The musical world was really going through a transition in 1986. Oh, and so was I, as I just graduated high school, and one of the things that surprised me was that Wham! was breaking up. I bought their swansong album, Music From The Edge Of Heaven, which seemed more a prelude to George Michael's solo career, as two songs are credited to him rather than Wham!.

The catchy title song shows less soul but more straight pop overladen with trumpet, trombone, and sax. Deon Estus's throbbing bass also contributes heavily. This song veers towards the lust end of the spectrum rather than the love songs on Make It Big.: "I'm a maniac at the end of the day" and "There's a place for us in a dirty movie/'Cos no-one does it better than me and you." And I can barely hear Elton John's piano here.

The frustrated love song "Battlestations" is accusatory, as the girl is accused of hiding behind her answerphone, and the guy even goes as far as opening her diary. A real relation on the rocks. And the cold finishing touch has the girl saying in French that money is her new best friend, so goodbye. Charming story, huh?

"I'm Your Man" is presented in an eight minute plus extended version instead of the single-version. It's a return to the funky soul that characterized Make It Big. After about 1:22 of synths, drums, and even racing car noises, the single proper begins. It's got a catchy and fun beat, but there's a great amount of braggadocio and no love involved: "I don't need you to care/I don't need you to understand/All I want is for you to be there/.../I'm your man." Really romantic, huh?

A really case of a partying slacker with bad attitude who'd rather have fun than a job characterizes the bass and horns funk jam of the immature "Wham! Rap '86." Michael raps some verses, and sings on the chorus. And who would imagine George Michael would sing "C'mon everybody, don't need this cr*p"?

George Michael's first solo single hit #7 in the US and either #1 or #2 in the UK, showing he had potential solo career potential. "A Different Corner" is one of the best things I've heard from him. It's a haunting regret song with bass and light airy keyboards and shows his vulnerable side. "Take me back in time maybe I can forget/turn a different corner and we never would have met" he sings at one point. Tie that with "And if all that there is is this fear of being used/I should go back to being lonely and confused/If I could, I would I swear" and you get the gist of this song. Lonely and confused is something I'd pick given my sensitivity.

The next number that's very personal to me," says George in introducing the live "Blue." The narrator here is a hollow husk after being deserted, saying he laughs and smiles less, and even needs someone to tell him where his heart is. He repeats "Can't you see I'm falling apart?"

The nightclub European jazz-like cover of Was (Not Was)'s "Where Did Your Heart Go" is another standout cut, due to Andy Hamilton's wailing sax. Things really sink to despair, when the river "calls out my name/Says 'put your troubles down beside me.'" and the narrator jumps into the river's beauty.

Another song about a delicate and crushed heart set to a well-paced bass and keyboard beat, "Last Christmas" is another George Michael solo. As he says, "This year, to save me from tears/I'll give it [my heart] to someone special."

Despite some upbeat and heartfelt numbers, there's nothing charming or romantic here on this album, nothing like "Freedom" or "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." It's just one case of bad love, frustration, and loneliness after another, and it mirrors the dissolution of the duo's partnership. George Michael made a few more significant marks in pop history, while Andrew Ridgeley married Keren Woodward of Bananarama, and backup singers Pepsi & Shirlie released one solo album which spawned two big hits in the UK, but Wham! primarily served as a vehicle for George Michael's career.

No doubt about it, this is a bit of an "odds and sods" collection. Released in 1986, there were really only three "new" songs on it - "The Edge of Heaven", "Battlestations" and "Where Did Your Heart Go" (which itself was a cover of a song by the band Was (Not Was), and was the band's last single, released in early '87).

The others include "A Different Corner", which was a George Michael single, issued and listed as a single under his name only in early 1986, and which had charted before this album was released.

"I'm Your Man" had also run up and back down the charts before this album came out, having been released in '85. The version on here is longer than the single version. "Wham! Rap '86" is a "re-make" of a song from the group's debut album, in which George claims to have "street credibility" (!) I like the song, but I don't what street he thinks he has credibility on, other than maybe Sesame Street. 2Pac he ain't.

