I own all of Seal's albums. Human Being is by far the best of his albums. I've seen him perform several times as well, and he's never failed to thrill live.
HB is excellent. Not many commercial albums in the past 20 years really convey an artist's emotions as well as HB does. I remember the day I heard Seal discuss his disappointment about the reception of HB, and it killed me to hear that from him. I really think my heart broke.
The HB album got me through such a bad period in my life in 1998. I was shot in a robbery outside of my apartment in West Philadelphia. Before the robbery and shooting, I was so excited to get that album. I had no idea how important Seal's work would be to me in the months (and subsequent years) of rehabilitation.
Seal, your work is terribly important to me, never doubt the impact you have or the power of your words, despite the commercial success or failures. Spiritually, you exceed all of those variables.
Best,
falxwon

I don't like to brag ever, but I consider myself to be a pretty diehard Seal fan in that I have all his albums, most of his b-sides and rare tracks and remixes, in some form. I've also learned a lot about him over the past 4-5 years. So really I love just about everything of us. Some days it's on an equal level, other days it's not. But Human Being was an album that grew on me and for a long time I've considered Seal's best album lyrically and emotionally and perhaps my personal favorite, but I think success wise and music-wise on a grand scope, his second album is the best just because it's such an epic album. But I love Human Being just the same and I'm not sure if he ever will make another one like it.

The only reason there were two versions of the debut album was because the first mix was better liked by Trevor Horn, his long-time producer, and contained some more concise versions of songs and altered versions, so some printings of that were released, but Seal's choice of the mix for the album was the one that went out. So as far as I know there have been no alternate versions

Take care,
Clay

"In a sky full of people, only some
want to fly, isn't that crazy?" - Seal, "Crazy"

Clay's Seal Page
http://www.angelfire.com/co2/redwolf707/seal.html

I bought the CD the day it came out, listened to it one time and forgot all about it. 6 months later I gave it a second listen and it totally blew me away!

I gave up on the new album some time ago ... what was it called? Anyway, I did a search and found his official site. I'm freakin out about SEAL IV being relased in only a few weeks!

I got it for Christmas. I only really liked 1 or 2 tracks from it though. Nothing stood out in my mind. I loved the first 2 albums though.

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I bought it.

It's a tough call since the debut was so fantastic, but HB is probably my favorite of the 3 albums thus far. So sad we didn't get our fair share of remixes, etc.

Yes I purchased Human Being and Yes I thought it was great!!!

Why did it not go gang busters commercially?
It was not promoted enough.
People don't look for quality anymore.

They buy what's pushed on them.

Seal II is when I first discovered SEAL. I always liked Crazy but never listen to the album. Once Seal II came out I listened to SEAL and was instantly a fan. I mean if I'm a fan of your music, I'll buy it without hearing one track. When I heard the promo for NBC's fall season line up.. I knew it was SEAL and was excited he had another album out. In regards, to HB, Americans are listening to fast extroverted music with more of an upbeat pace, instead of Seal which is more introverted. I even listen to that music, but I love it when stars like SEAL, SADE, STING, GEORGE MICHAEL AND U2 make albums

HB. For many of you who may have favorite bands notice one similar and painful occurance ( I dare not say truth). When it is the 3rd album it is all or nothing. If you do not make an impact on your 3rd album the industry can soon forget you. Not only because your contract may specify 3 albums but because that number kills groups stone temple pilots, motley crue, Boys2Men.

Seal had his advancement on his second album with the push of Kiss From a Rose. The development personally as a performaer in that album was an accomplished growth period. Listen to I and II again. When HB came out he merely spoke with many of the same talents acquired from II so III (HB) was gonna be extroidinary. Plus his jump to Virgin may have had alot to do with that. The thing with Trevor and him happened on that album too (glad the dynamic duo are back together again). This album is only a transition - Bob Cavallo is Disney's Music director now and Seal is Cavollo agency's Golden Child.

HB great album. But II is my favorite the guitar work and many intricate elements involved in creating the tracks. The techinical side is it was difficult but it sounded rewarding. That is it II is my favorite plus the picture is a milestone beginning the series of his photographing nude on covers.

G/

I am constant in many things; failure is but one of them. Nothing and everything exists - so then can I.

Gareth Evan Lomax wrote:

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When HB came out he merely spoke with many of the same talents acquired from II so III (HB) was gonna be extroidinary. Plus his jump to Virgin may have had alot to do with that

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Seal never jumped to Virgin Records or was ever signed to them. He has always been signed to Warner Bros. Records, who just dwelved into apathy when HB came out, unfortunately. Also, Seal was signed to Sire, which I believe is a sector of WB, until that label went away, so now it's just WB.

If anyone from WBR is reading this, I hope they realize how they better stick with Seal now because they've screwed one of the most talented artists in music today. Not to mention they forced him to record another album after "Togetherland" which was not a bad album. I admire their efforts thus far to promote the new album, now I want to see their follow through.

