Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Everything She Wants - Wham!,
2. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!,
3. Freedom - Wham!,
4. Faith
5. Too Funky
6. Fastlove
7. Freedom! '90
8. Spinning the Wheel
9. Outside
10. As - Mary J. Blige, George Michael
11. Freeek!
12. Shoot the Dog - Ian Burden, George Michael, Philip Oakey
13. Amazing
14. Flawless (Go to the City)
15. Easier Affair

Disc 2:

1. Careless Whisper
2. Last Christmas - Wham!,
3. Different Corner
4. Father Figure
5. One More Try
6. Praying for Time
7. Heal the Pain - Paul McCartney, George Michael
8. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - Elton John, George Michael
9. Jesus to a Child
10. Older
11. Round Here
12. You Have Been Loved
13. John and Elvis Are Dead
14. This Is Not Real Love - Mutya Buena, George Michael, Mutya

Disc 3:

1. Understand
2. Precious Box
3. Roxanne
4. Fantasy
5. Cars and Trains
6. Patience
7. You Know That I Want To
8. My Mother Had a Brother
9. If You Were There
10. Safe
11. American Angel
12. My Baby Just Cares for Me
13. Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
14. Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo's Song)
15. Through

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40084 in Music
• Released on: 2006-11-06
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Import

Album Description
Limited edition, three-disc set. Details of the bonus disc are TBC. The first two discs are a collection celebrating George's 25 years as a recording artist, both solo and with Wham! He has been British Pop royalty ever since he took the charts by storm with Wham! in 1982. He's been a solo star for over 20 years, achieving huge international success, selling over 80 million records worldwide with hits like 'Faith' and his most recent acclaimed album Patience. He has since been hailed as the Most Played Artist on British Radio in the last 20 years! Features plenty of hits pluse four new songs including the recent radio favorite 'An Easier Affair', 'Heal The Pain' (a duet with Paul McCartney) 'Understand' and the brand new single 'This Is Not Real Love', a duet with Mutya Buena, former member of the Sugababes. Sony/BMG.

Customer Reviews

An Interesting Collection From One of the UK's Best Pop Artists
Note: This review is based on the UK release of "Twenty Five."


I'm a HUGE fan of George Michael and although his albums of late have been a bit lackluster, this "Best of" album is worth a listen. "Twenty Five" represents his entire carrer - from his days as the better half of WHAM!, to the colorful events of a few years ago, to his most recent musical contributions. The songs he's chosen are pretty much what you'd expect with a couple of notable omissions.

The following are all of the (major) albums George has made to date, with the tracks used on "Twenty Five" listed below. (Tracks with a - are on both the Standard and Deluxe releases while those with a * are on the Deluxe release only):

"Fantastic" (WHAM!):
(nothing)

"Make it Big!" (WHAM!):
-Everything She Wants
-Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
-Freedom
-Careless Whisper
*If You Were There

"Music From the Edge of Heaven" (WHAM!):
-A Different Corner
-Last Christmas

"Faith:"
-Faith
-Father Figure
-One More Try

"Listen Without Prejudice:"
-Freedom '90
-Praying for Time

"Five Live" (live Freddie Mercury tribute):
(nothing)

"Older:"
-Fastlove
-Spinning the Wheel
-Jesus to a Child
-Older
-You Have Been Loved

"Ladies and Gentlemen:"
-Too Funky
-Outside
-As (not on the US release of Ladies and Gentlemen)
-Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (with Elton John)
*Fantasy (not on the US release of Ladies and Gentlemen)

"Songs From the Last Century:"
*Roxeanne
*My Baby Just Cares for Me

"Patience:"
-Freeek
-Shoot the Dog (not on the US release of Patience)
-Amazing
-Flawless (Go to the City)
-Round Here
-John and Elvis Are Dead
*Precious Box
*Cars and Trains
*Patience
*My Mother Had a Brother
*American Angel
*Please Send Me Someone to Love
*Through

New Tracks:
-An Easier Affair
-Heal the Pain (duet with Paul McCartney)
-This is Not Real Love (with Mutya)
*Understand
*You Know That I Want to
*Safe
*Brother Can You Spare a Dime? (live)

There are several tracks that should be here but aren't: From "Faith," I'd include 'I Want Your Sex (Parts 1 & 2),' 'Monkey,' and 'Kissing a Fool.' 'The Strangest Thing' and 'Star People' from "Older" should also have been included. And 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)' is my favorite duet George has performed (with Aretha Franklin).


