Best: 1991-2004

Seal

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 9, 2004)
• Original Release Date: November 9, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00063F8BC
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,633 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Pop > Adult Contemporary > Contemporary

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
It's fair to assume that if you're a Seal fan, you prefer your pop shot through with substance. Using that as a guiding principle, you'll want to glide right into Best: 1991-2004 where you will encounter, throughout two discs and 27 songs, scarcely a second of musical fluff. All the expected goosebump-raisers come on disc one--"Don't Cry" follows "Prayer for the Dying" follows "Kiss from a Rose" follows "Crazy"--and they're interspersed with deeper cuts from Seal IV such as "Get It Together" and "Loves Divine" as well as a couple of covers that, in a lesser vocalist's hands, might have been catastrophic. Seal plays it subtle and sweet and Burt Bacharach's "Walk on By," sidestepping any instinct to belt, and the help he gets from Mikey Dread on Echo & the Bunnymen's "Lips Like Sugar" settles the song into a snazzified reggae-pop celebration. (Also included is Seal's soaring cover of Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle," which proved his prowess as a cover artist with its chart success). Though "best" collections aren't normally upheld for their surprise elements--nobody likes a package that challenges with armloads of new stuff--disc two pulls off a neat stunt. It's a complete acoustic album, again encompassing the major radio hits but stretching to include tracks like the impossibly tender "Touch" and the meltingly gorgeous "Colour." Their unplugged presentation, with the artist on guitar, sets an up-close-and-personal tone that suits Seal. More to the point, it suits his fans, who'll take all the intimacy with the singer-slash-heartthrob they can get. --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description
Multiplatinum selling, Grammy winning, critically acclaimed Seal unveils his first greatest hits collection with Seal Best 1991-2004. But there's even more-along with the single-CD edition, with original album versions of 12 of his hits and best-loved tracks plus a cover song newly recorded by Seal ("Walk on By"), a double-CD package adds a disc of newly recorded acoustic versions of nine of those cuts (and four others). For fans of the pop, dance, urban and adult contemporary, Seal Best 1991-2004 is the quintessential Seal experience.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great performer., November 18, 2004

By	Javier Lopez (Peru) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This three time Grammy Award winner finally edits a Greatest hits album. The strange thing is that it happened only a couple of months after the release of his latest studio album "Seal IV".
In this cd you can find his biggest hits (there are some modest hits that are missing but that happends in every greatest hits album) but other than that I think that they made a good selection. Besides his biggest hit, the #1 "KISS FROM A ROSE" you can find the Top 10 singles "CRAZY" and "FLY LIKE AN EAGLE". Then comes the Top 50 like "PRAYER FOR THE DYING" and "DON'T CRY".
There's also a new song. "WALK ON BY" which is very good. This album debuted at #47 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums and there are also two versions. This one and the one with the golden cover. The difference is that the golden one is a special edition with some other versions of the songs.
If you like Seal you will definitely not be sorry with this album, is very good but the only thing that I don't like is that it doesn't contain lyrics in the credits book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seal at his best!, March 3, 2005

By	Spartacus "West Chester PA music fan" (West Chester, PA) - See all my reviews

Best 1991 - 2004, Seal


Seal's genuis is evident is this career retrospective. Over the past decade, Seal has entranced us with his silky and soulful voice. Through original compositions and cover versions of classics, Seal has made each song he records his "own." The tracks on this hits collection remind fans worldwide that Seal is an artist in its truest meaning.

The low-down on the track listing is detailed below:

1. "Crazy": Seal's first exposure to American audiences came in 1991 with his first Top 10 single, "Crazy."

2. "Kiss from a Rose": Seal's sole number one single, "Kiss from a Rose," was featured in the motion picture Batman Forever and winner of the 1995 Grammy for Record of the Year.

3. "Killer": Taken from his debut CD Seal (1991), this upbeat tune was later covered by George Michael.

4. "Prayer for the Dying": Taken from his sophomore CD Seal (1994), "Prayer for the Dying" reached the Top 40.

5. "Waiting for You": Paired with "Get it Together," "Waiting for You" made waves on the Club Play charts. Remixes of both songs assisted in creating buzz for Seal's fourth CD Seal IV.

6. "Don't Cry": Also taken from Seal's second CD Seal (1994), "Don't Cry" reached the Top 40 and garnered additional attention following Seal's 1995 Grammy victory.

7. "My Vision": Previously unreleased, "My Vision" is an up-tempo tune which is accompanied by female vocalists, Jakatta.

8. "Love's Divine": This is squarely the highlight from Seal IV. "Love's Divine" is a pure delight.

9. "Walk on By": Remixed by Soulshock and Karlin, this Dionne Warwick remake is given new life. The arrangement transcends time and makes this classic sound brand new.

10. "Get it Together": Suited with a retro 70's vibe, "Get it Together" is an enjoyable smooth groove. [Also see #5 above.]

11. "Fly Like an Eagle": Included on the motion picture soundtrack for Space Jam, Seal transforms this Steve Miller classic by adding a hot jazz groove and his signature soulful voice.

12. "Lips Like Sugar": 80's fans may remember this as Echo and the Bunnymen's biggest hit. Seal take a new wave record and adds a reggae flavor. This song is included on the motion picture soundtrack for Adam Sandler's 50 First Dates.

13. "Human Beings": Taken from the somber CD Human Being, this is pretty much the only stand out track from the 1998 release.

14. "Future Love Paradise": Another track ripped from Seal's 1991 debut CD.


This CD is superb from start to finish. No need to skip any tracks. They all shine.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars True British Soulman, December 11, 2004

By	Michael Kerner "Michael Kerner" (Brooklyn, New York U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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+