Seal Best: 1991-2004 CD

Coming out of the UK dance scene via the early-1990s Adamski hit "Killer," Seal Henri Samuel spent the next decade-plus repeatedly appearing on the pop charts, with a sound drawing from the worlds of R&B, rock, and club music. BEST 1991-2004 does a stellar job of displaying the wide-ranging talents that enabled Seal to go from smash ballads ("Kiss from a Rose" and "Prayer for the Dying") to grittier soul ("Waiting for You" and "Get It Together").

The London native is equally at home handling his own songs or other artists' material. Seal's take on Echo & the Bunnymen's "Lips Like Sugar" crackles with the help of reggae star Mikey Dread, while his rendition of the Bacharach/David classic "Walk On By" shines, aided by a slight drum-loop infusion. BEST 1991-2004 is available in a single-disc version (with a silver cover) and as a double-disc set (with a gold cover). Those adventurous enough to go with the latter edition will be rewarded with an all-acoustic album featuring 13 of Seal's best-known cuts performed in an intriguingly spare style.

Reusing the cover from his 1994 self-titled release -- as opposed to his 1991 or 2003 self-titled release -- makes Seal's discography all the more confusing, but that's the only mistake made on this glorious collection. Seal's partnership with producer Trevor Horn has yielded some of the most elegantly soulful and richly textured pop music of the preceding 20 years. Best: 1991-2004 picks and chooses from their output perfectly, orders it in a way that makes sense, and remembers a couple compilation and soundtrack appearances to make itself worthwhile for Seal's faithful. If you've owned a radio at sometime in the past two decades, a quarter of the disc will be familiar. But radio's compressed delivery of "Crazy," "Kiss From a Rose," and others don't do these grand songs justice; plus, anytime you can put a Trevor Horn production on the headphones is a rewarding experience. The songs from the lesser Seal IV come off much stronger in these surroundings, and the inclusion of a bunch of album tracks you forgot about but shouldn't have speaks to the compilers' keen understanding of Seal's career. The new recording of Bacharach-David's "Walk On By" is sweet, fair, and no disappointment, but it's Seal's take on Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle" or Echo & the Bunnymen's "Lips Like Sugar" that proves him an great interpreter of other's tunes and able to shine without Horn's help (the positive and empowering "My Vision" is the third and final track without Horn). The greatness of Seal's first two albums keeps the collection from being "the only Seal CD you'll ever need." Instead, Best: 1991-2004 is a fantastic overview of a hit-or-miss artist that soars when he's got the right material. This is all the right material and an unquestionable success. [As good as the regular edition is, Best: 1991-2004 was also released in an even better bonus-disc edition with a gold cover. The extra CD contains wonderful acoustic renditions of the singer's best, newly recorded in the studio and once again helmed by Horn. Seal's performance equals any of his regular recordings, but it's the clever and inspired arrangements t

Audio Remixer: Soulshock.

Liner Note Author: Seal.

Recording information: Henson Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Sarm West Studios, London, England; Soulpower Studios, Los Angeles, CA; The Village, Los Angeles, CA.

Photographers: Sacha Waldman; Philippe McClelland; Nick Knight; Jean Baptiste Mondino; Robert Maxwell.

Personnel: Seal (vocals, acoustic guitar); Seal; Jakatta, Mikey Dread (vocals); Chris Bruce (acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, acoustic bass guitar); David Campbell (strings); Christos Demetriou (horns); Deron Johnson (piano, celesta, harpsichord, Hammond b-3 organ, pump organ, vibraphone); Michele Chiavarini (keyboards); Ian Dankworth (acoustic bass guitar); Eric Schermerhorn (guitar, autoharp, marimba); Ramy Antoun (drums, percussion).

Audio Mixers: Soulshock; Tim Weidner; Chad Sexton.