Ladies & Gentleman: The Best of George Michael

You've got to hand it to the boy George.

He could have disappeared without trace after his unlucky liaison with the Beverly Hills Police Department, but he's come out, so to speak, all guns blazing, ready to give them a taste of their own medicine.

You have only got to look at the title to see George's wicked sense of humour.

Younger days

But if the events of 7 April this year had not taken place would this greatest hits package (part of Sony's �3m court settlement) have attracted quite so much attention?

Would he have outed himself in his preferred manner ("running naked up and down Oxford Street singing I Am What I Am") or would his legion of female fans still think that they are in with a shout?

The bottom line is that headlines like "Zip Me Up Before You Go Go" have only served to generate a wave of public sympathy (the great British trait) that should see this go on to sell more copies than could possibly have been imagined.

Sad heart

It's very much an album of two halves, divided into songs "for the heart" and "for the feet".

The sorrowful Jesus To A Child gets the former off to the most miserable of starts. Anyone on anti-deps would be well advised to skip straight to the twinkling gospel strains of Father Figure, one of the highlights on what is a fairly ordinary collection.

The sultry look

It is joined in the higher echelons by the classic Careless Whisper, the song with bags of sax appeal where "guilty feet have got no rhythm".

Incredibly this was co-written by Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley. So he did have hidden talents after all?

Kissing A Fool finds George in his imaginary white tuxedo, crooning the night away, while A Moment With You is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the cop who found him in the little boys' room.

The rest of the "heart" stuff should in all honesty be by-passed, with the Elton John duet on Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me proving only that Elton should not let his latter-day songs be inflicted upon anyone else.

Flat feet

And so to the "feet". Outside deals with George's obsession with sex ("I think about it all the time, 24 seven"), Too Funky is too cheesy and The Strangest Thing IS the Pet Shop Boys.

Coming out all gun's blazing

One thing you can't accuse him of is being afraid to experiment and chance his arm with artists as diverse as Queen (Somebody To Love) and Aretha Franklin (I Knew You Were Waiting), while linking up with Mary J Blige to cover Stevie Wonder's As, rather blandly, it has to be said.

Faith is restored by the track of the same name with one of the most famous guitar hooks in history. And, although it's not enough to elevate this collection into 'must have' status, George is definitely enjoying the last laugh. It's a fair cop.