Customer Reviews

System

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I've read several reviews of Seal's fifth cd "System". I've entertained all the arguments for and against "System". I, too, have been a fan of Seal since 1991. I, too, have seen him in concert at Red Rocks in June 1995 with Des'ree opening for him. I am a big fan of Trevor Horn (The Buggles, Yes, Peter Gabriel, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Art Of Noise, etc.) I agree that MOST of the time when an artist gets married or has children their music goes downhill. I also agree that the older an artist gets, the less relevant their new music is, and agree that they've already said what they wanted to say when they were young.

However, for me, Seal has always been consistent. Sure, there are songs on each of his discs that I could probably program out, but overall, his past four discs have been very consistent. Unlike others, in 1998, I bought "Human Beings", but it took me a long time to like it. Would I consider it his best work? No. His most artistic? Maybe.

I knew Stuart Price was the same guy who did Madonna's "Confessions On A Dancefloor" (which was average for Madonna in my opinion). So, I listened to "System" many times before sitting down to write my review here. I agree that Stuart Price's production detracts from what Trevor Horn was able to enhance. Seal's lyrics are the same though. I don't feel he has nothing to say. The lyrics are more uplifting (marriage and child can do that to some men) and the music goes with that newfound sense of happiness. Still, "If It's In My Mind, It's On My Face" has that old Seal insight in which he talks about hanging in there. Wasn't that also what "Crazy" and "Killer" were about too? "Amazing" is good in both versions, and also is a song about affirmation.

The sound of "System" is dancefloor friendly, but it differs in one significant way from his debut--variety. His debut alternated between club tracks and acoustic numbers and a mixture of both. "System" is almost purely electronic, though there is strong acoustic guitar on "Dumb" and he slows down for "Wedding Day", a target for jokes since he chose to duet with his wife Heidi Klum of "Project Runway". He also slows down for "Rolling" which is probably his most "Human Beings" era sounding.

To me, "System" is another consistent chapter in Seal's career whether fans like the disc or not. Some say with "Human Beings" he didn't care what the mainstream wanted, but "System" is the same thing. He made this music without caring what his fans wanted. It sounds like he was feeling good and wanted to get that onto record right now. Maybe his next album won't feel as happy, but ten years from now fans might want to come back to "System" and revisit a positive time in Seal's career. Every artist goes back to the beginning from time to time before moving onto their next phase. "System" is a clean, short dance album with many of the same hallmarks of Seal's previous works such as great vocals, strong lyrics and memorable songs. "Amazing", "Just Like Before", "The Right Life", "Rolling" and "If It's In My Mind, It's On My Face" are all solid, memorable tracks. The rest are good, but not great. Four stars, just like "Seal IV".

Seal's recording career started with a Bang about 16 years ago with two terrific albums of music: startling, beautiful, stirringly sung Music. Music that touched you in places that Music seldom touches you...simultaneously on your mind, in your heart and in your soul.
Then there was a period of searching for a direction, "Human Being" and "Seal IV": both albums with several commendable songs but neither with the intense thought and musical follow-through of Seal's first two.
And now there is "System." From the very first sighs of "If it's in my mind, it's on my face," it is apparent that Seal is up to something different. His trademark voice, always perfectly in pitch, always big, always bold and masculine: "The time is now!..if I could fly I'd spread my wings and free you from these foolish things..." The arrangement is voluptuous with Bass and Strings and the beat dares you not to move out of your chair, whether that chair is in your dining room or in your car....and dance.
The signature song of "System" comes next and that is "Amazing" and indeed it is. In fact there are two versions of this song on this CD, one a remix by "The Thin White Duke" (Bowie maybe?) and there are two others that I know of: one by Kaskade and the other by Bill Hamel available elsewhere.
"Just Like Before," "The Right Life," "Loaded": all primo Seal...thoughtful, rough, truthful, one stronger than the former but all meshed together by the committed vocalizing by one of our premier singers.
"System" is in fact all about fun, about dancing, about Joy and mostly about shrugging off the BS of Life and moving your booty. Seal is obviously happy and wants to spread it around...and we're more than happy to accept his beneficence.

