Seal - Best: 1991-2004
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Free Music Notes for Best: 1991-2004
Free Music Review: I like Seal's music but............
Hit: 2 Stars
for me a better compilation would have been to take his entire second CD, two hits from each of his first, third and fourth CD's. After listening to this CD I found it to sound too corporate and rather dull and uninspiring. If you like Seal's "Hits" you might want to check out SEAL II. That's the only Seal CD I have in my collection, although I used to have SEAL III. I heard that the 2-CD Hits (gold packaging with the acoustic songs) is the one to purchase.Free Music Review: "Great CD"
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a really easy listening CD it has alot of great songs on
it like 1.Fly Like An Eagle 2.Kiss From A Rose 3.CRAZY I really
recommend it
Free Music Review: Seal sounds great as usual
Hit: 5 Stars
I picked this, my second Seal cd up over the weekend, and I really enjoy it. His voice is smooth, the arrangements are great and in all but one instance (in my opinion) the songs here are great. I love his cover of Walk on By. How fantastic to breathe life into that song, which had always sounded rather flat to me. I also enjoyed hearing his song Human Being for the first time. And as many have commented, it is so nice to hear something of substance being performed by a pop musician! I hope he continues in the same vein (style wise) for a long time to come.Free Music Review: True British Soulman
Hit: 4 Stars
Often at times, an atist from overseas really doesn't get credited with reflecting on a good sense of soul. That really seems to happen quite a lot. For an artist like Seal, that really is one good reflection by a longshot. Since his career started in 1991, he has dominated a true, rich sense of mixing the feel of Pop, Soul, and contemporary vocals in complete unison. Yet, with a lot of corporate pop artists, and manufactured wannabes ruling the airwaves, it is just too simple to forget just how meaningful his songs actually are felt. They are just remarkable.
Seal: Best of 1991-2004, is a very good reflection of his 4 studio albums, and his soundtrack works from Batman Forever and Space Jam. Yet, ther songs here are just worked out her very well, with most of the songs of those records really reflected quite well. The collection does include some remarkable pop songs here including hits like Prayer For The Dying, Seal's breakthrough hit Crazy, Waiting For You, his dynamic cover of Steve Miller's Fly Like An Eagle, and his latest Grammy-nominated song Love's Devine.
Yet, with the goodsides with this record, there are a few downsides with this record. One of them is that the album does overlook a few songs,including This Could Be Heaven, which was featured in the Nicholas Cage movie, A Family Man. Another downside is that the cover of the album is an exact duplicate from Seal's 1994 second self-titled album, which to some might be a little bit confusing to some people.
All in all, Seal's Best of 1991-2004 is a very well put greatest hits album. While some may seem more interested in the deluxe version with the acoustic recordings as well, the single disc version fairs much better simply by itself not just in price, but in the feel of Seal's passionate music. Hopefully, if you buy this record, you'll feel the same way.
Album cover: C-
Remastering: A-
Collection of songs: A-
Overall enjoyment: B+
Free Music Review: Go for the deluxe version with acoustic disc
Hit: 4 Stars
I was hesitant to purchase this CD when I saw it originally released. After all, I already had the four albums, and the extra songs were covers. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Then I heard that there was going to be a deluxe version with a bonus disc of songs performed acoustically. Now THAT piqued my interest. I consider Seal to be a rare vocal talent, and an ace songwriter with a gift for empathy that few can match. The thought of hearing him without the gee-whiz production of Trevor Horn (who really does understand how to produce Seal) made me grab this the week it was released.
I was not in the least bit let down. Stripped of the glossy synths of their album counterparts, songs like "Killer," "Don't Cry" and "Prayer For The Dying" take on a stately elegance. Even Seal himself states in the liner notes that he feels acoustic is his natural setting. Having this disc in addition to the originals is like a piece of Bavarian Chocolate after a lavish meal; it's the perfect after dinner topper.
As for the "Best" disc's main course, there are a couple delights. Rescued from soundtrack obscurity are Seal's covers of Steve Miller's "Fly Like An Eagle" from "Space Jam" and Echo and The Bunnymen's "Lips Like Sugar" from "50 First Dates." His gentle rendition of the Bacharach/David chestnut "Walk On By" holds its own to any other well known version. I am also glad that "Human Beings" made the cut, even if I wished another song or two might have snuck from that CD into the list. (All the more reason to hang on to that vastly underrated, personal work.)
The most important thing about Seal is that he keeps a utopian world view that also maintains a pragmatists' edge. A song like "Prayer For The Dying" holds up years later, maybe taking on more weight, given the current regime's narrow world view. And when all else fails, "Crazy" and "My Vision" can still make you dance.