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Rating: - 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.

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Rating: - Not bad, could be better.
I am a US fan of George Michael. Not having the "patience" (pun intended) to wait for the US release of the Twenty Five Deluxe edition (or any edition) I purchased the import version of this set. Every version so far that I have seen has the same track listing. I must admit. I have every GM cd, even the Japanese version of patience with Please Send Me Someone (alternate) which is so much better than the standard album version. So you could say I'm an avid GM collector. Anyway. I bought this set for the few new songs that were on there. I am a completionist and OCD :). Anyway, the new songs are average. The old material sounds great but this collection is missing many key tracks as mentioned by Yamato. I wish the For The Loyal disc contained nothing but new or at least rare material, where is Crazyman Dance, Happy, Do You Really Want To Know, Edith And The Kingpin or The Grave. Those tracks a great and would have added some appeal to buying the deluxe version. If you have no GM albums ladies and gentlemen might be a better place to start. If you are a die hard you will probably get this anyway, just like I did. Its not a bad package, although I hate digipacks in every shape and form. Lot of great pictures of GM and lyrics of all the songs. The rareties if you don't have Older And Upper or the Spin The Wheel single include Safe and You Know That I Want To are great tracks. Not sure where Fantasy originated from. Heal The Pain w Paul McCartney really doesn't do much for me, its not bad, but not great either. I think the Loyal who buy the 3 disc version get more rare tracks than the four included. I love GM, but this set was a little disappointing. I hope we get a new album again. Would love to see GM do a double album of new material. He could do it and we know it would be great.

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Rating: - 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.

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Rating: - 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.

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Rating: - George Michael with his smoothest hits in one package
George Michael! The voice! This is smoothest velvet! I would have given this album a 100 stars if I could. This is all the essential George Michael that you will need. The album is spread on 3 discs.

Disc 1:- All the fast paced songs by George in this disc entitled, "For Living". It starts off with the Wham! laced superhit, "Everything she wants", covers material from all his future albums and ends with the newly released single "An easier affair". This album is cool and you can see how his music evolved from "Wake me up..." to "Shoot the Dog". It's really amazing to hear so much variation within a single disc.

Disc 2:- All the softer and tender songs. What a disc! It's called, "For Loving". Starts off with his classic, "Careless Whisper", weaves its way through "Father Figure", "Don't let the sun...", "Jesus to a child", "Praying for time" and ends with the new amazing duet with Mutya called, "This is not real love". The song is simply spellbinding and what a fitting end to a mesmerizing disc. One thing I don't understand is why the record companies edit the intro of "Careless Whisper". The intro really brings out alive the mood of the song and its such a soul touching tune. The intro of this classic is deleted in all the compilations including this compilation.This disc is breathtaking in its scope and has all the songs which you love. Need I say more?!

Disc 3:- His introspecetive disc called, "For the loyal". These are his more compex songs with deeper meaning and they are all classics! This disc could have been made even better by including some songs from "Faith" or "Listen without Prejudice". It's still stellar!

100 stars overall!

This collection is a improvement over "Ladies and Gentlemen" as it has a lot of new songs as well as songs from "Patience", also covers of classics like "Roxanne". I highly recommend this album. Its worth its weight in gold! Don't walk, run to get this!