Soul 2
Studio album by Seal
Released	November 4, 2011
Recorded	London, United Kingdom and Los Angeles, United States
Genre	Soul
Label	Reprise
Producer	David Foster, Jochem van der Saag, Trevor Horn
Seal chronology
Commitment (2010) Soul 2 (2011)
Singles from Soul 2
"Let's Stay Together" Released: 30 September 2011 "Wishing on a Star" Released: 2 November 2011

Soul 2 is the eighth studio album by British pop singer Seal. The album was released on 4 November 2011. Like its predecessor, Soul (2008) the album consists of soul classics, and it was produced by David Foster, Jochem van der Saag, and long-time collaborator Trevor Horn. It was preceded by the lead single, "Let's Stay Together" on 30 September 2011. Soul 2 peaked at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. As of January 2012, the album has sold 114,654 copies in the United Kingdom.^[1]

Background [edit]

Following the worldwide success of 2008 cover album Soul, Seal teamed up with producers David Foster and Trevor Horn in London and Los Angeles to record Soul 2.^[2] The album mainly consists of classic soul songs from the 1970s by artists such as Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Al Green, and Teddy Pendergrass. Seal also recorded Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", but it did not end up on the album.^[3] In a press release, Seal said of the album: "In my twenty years on a journey in the music industry, two things remain constants, the voice and more importantly, the song. I continue to make music because of the chance that this day could indeed be the day I write another great song or have the opportunity to sing one. The songs on Soul 2 are a natural evolution in the arc of soul music from the songs on the first Soul album -- and they are all-time classics." ^[2]

The album cover photo was taken by Seal's friend & photography blogger, Steve Huff, during Seal's performance in Paris.

Critical reception [edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
BBC Music	positive[6]
Billboard	favorable[7]
The Guardian	[8]
The Independent	[9]

Metacritic gave the album 70 out of 100 based on 5 critic reviews as of May 2012.^[4] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave the album four out of five stars writing, "His voice and interpretive skills are such, though, that most tracks fit him like a glove, to the point where, on Rose Royce's Wishing on a Star, his oak-aged vocal seems a better fit for the remorseful lyric than original singer Gwen Dickey's."^[8] BBC Music's Mike Diver gave the album a positive review commenting that "there's nothing bad to be said for Soul 2, and with [Trevor] Horn on production everything shines brightly like the first snowflakes of a new winter. Seal the songwriter might never hit the heights of the early 1990s again – but Seal the singer can still hold his own amongst today's clutch of contemporary soul stars."^[6] Andy Gill of The Independent felt that the cover versions were too faithful to the originals, while calling Seal's voice "a natural fit" and the arrangements "impeccable".^[9]

Track listing [edit]

Notes

• (*) denotes co-producer

Charts and certifications [edit]

Certifications [edit]

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Release history [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Soul 2 at Metacritic