Music from the Edge of Heaven is the third and final studio album by the English pop duo Wham!. It was released on 27 June 1986 by Columbia Records in North America and on 21 July 1986 by Epic Records in Japan.

Background Between 1982 and 1985, the pop duo Wham! had released two studio albums, and enjoyed a string of successes, with three of their singles reaching number one on the UK singles chart. With the known desire of George Michael to move into a more adult market, Wham! announced in early 1986 that Michael and his musical partner Andrew Ridgeley would go their separate ways after a farewell single, album, and a concert.

The farewell single, "The Edge of Heaven", was released on 9 June 1986, and earned Wham! their fourth number one single in the UK. The farewell concert, entitled the Final, was held in front of 72,000 fans at London's Wembley Stadium on 28 June 1986. The accompanying greatest hits album, also entitled The Final, was released on 7 July 1986. In North America, a pared-down version of the album (Music from the Edge of Heaven) was issued instead, essentially serving as the group's third and final studio album.

Content "The Edge of Heaven", "Battlestations", "Wham! Rap '86" and "Where Did Your Heart Go?", according to the liner notes, are newly recorded for the album, with "The Edge of Heaven", "Battlestations" and "Where Did Your Heart Go?" also appearing on The Final; the other half was slightly changed for the collection, with the exception of the Pudding mix of "Last Christmas": The version of "A Different Corner" featured has an intro that does not appear elsewhere, aside from the song's music video. The version of "I'm Your Man" is slightly edited down from the Extended Stimulation mix and features a newly recorded spoken bridge. This marks the only appearance of "Blue (live in China)" on CD.

Decades later, Music from the Edge of Heaven was not included in the CD remastering series by the duo's record company because of the album's limited release; however, The Final was included. A box set of the three studio albums by the band titled Original Album Classics was released on 20 March 2015, which included Music from the Edge of Heaven.

Although it did not have a physical release in forms such as vinyl or CD in Europe, Music from the Edge of Heaven was released in Europe on the iTunes Store for the first time to download in late 2017.

Track listing

Personnel

George Michael – vocals, keyboards, piano, drum machine, arranger, producer Andrew Ridgeley – backing vocals, guitar Danny Cummings – drums, percussion Andy Duncan – drums, percussion Charlie Morgan – drums, percussion Trevor Murrell – drums, percussion Deon Estus – bass John McKenzie – bass Bob Carter – keyboards, piano Richard Cottle – keyboards, piano Tommy Eyre – keyboards, piano Elton John – keyboards, piano Danny Schogger – keyboards, piano Robert Ahwai – guitar David Austin – guitar Hugh Burns – guitar David Baptiste – alto saxophone Andy Hamilton – tenor saxophone (2, 7) Guy Barker – horns Simon Gardner – horns Chris Hunter – horns Paul Spong – horns Rick Taylor – horns Shirlie Holliman – backing vocals Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque – backing vocals Janet Mooney – backing vocals Leroy Osbourne – backing vocals Jenny Hallet – backing vocals Dee C. Lee – backing vocals Technical Chris Porter – engineer, mixing

Charts

Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Music from the Edge of Heaven Chart (1986) Peakposition Japanese Albums (Oricon) 9

Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for Music from the Edge of Heaven Chart (1986) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) 46

Certifications and sales

Notes

References