Take care,
Clay

"In a sky full of people, only some
want to fly, isn't that crazy?" - Seal, "Crazy"

Clay's Seal Page
http://www.angelfire.com/co2/redwolf707/seal.html

I concur that Human Being is the best album (although I am still listening to Seal IV and I may change my mind on that later). Why didn't Human Being do well on the charts? Easy to answer that one. It was far too cerebral, introspective, and profound to be consumed by the masses. Not "pop" at all. Many would probably refer to it as a "dark" or "depressing" album but in my mind those are the best records. Other examples of artists getting too deep for any but their most hardcore fans:

1. Sting-Soul Cages
2. Prince- Rainbow Children (among many others)
3. Terrence Trent D'Arby (Sananda Maitreya)- Neither Fish Nor Flesh
4. Maxwell- Embrya
5. George Michael- Older
6. Me'Shelle N'Degeocello- Bitter

None of those albums enjoyed even a fraction of the succes they should have on the charts. Music of substance is not valued by the public at large these days. Any artist who releases a "Human Being" is sure to be unappreciated by most.

Great Album

Of course, as a good seal fan, i bought HB the same day it was released in Spain. I have to say that, at the beggining, it surprised me cos it´s different from the previous two albums but in the end it´s a great album. I love 'colour' song. i don´t think it has gone so bad in sales as the majority of you comment, the problem is that it wasn´t well promotioned.
keep supporting seal is the best

I have all of his albums but Human Being was the first one I bought on CD. It's true that I didn't like as many songs on Human Being as on the other ones (including Seal IV). But that doesn't mean that the quality of the whole album should suffer for that. It's not the "songs" themselves that get me, like 50 cent's "in da club". It's the effect that Seal's songs have on me that make his albums (and him) special. I don't have to like any particular song on his album to appreciate it and it's message. That's what separates Seal from everyone else. And as far as him not making sales...I think it's better for him because he still doesn't have his foot in the proverbial "commercial" doors. That means better albums for all his real die-hard fans.

SeeLaH SeeS YoU!!

SeeLah wrote:

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And as far as him not making sales...I think it's better for him because he still doesn't have his foot in the proverbial "commercial" doors. That means better albums for all his real die-hard fans.

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Yes, but you also have to realize that this is the primary source for income for Seal. It's his job, and you always wish to get paid what you deserve. It'd be great if he could just release as many albums as he wants, but he needs to make record sales for the record company, to pay the lawyers, musicians, producers, engineers and for studio time. Plus, no matter what Seal does musically, I wish him success, because he is so talented I want to see him succeed. And if he has to make an album like Seal IV, which has great pop songs, but is a mediocre album, to sell a lot of records, get new fans, and gain support for further better music, then more power to him.

And Human Being didn't suffer soley because of it's "deep, introspective" moods and lyrics. It suffered in sales because WB got lazy because they didn't support brilliant work by a talented artist because they assume to know what good music is. Not only that but it was released on Super Tuesday in November in 1998, in which about a billion other albums were released, so his got buried. And while Human Being is probably my favorite album of his, I was still sad for him that it suffered in sales because I want to see him succeed because that leads to happiness, presumably, for him, so he'll be more motivated to make more music.

Just take into account that fans love it when he makes that more introspective music, but he needs to make some money. Plus, as has been posted recently, he could sing a phonebook and it'd sound good.

Take care,
Clay

"In a sky full of people, only some
want to fly, isn't that crazy?" - Seal, "Crazy"

Clay's Seal Page
http://www.angelfire.com/co2/redwolf707/seal.html

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Yes, but you also have to realize that this is the primary source for income for Seal. It's his job, and you always wish to get paid what you deserve. It'd be great if he could just release as many albums as he wants, but he needs to make record sales for the record company, to pay the lawyers, musicians, producers, engineers and for studio time.

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I understand what you're saying about Seal and this being his primary source of income but he's not doing this for income...he's doing this for the music. If the record company wants Seal to make the money that he deserves, then they would give him the budget and the promotion that he deserves to be able to pay the lawyers, musicians, etc. It doesn't take a lot of money to make an album nor does it always take a million dollars to make a video so people could buy bs. Sade didn't have a lot of exposure either (until this last album...truthfully) but she still make enough money to keep on making beautiful music.

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Plus, no matter what Seal does musically, I wish him success, because he is so talented I want to see him succeed. And if he has to make an album like Seal IV, which has great pop songs, but is a mediocre album, to sell a lot of records, get new fans, and gain support for further better music, then more power to him.

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As a human being myself, I would always want Seal (and you as well and all human beings) to succeed in life. However, when you sell your soul to the devil (all this commerical bs on the airwaves today) something has to suffer. Seal succeeds not because of his money but because of his music. A lot of artists fall to the wayside when they become too "commerical" because now the record company is running the show and not the musician, who now sounds like everyone else...and who truly suffers in the end? Fans do because I (for one) am not buying any kind of bs. I don't care who it's from! And Seal IV is not a "mediocre" album...I will agree that it is slightly more commerical since he now has reggae beats and hip hop undertones in some of the songs (Let Me Roll and Where There's Gold to be exact) but it's still good quality Seal.

