The Final is a greatest hits album released in 1986 to summarise the career of English pop duo Wham!. The album was not initially released in North America, where the studio album Music from the Edge of Heaven was released instead. Six songs from that album appear on this compilation. The Final coincided with the farewell concert of the same name on 28 June 1986, at Wembley Stadium.
The CD edition omits "Blue (Armed with Love)" and the extended mixes of "Bad Boys", "Careless Whisper" and "I'm Your Man". A deluxe edition of the album was released on CD/DVD and download in November 2011, with the DVD featuring all of Wham!'s music videos, including the video for "Young Guns (Go for It!)", "Last Christmas", and a remix version of the video for "Everything She Wants". It follows the track listing of the CD, with the exception of "Battlestations", as it was a B-side and not an official single.
Background When George Michael guested on the Aspel & Company talk show on 1 March 1986, he announced that Wham! were to split and perform one last concert, entitled the Final. He also announced that he planned to record the last Wham! single with Andrew Ridgeley the following week in Los Angeles.Internet Movie Database: Aspel & Company – George Michael – Episode 3.8 (1 March 1986) In fact, as he revealed to journalist Paula Yates on The Tube, he was planning to record four tracks, two of which—"Where Did Your Heart Go?" and "The Edge of Heaven"—had been previously played on the Whamamerica! tour, with the other two being new tracks he was experimenting with. This was prior to the filming of the video for Michael's then-forthcoming solo single, "A Different Corner". Michael was planning to release three of the tracks as part of a Wham! EP, but was not sure which one of the songs was going to be the main single at that point. All of these would appear on The Final. As of 12 March 1986, the album and single had been completed and ready for release under the Wham! name.
Track listing Double LP/cassette
CD
DVD Track listing "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)" (Michael, Ridgeley) "Young Guns (Go for It!)" "Bad Boys" "Club Tropicana" (Michael, Ridgeley) "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" "Careless Whisper" (Michael, Ridgeley) "Freedom" "Last Christmas" "Everything She Wants" "I'm Your Man" "A Different Corner" "Where Did Your Heart Go?" (Was, Was) "The Edge of Heaven"
VHS Track listing (CBS Fox Video / 3846) "Freedom" "I'm Your Man" "The Edge of Heaven" "A Different Corner" "Where Did Your Heart Go?"
Charts
Weekly charts +Initial chart performance for The Final Chart (1986) Peakposition Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 5 European Albums (Top 100) 5Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)11 French Albums (Oricon) 11Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi) Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Wham!". 2
+Chart performance for The Final upon George Michael's death Chart (2017) Peakposition UK Albums Chart 74
Year-end charts +1986 year-end chart performance for The Final Chart (1986) Position Australian Albums Chart 49 Austrian Albums Chart 21 Dutch Albums Chart 3 French Albums Chart 32 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 5 +1989 year-end chart performance for The Final Chart (1989) Position Dutch Albums Chart 95
Certifications and sales
References