System (album)

System
System
Studio album by Seal
Released	12 November 2007
Studio	Studio 99 (London, UK); Record Plant and Chalice Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California, USA);
Genre	Soul ; R&B ; dance-pop ; electronica ;
Length	47:22
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Stuart Price
Seal chronology
Singles from System
	"Amazing"; Released: 25 September 2007; "The Right Life"; Released: 11 March 2008;

Last updated July 31, 2025

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	64/100^[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B−^[3]
IM	^[4]
The Observer	(favorable)^[5]
Okayplayer	^[6]
PopMatters	^[7]
Q	^[1]
Rolling Stone	^[8]
Slant	^[9]
Uncut	^[1]
Sputnikmusic	3/5^[10]

System is the fifth studio album by British soul/R&B singer Seal, released on 12 November 2007. In his online blog, Seal described the album as a return to his dance roots and his best album since his debut.^[11] However, it is his lowest-selling album to date in the US, selling 155,000 copies in the first year of its release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[12]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Seal.

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"If It's in My Mind, It's on My Face"	Seal, Eric Schermerhorn, Stuart Price	5:11
2.	"Amazing" (Thin White Duke Edit)	Seal	3:27
3.	"Just Like Before"	Seal, Schermerhorn, Price	4:42
4.	"Loaded"	Seal, Bill Bottrell, Price	5:20
5.	"Wedding Day" (Duet with Heidi Klum)	Seal, Schermerhorn, Price	3:57
6.	"System"	Seal, Schermerhorn	3:48
7.	"Dumb"	Seal, Christopher Bruce, Schermerhorn	4:12
8.	"The Right Life"	Seal, Price	5:09
9.	"Rolling"	Seal, Schermerhorn	4:30
10.	"Immaculate"	Seal	4:04
11.	"Amazing"	Seal	3:02

UK iTunes Store bonus tracks^[13] / Japanese bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Amazing" (Kaskade Remix)	6:33
13.	"Amazing" (Bill Hamel Vocal Mix)	9:07

US iTunes Store bonus tracks^[14]
No.	Title	Length
12.	"The Right Life" (Eddie Amador's Backroom Stripped Mix)	8:21
13.	"Amazing" (Bill Hamel Vocal Edit)	5:02
14.	"Amazing" (Kaskade Remix)	6:34
15.	"Killer" (Live in Germany)	6:32
16.	"Crazy" (Live in Germany)	5:25
17.	"Get It Together" (Live in Germany)	5:20
18.	"Amazing" (Bill Hamel Stripped Mix)	8:39
19.	"Interview: The Making of System" (Pre-order bonus track)	5:00

Personnel

Seal – vocals
Bill Bottrell – Mellotron (3)
Chris Bruce – additional acoustic guitar (7)
Eric Schermerhorn – additional guitars (9)
Heidi Klum – vocals (5)

Production

Jeff Aldrich – A&R
Stuart Price – producer, recording, mixing (1-3, 5-11)
Nate Hertweck – engineer, assistant engineer
Ali Staton – engineer, mixing (8)
Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (4)
Jaycen Joshua – mixing (11)
Dave Pensado – mixing (11)
Mike Honeycutt – assistant engineer
Jake Davis – mix assistant (4)
Alan Mason – mix assistant (4)
Brian Gardner – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California, USA)
Frank Maddocks – package design
Robin Rankin – photography
Stephen Alvarez – outside inlay city lights photography

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[15]	5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[16]	56
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[17]	51
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)^[18]	6
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[19]	42
French Albums (SNEP)^[20]	33
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[21]	13
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[22]	44
Portuguese Albums (AFP)^[23]	27
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[24]	45
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[25]	71
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[26]	37
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[27]	3
UK Albums (OCC)^[28]	37
US Billboard 200 ^[29]	35

Year-end charts

Chart (2007)	Position
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[30]	50
Chart (2008)	Position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[31]	88

