Seal Best of 1991 – 2004 Album Review
Killer Greatest Hits Collection with Kiss from a Rose & Crazy
Dec 6, 2008
Seal emerged from the British underground house scene in the early 90’s to become one of the decade’s biggest and most versatile singer/ songwriters. Merging electronica with acoustic guitar, his distinguishable silky voice sounds equally at home on club tracks like “Killer” as on heart-warming ballads like his signature song, “Kiss from a Rose”.
Kiss from a Rose
The Best of Seal 1991 – 2004 collects his biggest hits, mostly singles produced by Trevor Horn from his first two releases, both of which entitled Seal, as well as his career nadir Human Being and his 2003 release Seal IV, alongside rarities and soundtrack singles, giving a concise overview of the man’s talent and lengthy pop career.
Beginning with his worldwide smash “Crazy”, a dance/ pop fusion as perfect for listening on the home stereo as it is the club mega bass, the album quickly slides into his biggest hit “Kiss from a Rose”.
Initially ignored when first released, inclusion on the Batman Forever soundtrack breathed new life into this gentle, yet poignant track. His first and only US number one track set the stage for future releases, with Seal steering further away from his club roots to concentrate more on AC radio-friendly material.
From Killer to Don’t Cry
“It’s the loneliness that’s the killer,” Seal whispers in the opening to his techno driven and hard thumping single “Killer” originally done with Adamski then re-recorded for his solo debut. The track shot to number one in the UK and was later successfully covered by George Michael for his Five Live EP.
“Killer”, more than any other track, exposes Seal’s ease of juxtaposing melancholic words with a positive beat – a trick he attempted on other occasions but never succeeded quite as richly as he did on this track.
“Prayer for the Dying”, the lead single to his second solo album had a modest chart life upon release, and though a beautiful and thought-provoking track, it quickly became lost in the shuffle, only to be largely overshadowed from the follow up single, “Kiss from a Rose”. Re-discovered here, especially following the beat laden “Killer” the gentleness of “Prayer for the Dying” can be savoured once more.
“Don’t Cry”, also from his sophomore album equally deserves another listen. Suffering the same chart fate as “Prayer for the Dying” following the release of “Kiss from a Rose”, “Don’t Cry” deals with the hurt of loss of friends and loved ones and the struggles of growing older, but offers encouraging words to lift the spirits. Without a doubt one of Seal’s finer moments.
Fly like an Eagle
Between the release of his second and third albums, Seal released the cover of “Fly Like an Eagle,” which also soared up the charts, sounding like a revisited “Crazy” more than a Steve Miller cover.
With the release of Human Being, Seal’s chart prowess dwindled. Selling but a fraction of his previous two efforts, his career seemed all but washed up until the early 2000’s when he teamed up with dace maverick Jakatta to release the high energy dance track “My Vision”. Seal IV followed a few years later which spawned the touching “Love’s Divine”, a reasonable “Don’t Cry” part two, which deals with finding love after pain.
Just as the album opens with a track from Seal’s debut album, his greatest hits package closes with another track from that album. Third single “Future Love Paradise” didn’t perform as well on the charts as “Crazy” and “Killer” but its acoustic guitar strumming placed atop a thumping techno/ thick guitar beat makes this one of the best tracks Seal has recorded during his career.
Offering a great retrospective of the artist’s career up to that point, Seal - The Best of 1991-2004 captures the creativity and ever emerging sound of one of this generation’s greatest talents.
In 2007 Seal released System, a return to his dance roots and in 2008 he released a David Foster produced collection simply called Soul.
