Seal IV

by

Seal

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Seal IV is growing on me. When I read that Trevor Horn and Seal would be working together again, I waited with anticipation, and had hoped of the same magic wrought from Seal's landmark debut. Seal I was/is one of my top 5 works of all time. Unlike some others, I love the rich textured danceable production often found on Trevor Horn produced tracts.

Which brings us to the present. The rich textures are definitely in effect on Seal IV, but the sound has matured. At first I was hoping for the energy of "Crazy" (My personal theme song if I decide to become a super hero), or the raw power of "Killer," but then it dawned on me that I have aged and so has Seal. The sound, the words, and the music have aged in a graceful soulness that slowly seeps into your musical psyche as you listen to this CD. I no longer want to just groove to Seal, I am now listening. Instead of pumping this through my tower speaks, I'm grabbing my headphones, dimming the lights, and sipping something smooth and mellow.

Cuts that I'm looping over and over again are: "Loneliest Star" (my favorite cut), "Heavenly...(Good Feeling)", "Tinsel Town", "Touch", and "Love's Divine." Not to say the other songs aren't impressive, but these five touch me deeper than the other cuts. I'm sure we all have songs that move us in a way, and these are mine. Seal fans will be happy with this one. New Seal fans will want to explore some of his previous works after listening to this new production. Add Seal IV to your collection.

Seal really tries on some different styles on this album - reggae, classic R&B - and for the most part succeeds. The best tracks are "Don't Make Me Wait", a beautiful Ray Charles-esque soul ballad whose arrangement is quite traditional (piano with string flourishes), and "Where There's Gold", a downtempo, somewhat ominous track with a reggae bassline and a great lyric.

Overall this does feel like a compromise record - keep in mind that Warner refused to release the "Wonderland" album because they couldn't market it(maybe someday it'll see the light of day), and certainly a lot of tracks here feel like they're intended for the pop charts. There's few weak tracks (the syrupy "Love's Divine" and the bland "Touch") but also few standouts - nothing that grabs you on the first listen like the tracks on his 2nd album.

I wish Seal would try a different producer - I've always felt that Seal's best tracks are the ones where his voice can stand out the most & the backing music is spartan ("Whirlpool" being the best example), and unfortunately Trevor Horn feels the need to bring the synth in at every point (I would have loved to see them keep the acoustic-y feel from the intro & break of "Get it Together" through the entire song rather than ladling on the disco synth-strings & horns).

Although this album does stand up to his previous work, overall I would say that this album is the least enjoyable of the four. Still, the man could sing the phone book and I'd listen, and so even a below-average effort from Seal is still worth buying.