SEAL - SEAL

I was living in Switzerland when this disc came out. About the only thing I really knew about the disc was that Wendy & Lisa had worked with him on it. To this day, I'm still not sure to what extent their involvement on the disc was. I can hear them very distinctly on different tracks, but the actual contribution seems mired in mystery. Still, with that in mind, you can understand how excited I was to see this disc take off and be so popular in Europe. It was everywhere. In every store window, on everyone's bookshelf and all over the radio. I heard the tunes everywhere I went. I didn't actually pick the disc up until I was back in the states. But I'm glad I did. It really is a remarkable effort by a new artist.

These days, Seal's old hat. Everyone knows the guy and his appearance has mellowed somewhat. He's not nearly as shocking and you come to realize, he's actually a really nice guy. But even before then, his call to love and vision of world peace recalled the 60s even if his music was more modern and progressive. The three singles from this disc... 'Crazy', 'Killer' and 'Future Love Paradise' were huge hits and seemed to be manufactured specifically for radio airplay. Although it's easy to accept Lisa & Wendy playing on these tracks, their influence is more prominent on 'Deep Water', 'Whirlpool', 'Show Me', 'Wild' and I suspect 'Violet'.

My favorite songs are 'Show Me', 'Whirlpool' and 'Violet'. However, the entire album is an enjoyable mix from start to finish. It's easy to see why Lisa & Wendy wanted to work with him. Well, aside from the mutual association with producer Trevor Horn... This is one of those discs everyone should own. Like the "Star Wars" dvds or Charmen toilet paper. It's the creamy middle of an Oreo cookie. Sit back, twist the chocolate cookie off and enjoy the sweet goodness of tasteful pop. My final words: YUM.

SEAL - SEAL
01. The Beginning
02. Deep Water
03. Crazy
04. Killer
05. Whirlpool
06. Future Love Paradise
07. Wild
08. Show Me
09. Violet