A great voice singing great songs recorded by a great producer. That is 'Soul', the sixth studio album from multiplatinum selling, Grammy-winning, critically acclaimed Seal. Each song is a stone-cold soul classic, from Sam... more » Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come', Ben E. King's 'Stand By Me', and Ann Pebbles' 'I Can't Stand The Rain' to Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes' 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' and Otis Redding's 'I've Been Loving You Too Long'. Produced by David Foster, 'Soul' is the perfect coming together of man, material and moment.« less
A great voice singing great songs recorded by a great producer. That is 'Soul', the sixth studio album from multiplatinum selling, Grammy-winning, critically acclaimed Seal. Each song is a stone-cold soul classic, from Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come', Ben E. King's 'Stand By Me', and Ann Pebbles' 'I Can't Stand The Rain' to Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes' 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' and Otis Redding's 'I've Been Loving You Too Long'. Produced by David Foster, 'Soul' is the perfect coming together of man, material and moment.
"I heard "A Change is Gonna Come" played on the R&B station I listen to and was surprised the artist was Seal. I thought he did a great job on the Sam Cooke classic. I then listened to his rendition of Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions "People Get Ready." At that point, I knew I was going to buy this CD regardless of the low ratings viewers have given this album. Obviously, Seal fans are used to his "rock" style and aren't ready for such a soulful, classic, melodic CD. The brotha really goes deep into the roots of African-American R&B of the earlier groups, puts his own spin on them, but his delivery is superb. So, old school baby-boomers and post-boomers will really appreciate this CD so aptly named "Soul." Soul it is, and definitely R&B! I listened to every track and never took it out of my CD player while I ran errands for about four hours. Frankly, I was sad when Track 12 played because I knew I had to listen to the CD again. Beautiful CD! Old Schoolers -- you'll love it it if you like the ballads of Wilson Pickett, Al Green, Sam (the Impressions), and of course, the wonderful balladeer Sam Cooke. "I Can't Stand the Rain" is sung like a man (as opposed to Tina Turner) would sing the song, and I didn't have a problem with his rendition. I love this CD, and I've never bought a Seal CD in my life! Also, you'll remember Luther Vandross covered a lot of songs and took home lots of Grammy's. So, if you can cover a great song but add your own flavor, what's wrong with that? Beautiful music remains beautiful if the artist can sing!"
Flawless Software But Little Else
Michael Neiss | Princeton, NJ United States | 11/13/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Soul is a disc that you really want to like - stellar production - amazing talent - legendary material - almost guaranteeing that Seal's tribute to the golden era of Soul and R&B would easily score five stars on technical merit alone.
So where's my enthusiasm? Upon further review, I suspect it was left at the door with the headliner who, while making an airtight composite of a great album, fell prey to the fatal flaw of most artists who take on an entire recording of cover material - holding the songs so tight that they forget to forego the Kareoke and leave little of themselves on the final take.
To be fair, there's not one truly bad cut on the entire disc (I Can't Stand The Rain and If You Don't Know Me By Now are standouts) however, Soul projects an overwhelming "in the moment" feel - a coolly professional encounter that leaves no lasting impression.
Instead of simply pulling all the levers in his quest to "manufacture" a great record, Seal would have been better served bringing his heart as well as his body to the sessions. There's actually much here to like - just not much to remember.
"
Re-defining Old Classics
Barbara W. Brewster | San Diego, California USA | 11/18/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"One of the mistakes that these so called reviewers make is rating each song as better or worse than the original version. Seal puts his on stamp on each and that is what makes each song so good. When I heard his version of "Walk on by", I did not like it. Now after listening to it over and over, Dionne Warwick's take on it seems lacking. Cut the guy some slack - each one of his CDs has had its own flavor and I appreciate the effort that it must take to redfine his style each pass through the recording studio. The biggest mistake a recording artist can make (in my opinion) is to crank out the same predictable stuff. With Seal you never know what to expect. He could record Disney's "Its a Small World" and make it sound sweet!"
Seal has done these songs justice.
Melissa | 11/17/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I started reading through some of these reviews and I think that what people are missing is that beyond being another Seal album, this is an ode to the classics performed by one of the best voices of this generation. The songs he chose are so amazing and I'm so glad to hear someone record them who can really do them justice. I will truly enjoy listening to this record over and over."
Gotta LOVE Seal!
smshank girl | Allentown, PA | 11/23/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been following and loving Seal since his "Killer" days. This album is such a mature and wonderful addition to his already great work. He has taken some cool old classics and made them better than they were the first time! "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and "If you don't love me by now" have never sounded so soulful and sweet. What a LUCKY girl that Heidi Klum is!!!"