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)^[32]	Gold	75,000^*
Germany (BVMI)^[33]	Gold	100,000^{^}
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)^[34]	Gold	15,000^{^}
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1 2 3 "Critic reviews from". Metacritic.
↑ AllMusic review
↑ Neil Drumming (9 November 2007). "Entertainment Weekly review". Entertainment Weekly.
↑ IM review
↑ Paul Flynn (10 November 2007). "The Observer review". The Guardian. London.
↑ "Okayplayer review". 15 December 2007. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007.
↑ Joseph, Mike. "PopMatters review". PopMatters.
↑ Seal (29 November 2007). "Album reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 23 November 2007.
↑ "Slant review". Slant Magazine. 10 November 2007.
↑ "Seal: System". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
↑ "Blog Archive » SEAL-REPORT". Seal. 5 June 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
↑ "Seal Sings From His "Soul" On New Album". Billboard. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
↑ "iTunes – Music – System by Seal". iTunes Store. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
↑ "iTunes – Music – System (Bonus Track Version) by Seal". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
↑ "Austriancharts.at – Seal – System" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Ultratop.be – Seal – System" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Ultratop.be – Seal – System" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "ČNS IFPI". Hitparáda – TOP50 Prodejní (in Czech). IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Seal – System" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Lescharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Seal – System" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Italiancharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Swisscharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Seal Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2007". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
↑ "French album certifications – Seal – System" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 26 November 2021.Select SEAL and click OK.
↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Seal; 'System')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('System')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.

External links

System at Metacritic

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[meta-1] 1 2 3 "Critic reviews from". Metacritic.

[2] AllMusic review

[3] Neil Drumming (9 November 2007). "Entertainment Weekly review". Entertainment Weekly.

[4] IM review

[5] Paul Flynn (10 November 2007). "The Observer review". The Guardian. London.

[6] "Okayplayer review". 15 December 2007. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007.

[7] Joseph, Mike. "PopMatters review". PopMatters.

[8] Seal (29 November 2007). "Album reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 23 November 2007.

[9] "Slant review". Slant Magazine. 10 November 2007.

[10] "Seal: System". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 3 May 2018.

[11] "Blog Archive » SEAL-REPORT". Seal. 5 June 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2011.

[12] "Seal Sings From His "Soul" On New Album". Billboard. Retrieved 26 April 2011.

[13] "iTunes – Music – System by Seal". iTunes Store. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2012.

[14] "iTunes – Music – System (Bonus Track Version) by Seal". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2012.

[ac_Austria_Seal-15] "Austriancharts.at – Seal – System" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Flanders_Seal-16] "Ultratop.be – Seal – System" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Wallonia_Seal-17] "Ultratop.be – Seal – System" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[18] "ČNS IFPI". Hitparáda – TOP50 Prodejní (in Czech). IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved 3 February 2012.

[ac_Netherlands_Seal-19] "Dutchcharts.nl – Seal – System" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_France_Seal-20] "Lescharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Germany4_Seal-21] "Offiziellecharts.de – Seal – System" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Italy_Seal-22] "Italiancharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Portugal_Seal-23] "Portuguesecharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Scotland_-24] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Spain_Seal-25] "Spanishcharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Sweden_Seal-26] "Swedishcharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Switzerland_Seal-27] "Swisscharts.com – Seal – System". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_UK2_-28] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[ac_Billboard200_Seal-29] "Seal Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[30] "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2007". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[31] "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

[FranceSealSystemalbumCertRef-32] "French album certifications – Seal – System" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 26 November 2021.Select SEAL and click OK.

[GermanySealSystemalbumCertRef-33] "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Seal; 'System')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.

[SwitzerlandSealSystemalbumCertRef-34] "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('System')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.

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v t e Seal
Discography
Studio albums	Seal (1991) Seal (1994) Human Being (1998) Seal IV (2003) System (2007) Soul (2008) Seal 6: Commitment (2010) Soul 2 (2011) 7 (2015) Standards (2017)
Live albums	Live in Paris (2005)
Compilations	Best 1991–2004 (2004) Hits (2009)
Unreleased albums	Togetherland (2001)
Singles	"Crazy" (1990) "Future Love Paradise" (1991) "The Beginning" (1991) "Killer" (1991) "Violet" (1992) "Prayer for the Dying" (1994) "Kiss from a Rose" (1994) "Newborn Friend" (1994) "I'm Alive" (1995) "Don't Cry" (1995) "Fly Like an Eagle" (1997) "Human Beings" (1998) "This Could Be Heaven" (2001) "Les Mots" (2001) "My Vision" (2002) "Get It Together" (2002) "Love's Divine" (2003) "Waiting for You" (2003) "Walk On By" (2004) "Killer 2005" (2005) "Amazing" (2007) "The Right Life" (2008) "A Change Is Gonna Come" (2008) "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (2008) "I Can't Stand the Rain" (2009) "If You Don't Know Me by Now" (2009) "Secret" (2010)
Related articles	Heidi Klum The Bullitts