Soul (Seal album)

Soul is the sixth studio album by British singer Seal, which was released on 10 November 2008. The album was produced by David Foster, and co-produced, engineered and mixed by Jochem van der Saag.[12] It is made up of cover versions of eleven soul music classics.[13][14]

Soul
Studio album by
Seal
Released10 November 2008
Recorded2008
StudioChartmaker Studios, Capitol Records and Record Plant, United States
Genre
Label
Producer
Seal chronology
System
(2007)		 Soul
(2008)		 Commitment
(2010)
Singles from Soul
  1. "A Change Is Gonna Come"
  2. "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
    Released: 10 November 2008 (UK)
  3. "It's Alright"
    Released: 16 March 2009 (UK)
  4. "I Can't Stand the Rain"
    Released: March 2009 (Brazil)[1]
  5. "If You Don't Know Me by Now"
    Released: March 2009 (US)[2]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic59/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Billboardpositive[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[6]
PopMatters[7]
Robert Christgau[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Toronto Star[10]
Vibe[11]
"A Change Is Gonna Come" single cover

The album charted within the top 10 in twelve countries. In the United Kingdom, the album charted at number twelve. As of January 2012, the album had sold 419,841 copies in the UK.[15] The album peaked at number thirteen in the United States on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It has since sold 547,000 copies in the US.[16]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Change Is Gonna Come"Sam Cooke3:55
2."I Can't Stand the Rain"Ann Peebles, Don Bryant, Bernard Miller3:35
3."It's a Man's Man's Man's World"James Brown, Betty Jean Newsome3:53
4."Here I Am (Come and Take Me)"Al Green, Mabon Hodges4:10
5."I've Been Loving You Too Long"Otis Redding, Jerry Butler3:08
6."It's Alright"Curtis Mayfield3:47
7."If You Don't Know Me by Now"Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff3:50
8."Knock on Wood"Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper3:22
9."I'm Still in Love with You"Al Green, Willie Mitchell, Al Jackson Jr.4:37
10."Free"Henry Redd, Susaye Green, Nathan Watts, Deniece Williams3:27
11."Stand by Me"Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller4:06
12."People Get Ready"Curtis Mayfield3:35

Personnel
  • Seal – vocals, backing vocals
  • Dean Parks, Michael Thompson – guitar
  • Marcus Brown, Nathan East – bass guitar
  • David Foster – piano, string and horn arrangements
  • Jochem Van Der Saag – Hammond organ, synthesizer, programming
  • Teddy Campbell – drums on "Knock on Wood"
  • John Robinson – drums on "Stand by Me"
  • Jerry Hey – string and horn arrangements
  • Don Sebesky – string and horn arrangement on "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and "Knock on Wood"
  • Brad Dechter – string and horn arrangement on "I'm Still in Love with You"

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (2008–2009) Peak
position
Argentinean Albums (CAPIF)[17] 12
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 16
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[22] 11
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 6
French Albums (SNEP)[24] 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 15
Italian Albums (FIMI)[26] 5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] 22
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[28] 9
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[29] 10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[30] 6
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 4
UK Albums (OCC)[32] 12
US Billboard 200[33] 13
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[34] 4

Year-end charts
Chart (2008) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 98
French Albums (SNEP)[36] 2
Chart (2009) Position
French Albums (SNEP)[37] 2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] 14

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[39] Gold 35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[40] Gold 10,000*
Belgium (BEA)[41] 2× Platinum 60,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[42] Platinum 80,000^
France (SNEP)[43] Diamond 750,000*
Germany (BVMI)[44] Gold 100,000^
Italy (FIMI)[45] Gold 35,000*
Norway (IFPI Norway)[46] Gold 15,000*
Portugal (AFP)[47] Gold 10,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[48] Gold 40,000^
Sweden (GLF)[49] Gold 20,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[50] Platinum 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[51] Platinum 300,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[52] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Archived 22 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Metacritic score
  4. AllMusic review
  5. "Billboard review". Archived from the original on 15 November 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2012.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. Entertainment Weekly review
  7. PopMatters review
  8. Robert Christgau review
  9. "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on 29 November 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2010.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. The Toronto Star review
  11. "Vibe review". Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2012.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr09/articles/it_0409.htm Article by Paul Tingen on van der Saag's work on Soul, in Sound on Sound magazine
  13. Cohen, Jonathan (1 October 2008). http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1043914/seal-sings-from-his-soul-on-new-album Seal Sings from His 'Soul' on New Album. Billboard. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
  14. Seal's Soul. Auspop (4 October 2008). Retrieved 4 October 2008.
  15. Jones, Alan (30 January 2012). "Official Chart Analysis: Sales slow, but Sheeran and Cover Drive reign". Music Week. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  16. Caulfield, Keith (1 February 2012). "Tim McGraw Scores Top Billboard 200 Debut, Adele Still No. 1". Billboard. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  17. "Representando a la Industria Argentina de la Música" (in Spanish). CAPIF. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  18. "Australiancharts.com – Seal – Soul". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  19. "Austriancharts.at – Seal – Soul" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Seal – Soul" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  21. "Ultratop.be – Seal – Soul" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  22. "Seal Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Seal – Soul" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  24. "Lescharts.com – Seal – Soul". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Seal – Soul" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  26. "Italiancharts.com – Seal – Soul". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  27. "Charts.nz – Seal – Soul". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  28. "Portuguesecharts.com – Seal – Soul". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  29. "Spanishcharts.com – Seal – Soul". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  30. "Swedishcharts.com – Seal – Soul". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  31. "Swisscharts.com – Seal – Soul". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  32. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  33. "Seal Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  34. "Seal Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  35. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2008". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  36. Archived 2 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  37. "Tops & Flops musicaux en 2009" (in French). Chartsinfrance.net. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  38. "Swiss Year-End Charts 2009". Media Control. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  39. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
  40. "Austrian album certifications – Seal – Soul" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  41. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2009". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
  42. "Canadian album certifications – Seal – Soul". Music Canada.
  43. "Les Albums Diamant" (in French). InfoDisc. Archived from the original on 30 September 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  44. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Seal; 'Soul')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  45. "Italian album certifications – Seal – Soul" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Soul" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  46. "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  47. "Portuguese album certifications – Seal – Soul" (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  48. "Spanish album certifications – Seal – Soul". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  49. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2008" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  50. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Seal; 'Soul')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  51. "British album certifications – Seal – Soul". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Soul in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  52. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2008". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
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