Many things have changed in Seal's world since the days of Seal and his dance smashes "Killer" and "Crazy." The main change in the last few years, however, had little to do with music. His marriage to super-model Heidi Klum and their children has put his name more in the tabloids than the music papers, and oddly enough, probably made more people aware of his new "System" than any of his releases since Seal II.

The good news is that "System" is a solid album, filled with strong singing and upbeat lyrical themes. The biggest change musically is in producers; Trevor Horn's immaculate and grandiose production is exchanged for Stuart Price's more club savvy mixes. Seeing as he brought Madonna back for her Confessions on a Dance Floor, it makes sense for Seal to aim back to his "Killer" roots. You can tell the target just by the cover portrait, where Seal stares out at us via a fractured reflection in a mirror ball. With anthems in the waiting "If It's In My Mind It's On My Face," "System" and "Dumb" just begging to get clubbed out, Price understands his role in much the way Horn was a perfect fit for the prior albums.

It isn't just Price that knows his place; so does Seal's bride. Domestic joy informs a lot of these songs, like the great "Amazing" and the curiosity of the couple's duet "Wedding Day." While Heidi is not up to the level of Joni Mitchell (""If I Could," from the second album), she obviously relishes her role as muse. Seal is also maturing gracefully, his voice gaining a husky depth - like on "Immaculate" here - as the years pass. He has always been one of the best soul singers the 90's produced, and that he has managed to outlast many of his peers (think Terrence Trent D'Arby or Roland Gift) has as much to do with his indomitable spirit as much as his persistence/consistence of vision. That Seal can take his time to perfect his albums to where they qualitatively satisfy him (only 5 studio albums in 17 years) makes "System" all that more worth the wait.

I am an avid Seal fan who waits in misery and counts the months, days, hours, minutes and even seconds for anything Seal has to offer. What I love about Seal is the over-flowing emotions that pour out so smoothly from song-to-song. The dark and moody overtones met with the lustrous delivery makes Seal's music so intriguing and addictive.

With all of that said, I have to say this cd leaves me wondering what happened to the moody overtones....the intrigue and the mystery. It made me want to skip through sunflower prairies with a basket full of flower peddals........... Ok.....its not that bad but it sure doesn't give me goose bumps like all the prvious recordings.

Ok.... I will come down from my soapbox and let someone else have the floor. Please don't get me wrong, I am still a huge Seal fan but I am just a little disapointed with this one. SORRY....

2 Stars? 7 people gave Seal 2 out of 5 stars. You've got to be kidding me. Seal could take a dump and I'd give it more than 2 stars. You "true" fans need to wake up. I can understand if the production puts you off a bit but if you give it enough listens, and really crank it, the true Seal come sout in many songs.

For example, Great Songs worthy of my high standard for Seal:
1. It's in my Mind, It's on My Face
2. System
3. Amazing (Thin White Duke Remix)
4. Dumb
5. Rolling

The rest of the album is good as well, Immaculate, Just Like Before and The Right Life are very good songs and Wedding Day is not as bad as some are saying. Love the chorus. Can't the guy write one song for the love of his life? Jeez!

Just my 2 cents

Seal said a few years back at the Greek Theater "f*** the slow stuff, let's do the dance songs." Was it shocking to hear? Yes. Was I surprised? Not entirely. The guy cites lots of influences such as the great Joni Mitchell, but he plainly likes to groove as well.

Seal started out with a dance oriented album. It's not unexpected for Seal to come full circle after 17 years. I don't fault him for using a new producer. A decade and a half with Trevor Horn was a long time. Seal likes to create new sonic landscapes with each album. "Crazy" had a sweeping envelope (wah wah pedal like) synth line that was a signature sound. And on Human Being, all the instruments save for the vocals sound muted like listening through a velvet blanket (I could argue the effect was used too much). But his sound is one reason we love him. So how do you create a new experience today? Well it's difficult to say the least.

One manner for Seal to breakthrough, tempo wise, was to go faster again. To be truthful, I cringed during my first listen to songs 2 to 4 "Amazing", "Just Like Before" and "Loaded's" steady bass drum (landing on every beat - and loud - turn on a multi band compressor to quell only those kicks?). I like electronic music, but it felt out of place to stamp that throughout an entire Seal song. But after a few listens, I actually enjoy the energy level, and the good song writing is very noticeable. So far I haven't discovered any gems like "Kiss from a Rose" or "Newborn Friend", but I agree with another reviewer - I can sit through the entire album as a whole, where I find myself skipping songs in the previous release. I won't do a song by song comparison with Seal I, but I believe the balance of the tempos of the songs are about the same. And don't worry, there's still a mainly acoustic guitar song - "Rolling", which could've been off ANY album. If the strong beat puts you off initially, listen to it a couple of times. If you loved the first album, there's no reason to at least like this one.

