Seal by Seal

Seal, the singer's second self-titled album, came out on ZTT in 1994 with Trevor Horn producing again, and it's often called Seal II to keep it apart from the 1991 debut. Horn builds big, cinematic soul-pop around that rich, smoky voice, all shimmering layers and slow-burning drama.

"Prayer for the Dying" rides a darker groove, but the song that took over the world was "Kiss from a Rose", a moody, baroque ballad that went all the way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 once it landed on the soundtracks to The NeverEnding Story III and Batman Forever. The album itself went to number one in the UK, just like its predecessor, and the cover portrait became so tied to Seal's image that it turned up again on later singles and his greatest hits.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.