Warner Bros.
2008
Soul
About This Album
Although he worked in funk and blues bands early in his career, Seal is by no means a classic soul singer. He's been virtually everything else, starting with house music in his native London, and later turning to various flavors of adult contemporary and pop music. But the power and sincerity of his voice is indisputably great, which makes him a natural to sing soul music -- where passion and conviction are prerequisites. Soul, his tribute album to the great soul songs of all time, is a sincere, well-considered affair, which comes as a small surprise considering the usual type of tribute album (with an easy-to-market concept and an easy-to-digest list of songs). It's the height of ambition not only to cover "A Change Is Gonna Come," Sam Cooke's landmark of hopeful triumphalism, but to place it as the opening song. Seal's version isn't exactly innovative, but he carries it over well. His other choices fall into either of two slots: the inspirational ballad or the sensual love song. Examples of the former come with Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" (another civil rights anthem to place alongside "A Change Is Gonna Come"), James Brown's turgid "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," and Ben E.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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