Review

Seal: Seal 2 (Warners/Reprise)

Seal goes for the Cecille B. De Mille large glossy production here. But what do you expect when producers David Foster AND Trevor Horn are behind it? Seal sounds as good as usual, with an added throatiness, especially on Love T.K.O., his best effort on this collection of golden soul oldies.

The trouble is not with Seal's silky voice, I just don't think this concept of soul covers should have made into a second album. The first one of the series was relatively credible and I thought wow! He can cover James Brown and Otis Redding, even Al Green and Sam Cooke and still come out smiling. I thought he was doing it to get the next generation into decent music, but here I'm afraid with "Soul 2" he's overcooked his goose. Just a brash ego exercise to which said producers should take most of the blame.

Not known for his lo-fi production qualities, as one would expect having been championed by Trevor Horn. These lush and heavily string arranged ditties verge on the bland side, especially on "Let's Stay Together." The drums sound incredibly flat (especially the snare) and have none of the sparkle or fizz of original. Just an overblown backing track that would sound great on a cruise ship. But I don't think Seal's ready for the Brittany Ferries just yet!

The choice of covers is way too obvious. The overblown intro on Marvin's "What's Going On" goes on too long and by the time the groove kicks in you'll be thinking what's the point in this? There's no grit or dirt, just a load of LA session musicians going through the motions.

"Back Stabbers" redresses the balance somewhat with a lot more energy going into it but it's pretty much a facsimile of the original, no matter how you dress it up - still at least it's got some verve and purpose. However, it's not too long until Seal's cruise control kicks in again with "Lean On Me" (blimey is nothing sacrosanct!!). Out come the programmed bongos and putting a mean growly synth on the chorus is just gilding the lily!

Disappointing and in a bubble all of its own. It's time Seal went back to writing his own songs and taking it down a notch or two production wise, and perhaps more of a live feel next time. A wasted opportunity and too much blubber on this one.
Words Emrys Baird