KEY POINTS:
Rating: * *
Amy Winehouse may not be a role model in many areas, but at least she knows how to turn out a good cover song. Her and Mark Ronson's version of The Zutons' Valerie had bold instrumentation and its soaring jazz arrangement gave the song an entirely new sound and brought the already popular song to a global audience, outselling the original.
The only point in doing a covers album is to reinvent classic songs in such a way they seem fresh and new, or to dust off little known gems and introduce them to a new generation.
Long missing in musical action, Heidi Klum's hubby Seal does neither of these things.
Every song on Soul is an overly familiar classic that most will know verbatim - James Brown's It's A Man's Man's Man's World , Ben E. King's Stand by Me and a cover of the Simply Red cover If You Don't Know Me By Now.
Soul ably showcases Seal's gravel-coated vocal cords - as have his previous five, original albums. But David Foster and Jerry Hey's uninspired orchestral arrangements bring nothing new to the original scores, begging the question: what was the point?
At best, this album may provide a couple of tunes for the coming nuptial season. Otherwise, it's bargain bin bound.
Joanna Hunkin
