Like their other greatest hits compilation, "Wham!-The Final, this compilation of Wham!'s best of contains album versions as well as 45 and 12" remixes of their greatest hits. Now I realise that a gret deal of people thought of this music as "bubblegum pop". Look at the credits (of their past albums), however, and you will see that George Michael wrote, arranged and produced EVERY track on the recording. George Michael was also very in touch with the youth of his day. You will find this on tracks like "Wham! Rap (Enjoy What You Do)", "Bad Boys" and "Young Guns (Go For It)". All 3 of these tunes (taken from Wham!'s debut "Fantastic") clearly expressed the frustration of British and American kids of the early 80's A more uplifting track, also from their debut, is the song "Club Tropicana". This tune sings of a place where "drinks are free. Fun and sunshine; there's enough for everyone". With this tune George illustrated the free and carefree spirit that was alive at this time as well. We now go to the hits from Wham!'s sophmore release, "Make It Big". "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go","Everything She Wants" and "Freedom" are all very catchy tunes in which George sings about how his love has been taken advantage of. "Like A Baby" is a ballad that just touches your heart in the right place and their Isly Brothers cover, "If You Were There" assures the listener "that I care". Now, the four hits from Wham!'s third release "Music From The Edge Of Heaven". On "Last Christmas" George sings about the heartbreak he feels when his former lover gives away a gift that he gave her; "Last Christmas I gave you my heart but the the very next day, you gave it away". The track "I'm Your Man" is another very catchy single that has George saying to us "If you're gonna do it, do it right; do it with me." (I think we all know what he's hinting there...). "The Edge Of Heaven" is a rather edgy Wham! tune where Andrew Ridgley can actually use his guitar (see the very unWham!like guitar solo in the middle of this track). What I find rather amusing about this track is the last line of the last verse: "...believe me baby, one day you'll wake up on your own!" Andrew Ridgley sure woke up on his own. :) The track "Where Did Your Heart Go?", a cover tune from the Was Brothers, shows that George is definitely in touch with Soul music. This tune is also one of the reasons why I gave this CD 4 stars instead of 5. I have been looking for the 45 version of this song on CD for quite some time. I was sad when it wasn't included on "The Final" and, when I first found this CD, I was hoping it might show up on here... alas, I was wrong. This brings me to the last 2 tunes on this disc; the 90's remakes of "I'm Your Man" and "Everything She Wants" I was rather surprised that I really enjoyed "I'm Your Man '96". The reason being, that he gave the song a rather 90's dance beat and had hip-hop background supporting vocals; I myself am NOT a big fan of either genre. "Everything She Wants '97" is the other reason why I gave this CD 4 stars instead of 5. Listen to this track and you will see that he did not actually remake it but just took the original 1985 track (including his original vocals) and put a club beat in the background. Needless to say, I was NOT amused. So, as you can see, with the exception of 2 tracks, I find that, indeed, this is the best of Wham!.

From '82 to '86, these two young handsome Brits were a huge hit on both sides of the Atlantic, with Dance-Pop hits like "I'm Your Man" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". The other good songs I still like to this day, with me being way too young to be a fan of this duo in the '80's, are "If You Were There", the original version of "Everything She Wants", the original, really poppy sound of "Freedom", "The Edge Of Heaven", "Wham Rap!", "Young Guns (Go For It!)", and the two remixes at the end, however, "I'm Your Man '96" doesn't quite sound nearly as appealing as it's original version. All in all, this was certainly the standard stepping stone for a legend in the making in pop music, George Michael. This collection truly compiles the best of Wham!, that's for sure. It's worth a listen, pick it up sometime soon!

I'll be honest. I didn't need this. I have all Wham! albums, but I had to have this becuase I had to have all Wham! albums.

This curiously titled "The Best of Wham!" contains many singles and non-single tracks from "Make It Big." Plus, the remix of "I'm Your Man" and "Everything She Wants."

The remix is not as good as original though I enjoyed the different twists to the tracks.

"Careless Whisper" is not included in this collection because it was released as George Michael's solo single in the UK.

Including two non-single tracks from "Make It Big," "If You Were There" and "Like A Baby" was a good choice.

A single "Bad Boys" were not included in this collection and I was ok with it.

But, "The Final" which was never released in the US, but available as imports, is absolutely the BEST. If you don't have to have Wham!'s all albums, skip this, and buy "The Final."

This CD is a very good item for all WHAM! fans or even for people, who are not real fans, but are sentimental about 80's. The sound quality here is better than on the original releases and all songs are really good. Also, two extra remixes (especially, "Everything She Wants") are very cool. Pitty that it was not released in USA, but this CD is worth the money spent.

I always seem to not realize why good and adequate acts, have albums that have tracks that are overshadowed, especially greatest hits albums. That has been the case with so many acts, no matter what the case is. For one of those artists of the 80's, Wham! with George Michael and Andrew Ridgely is no acception. Although they've had very gracious pop songs, they just have hit the nail on the head when it absolutely comes to a definitive hits package. Not only that, all of the greatest hits packages are released overseas, and not even one that is inexpensive for U.S. buyers. This package is almost the edge of heaven, but could've used more.

The Best Of Wham!: If You Were There... Is a detailed reflection of one of the best teen acts of the 80's. The songs here have all been remastered and restored very well, for a much better sound quality. The album includes some great songs like The Edge Of Heaven, Young Guns (Go For It), Club Tropicana, and their catchy #1 smash Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. Nevertheless, while there are so many good songs here, there is always the feeling that something is completely overshadowed here. The collection does overlook a couple of great Wham! gems, surprisingly the mellow and beautifully conjured Careless Whisper, and Bad Boys from their very first album, instead of featuring remixed versions of some of their songs.

This really isn't really a must buy for die hard George Michael fans, but considering there aren't any hits packages of Wham!! that'll ever be issued in the U.S. only right now, this might have to do. The Best Of Wham!: If You Were There... is a fair record, but not quite the edge of heaven.

Album Cover: B

Songs: C+

Price: C

Remastering: B-

Overall: C