So far, my faves are: Amazing, System, Rolling, and Just Like Before.

"We're just tryin' to beat the system," Seal wails on his fifth album, SYSTEM, and that is indeed what he's trying to do. Emphasis on "trying." This is the first time Seal has ever seemed self-conscious, and that's very nearly SYSTEM's death knell. The problem isn't that he's lost it, but that he thinks he needs to re-find it. One could argue that Seal is starting a new chapter in his career: this is his first album without longtime producer and friend Trevor Horn, who wound up a Brutus (see the seventh track, "Dumb"). His new producer, Stuart Price (who, as so many have pointed out, also produced Madonna's retro re-invention CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR), gives Seal what he wants - pulsating, pounding techno beats - but not what he needs: Horn's lush, full, satisfying soundscapes. On his previous records, it seemed like Seal's voice rose to the heavens and filled the lands; here, it sounds like he's in a recording studio.

SYSTEM actually has a lot in common with Madonna's CONFESSIONS. Both promise returns to their dance beginnings, and both find typically confident artists feelings disturbingly self-aware. Also, both CONFESSIONS and SYSTEM make their respective artists seem like "veterans" who have already said all they have to say, and are now just saying more to please their respective fans. In his defense, on SYSTEM Seal doesn't seem like he's spent. He just seems, well, less important than he usually does, his voice and craftsmanship often overshadowed by Price's thick, noisy beats.

SYSTEM, though not intended as such, comes across as a darker album than one might expect. Price's beats come to life when paired with Seal's vocals, but fall apart on their own (except for on "The Right Life"). The dark cover art depicts Seal's reflection in a mirror ball in the darkness, and that's just where this music should be played: in some dark, trendy club late at night. To top it all off, Seal's voice isn't as smooth and limitless as once it was; his high notes have taken on a huskiness which he could (and should) take advantage of on a future album.

On the bright side, SYSTEM offers some of Seal's most interesting compositions. The chief curiosity is "Wedding Day," a duet with his wife, Heidi Klum, which Seal wrote the morning of his wedding. He must not have touched it since, because the song is a hurried, unstructured bit of kitsche. (For the record, though, Ms. Klum has a surprisingly good voice.) Despite his intentions to return to the style of his debut, only one song recalls that album: the pounding, shimmering "The Right Life." The reflectively optimistic "Rolling" recalls SEAL II (1994), and moments of "Immaculate" sound like snippets of Seal's appallingly undervalued HUMAN BEING. Probably the highlight of the album is the unexpectedly affecting "Just Like Before," a glittering gem of a tune that ranks among the catchiest and best songs Seal has written in years.

This is the first and only album since Seal's debut not to begin with one song and end with a reprise of that song, although the second track is the Thin White Duke Edit of the lead single, "Amazing," the original version of which closes out the album. (Seal has said that he considered the Thin White Duke edit to be superior to his original cut, and that he will be performing that version of the song in the future. I wholeheartedly disagree. Whereas the Thin White Duke edit is cold and tired, Seal's original version is jubilant, very fun, and quite dance-worthy.)

Seal always tries to make each of his albums different and new, and he does so by evolving or experimenting with his sound. SYSTEM is definitely a step in a different direction, considering that his last record (2003's SEAL IV) was composed mostly of lush, dreamy ballads. Ultimately, though, it's a misstep. Despite much of the material being Seal's best since the 90s, the album as a whole just doesn't ring true. Yes, it's sturdier and probably a little more consistent than SEAL IV, but it's too self-aware and, in some parts, hollow, to make it the superior record. That's not to say it's bad, though, because it certainly isn't; in fact, SYSTEM will certainly be sufficient to satisfy Seal fans until he releases his next album sometime within the next three years or so.

