George Michael: TwentyFive
George is hoping he's the perfect Christmas gift
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In a nutshell.
Encyclopaedic. Longevity. Colourful. Wistful. Unoriginal.
What's it all about?
When a George Michael Greatest Hits package - yes, another one - lands on your desk you know it must be close to Christmas. This is a compendium of all things George from those heady Wham! days of the 80s, through the ballads of the 90s and the more anti-establishment thoughts of that troubled young man from Edgware that have come through during his rather colourful recent years.
Released in a two-disc and three-disc format, the package contains all the hits during the 25 years - hence the name, clever, eh? - between now and when George and his mate from school Andrew Ridgeley released the glorious Wham! Rap in 1981. There's also a smattering of new material (isn't there always?) in the shape of a duet with ex-Sugababe Mutya (This Is Not Real Love), a new version of Heal the Pain with Sir Paul McCartney himself and An Easier Affair. Another new single, Understand, appears on the third disc (For the Loyal), which brings together a selection of the less well-known B-sides and unreleased tracks and is probably mainly for purists.
Who's it by?
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, to give him his full name, was born in north London in June 1963 and has arguably become one of the most well-known artists of the last 20 years. Through run-ins with the law, record labels, other artists and even his own bandmates, he has graced more front pages than he would care to remember and is perhaps only outshone by the likes of Bono, Jacko and Macca in the ultra-famous stakes.
After the demise of Wham! in 1986 (after two greatest hits offerings it should be noted), a designer-stubble clad George went off to do things his way. The hits duly followed and Careless Whisper (actually recorded before the Wham! dream died), Faith and Jesus to a Child ensured the legend lived on. 2004's Patience did not go down quite so well, but the 1998 Best Of, Ladies and Gentleman, continues to sell well to this day.
As an example
"Here comes one for the ladies/ For the ones who love me/ To think I thought I could be some kind of family man/ I told myself I was straight/ But I shouldn't have worried/ 'Cos my Maker had a better plan for me" - Easier Affair
"Good puppy, good puppy/ Rolling on over./Mustapha/ Mazeltov/ The Gaza Boys, all that holy stuff/ I got the feeling when it all goes off/ They're gonna shoot the dog." - Shoot the Dog
"I could have been so alone/ Without my precious box/ Have I a family? I guess not/ I've never seen a lot of beauty/ In my life." - Precious Box
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
It's as greatest hits as a greatest hits can be, with an extra disc thrown in for good measure. None of the new singles are going to trouble the music critics too much, either.
What the others say
"The Cliff Richard of his generation (because everyone knows him but can't clearly remember any of his recent records), George Michael celebrates a quarter of a century in pop with a Best Of. Wham! Rap didn't make it (boo) but two CDs, one of ballads, one of foot-tappers, should satisfy most tastes. Paul McCartney joins in on the jaunty Heal the Pain, and the solipsistic new tune An Easier Affair is impressive. " - The Times
"The collection not only includes a host of evergreen classics, but also recent singles An Easier Affair and This Is Not Real Love 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." - Amazon.co.uk
So is it any good?
TwentyFive does exactly what it says on the tin. Both the two-disc and three-disc versions chronicle the numerous hits George has had with Wham!, (Last Christmas, Freedom, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and so on) on his own (Careless Whisper, Father Figure, Jesus to a Child) and with other various friends (Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Heal the Pain). Which is a good thing, and will certainly go down well with mum at Christmas time.
The third disc is a bonus with some tracks (Wham!'s If You Were There, for one) which are worth listening to but which will mostly only be given a passing glance by the average buyer. And the new singles are ok, but not worth getting too excited over, although the link-up with she of Sugababe fame is better than may be expected.
So is it worth buying for anyone who already owns Ladies and Gentlemen? Possibly not, but then that rather depends on whether the new George Michael songs hold appeal. Patience may not have gone down all that well commercially but still contained arguably some of the more poignant moments in George Michael's repertoire, notably Please Send Me Someone, dedicated to his Brazilian boyfriend - "the first person I had ever loved" -who died from HIV. And George appears determined to push that oft-overlooked album one more time, with a notable showing on the bonus disc.
This collection is proof, if ever any were needed, that George Michael is not one of Britain's best-selling artists without reason. He has achieved much, just as he has probably regretted much, during the last 25 years and this is as good an account of it as any.
6/10
Martin Ashplant
Click here to hear George's best bits