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If people were asked to name a list of contemporary male soul singers, it is unlikely that the British singer Seal would make the cut.  Folks often think of his most popular songs, such as "Kiss From a Rose" (which was featured in one of the Batman sequels) and cast him primarily as a pop guy. Seal's first big hit, "Killer," was a pop hit that made no waves in the soul/R&B world. He certainly wouldn't be one of the more obvious choices in a list that would include obvious names such as Will Downing and Raphael Saadiq and newer names that should be better known like Marcell Russell and Tre Williams.

That is one of the virtues of the compilation record - also known as the greatest hits CD. Its primary purpose is to get fans (often casual fans) to buy a record filled with all of the songs that got played on the radio and none of those pesky album cuts. However, the best compilation CDs present the work of an artist in a way that makes even avid fans view the performer's body of work in a different light. That is why Hits, the latest compilation Seal's music, is successful. And the one thing that becomes clear to the listener after a few spins of Hits is that Seal is most definitely a soul singer - and a pretty good one at that.

Perhaps the singer himself realized that there were questions about his soul man bona fides. In 2008, Seal released the album Soul, on which he covered 11 classic soul cuts ranging from "A Change is Gonna Come" to Deniece Williams' "Free." Seal included three songs from that album on Hits, and he also did a cover version of Sly Stones "Thank You" on this record.  Seal's raspy and impassioned vocals are tailor made for soul music and that comes through on Seal originals such as "Get It Together," "Don't Cry," as well as Ashford & Simpson's "I Am Your Man," recorded especially for this record. 

In a way, naming this record Hits is kind of  ironic. All of the songs on the record were hits, but many of them were hits for somebody else. What Seal hopes to do by including these covers on an album along with some of his many hits is make something of an artistic statement. And on this well thought out and organized compilation CD, Seal makes a convincing case that he is indeed a soul singer. Recommended

By Howard Dukes