Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Everything She Wants
2. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
3. Freedom
4. Faith
5. Too Funky
6. Fastlove
7. Freedom ‘90
8. Spinning the Wheel
9. Outside
10. As (with Mary J. Blige)
11. Freeek!
12. Shoot The Dog
13. Amazing
14. Flawless (Radio Edition)
15. An Easier Affair

Disc 2:

1. Careless Whisper
2. Last Christmas
3. A Different Corner
4. Father Figure
5. One More Try
6. Praying For Time
7. Heal The Pain (with Sir Paul McCartney)
8. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (with Sir Elton John)
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 (with Mutya)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6960 in Music
• Released on: 2006-11-13
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.co.uk Review
The last quarter-century has been nothing if not colourful for George Michael. But through all the controversy -- the high-profile arrests and audacious videos, the fall-outs and band splits - he has emerged intact as a vital figure on the global pop scene - a fact compounded by his current 25 Live tour and this accompanying Greatest Hits package. Twenty Five is the fourth such collection in Michael's career, though it carries the obvious advantage of being more up to date than 1998's lauded Ladies & Gentlemen and features not only solo material but music from the early Wham! days. As such, it's the most comprehensive anthology yet, featuring upbeat Wham! classics like "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" and "Freedom" amidst sombre solo material like "Praying For Time" and "Jesus To A Child". Spread across two discs (29 songs in total), the collection not only includes a host of evergreen classics but also recent singles "An Easier Affair" and "This Is Not Real Love" (with former Sugababe Mutya Buena) and two unreleased tracks. There are some notable absences from the collection – "I Want Your Sex" and "Kissing A Fool" are two glaring omissions – but it still remains the most comprehensive survey of the artist's legacy to date. --Danny McKenna

CD Description
Named in reference to the number of years spent in the music business, 'Twenty Five' chronicles the career of one of Britain's most popular, yet controversial artists. From early Wham tracks such as 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go' and 'Last Christmas' to more recent favourites, including 'Jesus To A Child' and 'Outside', 'Twenty Five' also includes previouslyunreleased duets with Paul McCartney and ex-Sugababe Mutya.

Customer Reviews

Same old, same old
Its the same old tracks, but in a different order this time and to be honest its getting a bit boring now. I cannot fault this man's writing and musical ability, his music can make a room light up and I for one am so looking forward to seeing him live, but please write some more original material. Ok, I will buy this, stupid some may say as I have them already, but I just have to, that's what you do when you're a fan...3 new tracks, not much really is it?

Keep the Faith...?
I've been a fan of George Michael for most of the 25 years that the title of this collection refers to - the goatee, the earrings (including the Faith-era crucifix), the gallons of hairspray, I had it all. And like so many fans I was genuinely excited about his first live dates in the UK for 15 years and the promise of new material. But the problem with this collection lies in that last sentence - namely, the quality of the new material and the fact that his best days barely cover the first half of the last 25 years.

Now, we all know that he's had problems in his personal life, but an output of one very dodgy covers album and one collection of new material since 1990 makes George even less prolific than both Kate Bush and Scritti Politti. Most of his fans are - I would guess - in their mid-to-late-30s, survivors from the days of Wham! and Faith. And these people are going to be a bit miffed when they're asked to fork out another £12-99 for 27 tracks which they already own at least twice (on the original albums and the previous 'Best Of' collections), plus two new compositions. The four Wham! tracks and two early solo singles are making their third appearance on a Greatest Hits CD, which is hardly offering value for money to his loyal (but increasingly disgruntled) fans.

Breaking the album down, we find the aforementioned four Wham! singles - all from 1984 - plus three each from Faith (1987) and Listen Without Prejudice (1990, and still my all-time favourite album), five from Older (1996), and an incredible six from the frankly disappointing Patience (2004). But look at what's missing... Somebody to Love with Queen, I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) with Aretha Franklin, I Want Your Sex, Kissing a Fool, Waiting For That Day, Star People. Can anyone really say that Freeek or An Easier Affair (in my opinion his weakest single ever) are better songs?

The problem with this release is that most people viewing this page will own just about every track already, and if you don't then you're probably too young to remember what the fuss was about in the first place. You'd be better off buying 1998's 'Best Of' Ladies & Gentlemen instead - it's not completely up-to-date, but to be blunt, it's an infinitely superior representation of the man and his music.

Excellent
Although I own all George material including his ladies & gentleman, I still rate this as a must for any REAL George fan. It's great to mix a little WHAM! along side George's solo music. Wake me up isn't a great great song, but it serves it's purpose as a "happy, get your feet moving" kind of song. You can guarantee this will get all people dancing at any party/disco. Everything she wants is always a bonus for me as it's my fav WHAM! song, and it never fails to hit the right spot. I love what he's done with this compilation. A great version of Heal the pain with Sir Paul MCartney & of course he's lovely new single with Mutya. If you're a REAL George Michael fan, buy it. If you're not, then I think Ladies & Gentleman would be a good buy as it does have all his greatest music. Overall, I think anyone thats interested in his music, would benefit from this compilation.