Thursday, May 18, 2006

Caught On Tape: Seal - 'Kiss From A Rose'

By 1994, with the release of a second self-titled album, Seal no longer needed to "get a little crazy." He had already achieved mainstream success, and the sophomore record's first single, 'Prayer for the Dying' had won the album a good deal of recognition. However, it wasn't until a year later, with the release of Val Kilmer's captivating Batman Forever, that Seal truly rose to superstardom. By adding his song, 'Kiss From A Rose,' to the movie soundtrack, Seal became an adult contemporary sensation , and the single remained on the charts for 45 weeks. With 'Kiss From A Rose,' it appeared that the soulful Seal had found his raison d'ĂȘtre.

A year later, Seal would try to mirror his soundtrack success by jumping aboard the Michael Jordan/Looney Tunes mainstay, Space Jam, with a cover of Steve Miller's 'Fly Like an Eagle.' While it is true that any soundtrack for a cartoon starring a basketball player is a good career choice, it is more true that any soundtrack for a movie about a man dressing as a bat is an even better one.

In the 'Kiss From A Rose' music video, Seal is shown singing in front of the Bat Signal, arms outstretched, acting out his superhero fantasies. These shots are juxtaposed with clips from the movie, in which we see Batman berating Chris O'Donnell for being such a pretty boy, and the Riddler doing a killer Jim Carrey impersonation. 'Kiss From A Rose' became synonymous for greatness, and all movie soundtracks have been weighed against it ever since. And now here it is:

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