok. I don’t really like this song all that much! The instrumental isn’t all that interesting, the vocals are ok. I do like how it sort of has this melodic 70’s guitar rift. When I listen to it’s all very “Ok”. Very popular song but just not for me and this is my review. (5/10)
6. If You Were There: My word, I absolutely love this song. Firstly, this song is a cover of the Isley Brothers of the same name; both amazing songs in their own way, I suggest you go listen to it. The Isley Brother’s version is much more soulful and sang much softer in that Ron way, but back to Wham! What I like about this version most is the sense melancholy that’s not in the Isley Brothers version. What you will learn about me is I love a little melancholy and it will always get points from me! George does this descending note a lot when he sings the chorus. Makes the song feel more regretful rather than a declaration of love like in the original version. This song was actually a grower! Didn’t stand out to me at first but has quickly gone up my list of favorite tracks. Also love how “natural” all the instruments sound, the change to high notes was also a smart choice. Just BOW DOWN! (8/10)
7. Credit Card Baby: I don’t know if it’s the subject matter or what, but this is like the opposite of Everything She Wants. The horns in this are fun but besides that it’s not really all that. I do think it’s strange that they decided to layer the vocals on this song, but it’s sort of like…for what? Not much to say about this song really. Definitely a skip (5/10)
8. Careless Whisper: This is basically the most well known George Michael song. And I say George Michael because Andrew is not on this song at all. The saxophone opening may be one of the most recognizable sounds to come out of a pop song. This song feels much more mature, especially after Credit Card Baby. George you can tell put a lot into this song, he just sounds wonderful on this, he doesn’t give theatrics like some of his later songs but he gives just enough. This song deserves all the hype. Beautiful saxophone and drums especially, I would put this in the pop song Parthenon.  (10/10)

Overall, this album is good, it balances itself out. The songs that are good are REALLY good, and the songs that are mid are very much so. I think where the songs are placed keeps you listening because, if Credit Card Baby and Heartbeat were back to back I think it would’ve kept people less engaged to get to the good stuff. 

For Scoring I will give three scores:

GP: would the general public like it

PT: Personal thoughts, do I like it?

I give Wham - Make it Big

GP: 7/10 - (the year 2025) 

PT: 6/10