BUT WHAT YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT is the new stuff, right? Well, as I said in the opening, I feel George's recent music isn't as good as his older compositions. This generally holds true for the new tracks on "Twenty Five." The one exception is "An Easier Affair." It'll get you dancing and smiling but feels like a genuinely new direction for his music. It's fantastic. The rest of the new tracks are needlessly re-hashed songs or so-so new compositions.

Another thing you'll likely be curious about is the Standard VS. Deluxe versions of this album. In my opinion, the Deluxe version is not substantially better than the Standard. The third exclusive disc is mostly made up of tracks from 'Patience' although it does have some (so-so) new songs. You'll probably have to listen for yourself, but I was not especially impressed.


Conclusion: A few of the track selections (and omissions) on this album are unfortunate, but an amazing career provides some of the great pop music. This "Best of" album even delivers a new classic tune. Pick it up and if you haven't, explore George's "Faith" and "Older" albums.

Confusing collection with lots of "?????????"
Between George Michael's last greatest hits collection and this collection, he only released 2 albums, "Songs From The Last Century" and "Patience." To celebrate 25 years of his career including his Wham! days, this collection includes some Wham! tracks.

If you have all George Michael's past releases like me, new tracks you will hear are:
An Easier Affair (released as a single earlier)
This Is Not Real Love (also released as a single)
Understand
Heal The Pain (re-recorded with Paul McCartney)
Brother Can You Spare a Dime (Live performance)

Unfortunately, these new tracks are rather bland and forgettable. It's as if he ran out of creative juice, lyrics are way too simple.
Duet with Paul McCartney absolutely butchered this beautiful song which showcased how delicate and beautiful George's voice is.
Brother Can you Spare a Dime was actually breathtaking. Arrangement was almost identical as the track on "Songs From...," but it shows that he is an amazing live performer.

Now to the confusing part...
Not a single song from Wham! first album, "Fantastic" is featured in this collection. Why???
Some of Wham! signature tracks are missing in my humble opinion. Songs that should've been included from Wham! are: "Wham! Rap," "Young Guns" and "I'm Your Man."
Even more confusing, some major hit singles (at least in the US) are missing in here. "I Want Your Sex," "Monkey," and "Kissing a Fool" from mega hit album, "Faith." Plus other important tracks like "I Knew You Were Waiting," "Waiting For That Day," "Cowboys and Angels," and "Star People 97" are missing...

An additional disc named "For The Loyal" was even more frustrating.
7 out of 15 tracks are from "Patience." 3 tracks from "Songs From..."
I think this collection could've been much much better. I mean any song other than "American Angel" would be a good choice.

I described "Ladies and Gentlemen" as a good George Michael sampler. "Twentyfive" hardly qualifies as one. In fact, I feel that "Ladies and Gentlemen" is much more cohesive than this collection.

The Greatest Greatest hits package!
There isn't much to write about this comprehensive George Michael retrospective 3 disc set except that fans and even non fans alike will be happy and surprised at the wealth of talent on display throughout this collection. The 3 new songs are all beautiful and as usual show George to be a master singer/songwriter and PHENOMENAL producer. My only gripes are these 1. Where's "I want your sex"??? How can he have a 3 disc greatest hits without the song that started his solo career off with such a bang and knocked the censorship board, Mtv and every mom in the world outta their seats? 2. The remake of "Heal the pain" with Sir Paul McCartney just ruined the song. Sorry. This just doesn't cut it. The original is a masterpiece and one of my all time fave GM songs but Paul's voice just sounds old and shaky next to George's fine tuned instrument. No disrespect meant but there's no comparison.(Have you heard George sing "The long and winding road"? Again he shows Paul how to deliver a truly moving vocal on a magnificent song. Better than the original. Doubt me? Go watch it on Youtube and see and hear it for yourself.)3. Where's the George/Whitney Houston duet "If I told you that"? and 4. Where's the WHAM song BAD BOYS??? C'Mon!!! That was the 1st song I ever heard from them. Otherwise, this is 3 discs of pure heaven for George Michael fans and fans to be. Covering not only all his singles (except "sex") but some fantastic album cuts (Precious box, Round here, Please send me someone and My mother had a brother) that the casual listener would never hear. Everything's been remastered and sounds great, so do yourself a favor and get the 3 disc version. It's well worth the few extra bucks.