"Blue" is a live version of a song that was originally released around the time of the band's debut album, and "Last Christmas" is from 1984, which was two years before this album.

Overall, the album is pretty good and bridges the gap between the overly-sugary sound of "Make It Big" and George's more "serious" songs and sound on "Faith". The sexual overtones in "Battlestations" give a hint of what was to come with songs like "I Want Your Sex" and "Father Figure" and "The Edge of Heaven" has a flavor similar to "Look at Your Hands" and "Hard Day".

In the alternative, you could buy the import album called "The Final", which was the UK version of this album and is a true greatest hits collection. It also has all of the songs on here (except "Blue"), plus the group's other hits (including the version of "Everything She Wants" with the additional lyrics), and the sound quality is far superior. Nonetheless, this CD is pretty cheap and the live version of "Blue" is worth the price alone if you're a George Michael fan.

Be forewarned that the sound quality of this CD, like the vast majority of CDs that were mastered in the 1980's is horrible; the sound is flat and tinny. Given George's poor relationship with Sony it is doubtful that this will be remastered any time soon.

I bought this last year, partly because of the low price and partly because I wanted the song "Last Christmas" on CD. I had the chance to listen to this CD last weekend from beginning to end, and here are my opinions of each song on order:

"Edge of Heaven": I really like this song. It reminds me of "Wake Me Up Before...". I really danceable song.

"Battlestations": I didn't like this one at first(first thought it was about battle ships). But after listening to the whole song for the first time, I liked it. The lyrics are more solo-George than Wham.

"I'm Your Man": The part where Andrew crashes the motorcycle was VERY cheesy, but it's a good song nonetheless. But while I was looking at the lyrics, I came across an interesting line: "So why waste time/with the other guys/when you can have mine" then the line "Baby your friends do not need to know! ". Was he pointing out his sexual preference at that time but no one noticed?

"Wham Rap '86": I heard this one before I heard the original, so I lean towards this one more. If it makes sense, this was a more "mature" "Wham Rap". But the original is the better one to dance to.

"A Different Corner": To me, this doesn't sound much like a Wham song(like "Battlestations"). It might explain why it's on George's solo CD.

"Blue(live in China)":It has a nice beat and it sounds good for a live song.

"Where Did Your Heart Go?": I think this was a pretty good song as well. I got a good laugh out of the line "We'll share a rusty can of corn". The sax gives it a nice touch.

"Last Christmas": I think this was one of the best Christmas songs of the 80s. It also doubles as a sad love song.

This album, the final release of WHAM!, has a very 'pieced together' feeling to it. It is easy to tell that George and Andrew were no longer working as a group as most of the new tracks have a definite George feel to them. Of the tracks, there are a few songs which were previously released with nothing to do with this album ("I'm Your Man", "Last Christmas", "A Different Corner", "Wham Rap") leaving only a handful of "new" material. The first "new" single, "The Edge of Heaven" has sort of a sixties feel to it, and still manages to beckon the earlier WHAM! hit "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". The second, "Battlestations" is a bit of a departure from WHAM!, having more of an electronic feel to it than most WHAM! songs. The rest of the album sounds like a George Michael afterthought. Perhaps songs he was auditioning for 'Faith' but wisely turned down. At either rate, this was definitely the end of WHAM!, the end of the innocence, and the end of an era.

Edge of Heaven - some would say Wham's finest moments. Well, the big hits are here - "I'm your man", "Edge of Heaven" et al. But it was clear for all to see, the magic that had meant Michael & Ridgely exploded into our consciousness in 1983, were no longer happy together - the magic had gone. The line at the end of "I'm your man" sums it up - I'll make you rich, I'll make you poor, just don't use the door". Well they did, and left us with some of the best songs of the 80's.

Edge of Heaven - great song but the video tells it all - George singing his heart out, and Andrew just there - embarassed it had all gone so wrong and just collecting the pay cheque! Not classic Wham this album - if you want the best try Make it Big - although 3 out of 5 stars for this album, 5 out of 5 for Big!