Seal - Best: 1991-2004
Published December 01, 2004
MTV Unplugged.
It was an interesting show (heck, it was an interesting network, back when the 'M' actually stood for "music"). Can an artist/band deal with going 'naked', the protective cover of studio sheen stripped away? Enough creativity and imagination to pull off a reinvention?
Sometimes, the results were impressive and powerful. The emotions embedded in songs seemed to be magnified.
Some of these ideas where on my mind when I reviewed Seal's Seal IV. The tunes that hit the hardest ("Touch", "Tinsel Town", "Don't Make Me Wait") had their Trevor Horn-levels dialed way, way back. Seal's voice took over.
A whole pile of tunes have been given such a treatment on disc #2 of Seal's greatest hits package Best | 1991-2004. "Acoustic" versions of Seal's hits are presented, showing not only what a great songwriter the man is, but also: The Voice (as if we had any doubts about that!)
Now, I'll admit here that, in general, I'm not much of a modern R&B fan. It almost always boils down to the production, which just seems too, uhm...inorganic. Maybe it's the overuse of ProTools. Dunno. So maybe I can't be called a 'real' fan of Seal, since his more amped up songs leave me cold. But I appear to be heading back in the other direction. This voice has so much power, soul and inner detail that I'm beginning to see it as supporting and enhancing the production. On first listen, I doubted I'd be headed back to disc #1 very often. Now I'm having to reconsider.
Very often, record companies are accused of attempting to "trick" people into buying Best-Of packages by offering things like alternate takes and/or previously unreleased live tracks. In this particular case, that charge is without merit. Seal's "acoustic" disc stands alone. Proudly.
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
Mark Saleski is a writer and music obsessive based out of the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. On his best day, he hopes to channel the ghosts of Lester Bangs and Jack Kerouac. He spends the hours of 9:32PM to 1:37AM carving out music reviews and essays for Jazz.com, Blogcritics.org and other publications.
- Seal - Best: 1991-2004
- Published: December 01, 2004
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- Section: Music
- Writer: Mark Saleski
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Comments on this articleComments
yes, in fact, i meant to say Trevor Horn in the article, but 'Rabin' slipped out.
oops.
Seal always sounds better when he dials it down with less production. but thats not to say that some of his more faster paced songs don't jam...Ive seen him in concert at least 4 times and I have to say when its just him and a guitar and he's not in a studio, he can struggle, but...maybe I caught him on a bad night or 2...His voice though, is one I could listen too anytime..Its so recognizable. i even love any covers he does. His acoustic sessions disc I think though, is beautiful and I highly recommend it..
Seal must be doing something right, Heidi Klum is his girlfriend!
Marky Mark,
This did make it up on Advance.net finally.
Congratulations and thank you for the review.
-- Temple
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Mark,
If you're not a big fan of "inorganic" production, no wonder you've not been a big fan of Seal. Seal's producer Trevor Horn (ABC, Art Of Noise, Frankie Goes To Hollywood) is one of the true showmen in "big" production.
Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the acoustic selections. Seal's voice has always been amazing.