REVIEW: Seal, Human Being (Warner Bros.)
- Simon West
Seal, it's worth remembering, actually began his chart career in the dance arena, as the uncredited vocalist on Adamski's 1990 classic single "Killer". The eponymous debut album was essentially a dance record too, while follow-up singles "Hey Joe" and a revamped "Killer" suggested Seal might be moving into a rockier, more guitar-driven sound. He didn't, of course. He re-teamed with producer Trevor Horn and took a wander down the 'adult contemporary' path. The also eponymous second album was a huge success, the lushly produced ballad "Kiss From A Rose" popping up on a Batman soundtrack and earning three Grammys along the way.
Third album Human Being has been a long time coming - and to some great extent, it's really more of the same - naked artiste on the cover, Trevor Horn's usual penchant for glossy over-production well to the fore, humanist lyrics in attendance.
He seems to have forgotten the hooks this time around however, which may well affect the success of the album. There's really nothing as immediate here as the classic dance tracks "Crazy" and "Future Love Paradise" from the debut, or the atmospheric ballads like "Prayer For The Dying" from 1994's follow-up.
The first single "Human Beings" stands out as a strong opener in the style of 1992's "The Beginning", and "When A Man Is Wrong" sees Seal's voice leaping to the high register that is its true strength over an effective acoustic guitar and piano arrangement backed by a string section, but much of the rest of the album runs together as undistinguished mid-tempo balladry, spiced up here and there with the odd break beat or trip hop keyboard as a slight concession to Seal's original arena, but otherwise unremarkable.
A well-documented falling-out with producer Horn (some of which is reproduced in a heated conversation found in the sleeve notes, bizarrely), threatened this album for a time. Perhaps now is the time for Seal to strike out on his own. A remarkable voice and a huge songwriting talent continue to flounder under the weight of overproduced dinner party soul/pop.