Basically, I blame the record company for the low sales of Human Being (just like you do). I didn't even know that the album came out!! I happened to go to the store to get my second Seal cassette (or CD) and here was Human Being looking in my face. I was excited and mad at the same time because there was no big to do about it and I had to find out about this on my own.
And as far as Seal making money...I think the sales of "Kiss from a Rose" alone helped him survive all these years and now that "Waiting for You" is the background song for most of the WB TV station's new shows, I think that he'll be able to survive for another amount of months or years with an album like Human being (as far as sales are concerned).

Then we have to remember that US sales and International sales are different. I will assume that you're American. Just because he didn't make any money out here doesn't mean that he didn't do his thing overseas. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong but that's ok because in the end, we both win: Seal is still here with a new album (despite the sales - or lack thereof - of HB) and he's still making us feel good about ourselves.

I like this dialogue...now only if Seal himself can come on and say, "hush all of you and listen to how I truly feel about things so there will be no more speculations".

Have a great weekend everyone.

SeeLaH SeeS YoU!!

SeeLah,

You made some really good points and I think I agree with you for the most part, except that no matter how commercial Seal gets, I'll buy his music.

Let me explain what I mean when I saw Seal IV is a "mediocre" album. There are two kinds of LPs: albums and collections of songs. Seal II was an album. Human Being was an album. Seal IV is a collection of songs.

Any great fan of music, which most of you must be if you can appreciate Seal's music, you have in your collection a lot of "albums." But you probably have 10 of those that you find to be great or perfect albums, Seal's being in that top 10 perhaps. But you also have some LPs that have great songs on them, but are too inconsistent to be great albums.

A good or great album perhaps contains different songs and even some sogns that have been huge hits (ie: Kiss From A Rose), but EVERY song on the album is a gem in itself, and, no matter how different it is, contains some element that links all the songs, that makes the album flow. But all in all a good album is one where the listener can enjoy each song equally for it's greatness, and never have to hit the pause, stop or forward buttons.

And this is only my perspective as a fan of an artist who has released some terrific ALBUMS, but Seal IV is not a great album, but it is a good collection of songs. Seal IV has some really hyper, great songs, but it's too inconsistent.

You have a really energetic pop song, "Get It Together," to start it off, and then you have "Touch," a very cliche attempt at trying to re-work "Violet" that is overly repetitive and lacks the immense beauty Seal can put in those songs. But THEN you get to Loneliest Star and then "Heavenly...(Good Feeling)," the best track on the album. It's lyrically powerful, but most of all Seal uses his haunting voice with the melody to capture you.

And yes, we've all had our favorite songs on Seal's albums that we REALLY like, that are really good, but they don't outshine the rest of the songs. Seal's albums have been pretty consistent in that they haven't been filler. And perhaps my expectations are too high or I'm too cynical, but Seal IV is too inconsistent.

But let me also say one thing. Because I consider myself to be one of Seal's most diehard fans in that I appreciate everything he does, I have enjoyed this album and I've listened to it almost everyday for the past 3-4 weeks (I got an early copy, but OF COURSE have BOUGHT the official release, which I advise all of you early listeners to do for the artwork, enhanced sound and slightly different mixes). BUT, from a critical standpoint and having been so moved by Human Being and Seal II, I have to say that Seal IV is a decent collection of songs, but an inconsistent, mediocre album.

And also like I said before: if Seal has to make a mediocre pop album like Seal IV to get new fans, increase his popularity or get his message (which is love and forgive each other, something I believe in strongly) across to the masses, then I support and will support this album 100%.

Seal is an extraordinary musician, songwriter and singer whose voice, I think, has been enhanced and is stronger because of age, or whatever other factors. And while this effort may not be as great as his previous works, it's still full of more heart and emotion than other music out there and still has the power to lighten up my day.

(Yeah you all got a preview of my official review).

Take care,
Clay

"In a sky full of people, only some
want to fly, isn't that crazy?" - Seal, "Crazy"

Clay's Seal Page
http://www.angelfire.com/co2/redwolf707/seal.html

Of course I bought Human Being. However, I still have to place the first album ahead of the others. Each album has its own uniqueness, but the first one has more of a sentimental meaning for me that places it, still, at the number one spot.

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I can definitely agree with the inconsistencies of Seal IV...but I think that we can both agree that the more you listen to his album (no matter which one) even the song that you think is the worst one on the album sooner or later reaches a level higher than "filler". =)

I can say that I won't buy any bs albums because I don't buy many albums to begin with...no don't get me wrong: as far as Seal is concerned, I would buy his next album. If it were too "commercial" or just plain sucked, I'll be upset. It would lead to me, most likely, not buying the next album (if there is one). If (not when, even I can have high hopes) that day ever comes Clay, I'll make sure to contact you before buying that next album! You are the truth. =)

SeeLaH SeeS YoU!!

I brought the Human Being C.D as soon as it was released in 98 and I thought it was an excellent c.d. The c.d didn't seem to get promoted enough or not enough recognition.
Leslie