Well Seal's new album dropped today, "Seal 6: Commitment" and while I held

out hope they would be able to produce some of the magic of Seal's work with

Horn, it was not to be. What a disappointment. Fans of Seal's slower stuff will

love it, but if you are looking for the Seal who brought us, "Krazy" or even the

newer (still a little boring) "Amazing" - it isn't here. Instead, Seal gets Jack Johnson

style production and it put me to sleep.

Oh well - either way the album is nice and it will be nice to see Seal making the

promo rounds again, but I think I will skip this one. I've officially ended my

"commitment" to hoping Seal would get his vibe back.

Don't worry though, I'm sure some of his fans will "love it." My suggestion is:

Sample it on iTunes or Amazon before you shell out hard earned money for

it.

Seal: 6 - Commitment

Produced by David Foster

[Edited 9/28/10 8:52am]

Yeah, this is the first album of original songs from him that I am not buying. Just can't muster a damn.

I dig his 90's stuff, and I enjoy Soul because I'm a sucker for covers (and the guy's raspy voice legitimately fit the songs he covered), but his newer original material I haven't been feeling.

Excellent produced albums. Nice pop songs.

winner.

Sdldawn said:

Excellent produced albums. Nice pop songs.

winner.

Agreed.

I think it's a great album for what he was going for. I really like the string arrangements on a lot of the tunes. Real strings mind you. And yes overall it is a mellower affair but that suits me just fine. Good songs, good arrangements, good production. Imo.

I'm diggin' "Best Of Me" a lot. Its not "classic Seal" per se but it is excellently done. Its not a sloppy or poorly done CD by any stretch. As far as vocals go, I think his voice is better than ever.

BlaqueKnight said:

I'm diggin' "Best Of Me" a lot. Its not "classic Seal" per se but it is excellently done. Its not a sloppy or poorly done CD by any stretch. As far as vocals go, I think his voice is better than ever.

Like I said, the fans of his slower stuff, will love it.

But hasn't he done enough of that lately? "Soul" was pretty mid-tempo.

Do we really need Soul Part 2 with songs that aren't even as timeless?

Couldn't we have a few funky songs? I'm still convinced his last album

worth anything was IV.

hmmm...interesting takes.

Fyi, If you serious about picking this up, Target has this album with 2 bonus tracks (If I Could Ever Make You Love me and You Get Me feat Buika) and a 20 minute making of DVD exlusive to Target for $11.99 this week.

And I do believe this album is a grower. Sampling tracks will not do it justice. It needs to be listened in full and a few times through. It's subtle but complexed. And yes, more on the mellow side. More Human Beings/Soul/IV, less I, II and System.

Are the bonus tracks any good?

He sang "Weight of my Mistakes" last night on DWTS. Assuming it's the 2nd single.

"Secret" is/was the lead single. I created a flop thread for it last month.

Vanilli said:

Are the bonus tracks any good?

Don't know...have listened to them yet.

I'll let you know here in a few as I'm having my "official" listening session tonight.

And I always dig the making of/in the studio bonus dvd thingys so should be cool.

Vanilli said:

BlaqueKnight said:

I'm diggin' "Best Of Me" a lot. Its not "classic Seal" per se but it is excellently done. Its not a sloppy or poorly done CD by any stretch. As far as vocals go, I think his voice is better than ever.

Like I said, the fans of his slower stuff, will love it.

But hasn't he done enough of that lately? "Soul" was pretty mid-tempo.

Do we really need Soul Part 2 with songs that aren't even as timeless?

Couldn't we have a few funky songs? I'm still convinced his last album

worth anything was IV.

I agree about the up-tempo songs. I like his fast material best. I'd love for him to do another "Bring It On" or "Crazy". I just don't think the material is bad at all. I think its very well done, just not what I want to hear, either.

His early-90s work is still fresh and essential, but I think that his career went downhill after Kiss From a Rose, which was so great/epic that he never delivered something half as good as that timeless ballad...

wasn't too moved by the first track i've heard. but it might grow on me. as it always seems to be the case with my liking for Seal. my coworker's is a huge fan so i'm sure i'll be hearing plenty of it soon enough.

.

[Edited 9/30/10 5:00am]

JoeTyler said:

His early-90s work is still fresh and essential, but I think that his career went downhill after Kiss From a Rose, which was so great/epic that he never delivered something half as good as that timeless ballad...

now see...i think that was a GOOD song, but i never got why it was so big. that was from one of the BATMAN movies right? i don't know. i like it, but i don't get the hype over it.

and i agree that after that song, it appears his career loss a lot of momentum. i really liked his "System" album and his "Soul" album was a decent effort.

CHIC0 said:

JoeTyler said:

His early-90s work is still fresh and essential, but I think that his career went downhill after Kiss From a Rose, which was so great/epic that he never delivered something half as good as that timeless ballad...

now see...i think that was a GOOD song, but i never got why it was so big. that was from one of the BATMAN movies right? i don't know. i like it, but i don't get the hype over it.

and i agree that after that song, it appears his career loss a lot of momentum. i really liked his "System" album and his "Soul" album was a decent effort.

*that* song, ughhh!!! me, no like.

Seal maxed out with IV for me, after that he released the greatest hits album, with a fantastic cover of "Walk On By." (The Babyface remix is incredible. It's on iTunes!) After that though, System was decent, but I feel like it missed the mark. Then another greatest hits. The only good thing about that ripoff was a cover of Sly's "Thank You." From that point on, it has just been crummy all around in my opinion. SOUL was just boring. Something about David Foster's production with Seal, it all sounds the exact same and tiring. And now this.... At this point I'm waiting for a new album with the seal of approval (pun intended) that says "Produced by" You guessed it Mr. Horn.

From a compositional perspective, Kiss From A Rose is better than Adore. The arrangement is head and shoulders above most pop ballads. Its kind of a big deal.

I think the new CD is very very good! It is on par with Seal IV with shades of Human Beings.

I'm loving Weight of My Mistakes which should be his next single IMO.

Yes Soul was boring, System over promised and under delivered but he brought back the magic with Commitment.

Cannot wait for him to tour the US!!!

Now if we can only get Seal and Prince together is the studio!

2020 said:

I think the new CD is very very good! It is on par with Seal IV with shades of Human Beings.

I'm loving Weight of My Mistakes which should be his next single IMO.

Yes Soul was boring, System over promised and under delivered but he brought back the magic with Commitment.

Cannot wait for him to tour the US!!!

Now if we can only get Seal and Prince together is the studio!

You guys know Seal was one of the acts set to open Michael's THIS IS IT tour?

KISS FROM A ROSE: best 90s ballad!!!

I must admit "The Weight Of My Mistakes" is the catchiest thing he's done in quite some time. I've been coming back to listen to it repeatedly.

Vanilli said:

2020 said:

I think the new CD is very very good! It is on par with Seal IV with shades of Human Beings.

I'm loving Weight of My Mistakes which should be his next single IMO.

Yes Soul was boring, System over promised and under delivered but he brought back the magic with Commitment.

Cannot wait for him to tour the US!!!

Now if we can only get Seal and Prince together is the studio!

You guys know Seal was one of the acts set to open Michael's THIS IS IT tour?

I did not know that - that would have been a great show!