So what's next for Seal? It would be nice to see him return to the jeweled pop of HUMAN BEING, or to explore the Marvin Gaye-style R&B he hinted at with SEAL IV's "Get It Together." Even nicer: he could release TOGETHERLAND, the legendary album originally intended to be his fourth, which he shelved because he felt it wasn't up to his standards. Fans have found pieces of it scattered around, and they say differently. (I've only heard one track from the album, but let me tell you, I thought it was brilliant.) Seal recently promised to find what he could of the album and stream it through his official site. As with anything Seal does, that sounds good to me.

Okay, this guy is Seal and not Maddie- -no offence we all love Maddie don't we- So why should we be satisfied with a clone from Madonna's "Confessions"?

Because it's no clone in the first place? Yes.

Because it's been produced by the same guy -Stuart Price, a genius for making move your hips and arms and the rest of you under a real big big big thunder sound-? No. Real Seal's fans couldn't care less for dancin', could they? We love our souls to be moved by Seal, not our bumps.

Because it's amazingly coherent and strong an album? Probably.

Because there is behind the big noise, the incredible rythms, the mind-buggling production, Seal's incredible talent for writing songs, good songs, plain songs, incredible tunes, unbelievable arrangements, and this unique voice to die for?

Bingo.

Whatever surprise is to see -hear, should I rather say- our beloved Seal transform himself into an Ibiza dance floor freak, it's still Seal, believe me. Okay, regarding dance and impact, there's no "Crazy" here, but a couple of gems that are still worth the comparaison, if not reaching the same heights (dontcha start indulging into "If it's in my mind, it's on my face", "Amazing", "Wedding day", "System", "The right Life" and the "Amazing" encore closing the CD, because when you're caught, you'll do like me, dancing all night along!!! Impossible to remove the record off the CD player)
And for the ones "inconsolable" who'll miss good ol' Seal with his (at least) one killer-hit-heart-breaking ballad per released record, c'mon, don't commit suicide, there is "Rolling" just for you. The guy we love is still around.
So...
Get "System".
Quick.
It will make your life more beautiful. And slightly more exciting, if only for five days, the time the excitement fades away, and that you return to "Human Being" for instance, more Seal-oriented material...

Last but not least : I'm into Joni Mitchell's "Shine" heavily these days, 2007's masterpiece, no question.
Incidentally these two recorded together "If I could" on Seal's 1994 second effort.
This guy releases now a song (opening his new album, plus), called "If it's in my mind, it's on my face".
The blond lady wrote in her 1976 "Song for Sharon" (in "Hejira" LP), following line : " What I'm feelin' s always written on my face".
In same "If it's in my mind" track, Seal sings : "If I could spread my wings, I'd fly".
Was not it the same Joni Mitchell in her 1977 "Silky veils of ardor" (from "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter") who claimed : " I wish I had the wings of Noah's pretty little white dove so I could fly this raging river to reach the one I love"?
Match point.
No wonder these two are under the same wavelength and make us fly, no matter we have wings or not.
No wonder why Seal is such a great guy and a great musician.
He understands blondes.
Heidi will confirm (congratulations for the duet, too).
So Seal loves blondes, granted we love him for that, and incidentally for giving us, with "System", one of the best and surely the most energizing record for 2007.
It was about time, this year sucked.
Jacques BENOIT (sorry for my english, I'm french)

I have been listening to Seal since the release of his first album in 1990-1991. That album was always my favorite because it combined dance and all of Seal's beautiful melodies that he is known for.

I have been a devout Seal fan. No matter which album, I always saw the beauty in every song he made. This album returns to his roots! The songs are literally dreamy. His voice sounds better than ever.

Get this album! You will not be disappointed!

A long four years since his previous album entitled "Seal IV", the British singer of modern soul returns with his fifth solo album entitled "System" and like he has explained in interviews, it marks a major return to the dance roots of his debut album. Be mindful, if you enjoyed tracks like "Tinseltown", "Get it Together" or "Love's Divine" then you might have to put those yearnings to the test as this album brings back the energy that was present on his 1991 debut self-titled classic with songs like "If It's on My Mind", "Amazing", and the atsmopheric disco of "The Right Life". Many have expressed negative views on "Wedding Day" which featured the suprise duet with his wife, Heidi Klum. Though I was somewhat like "Huh?" when I saw the note, WD turned out to be a suprisingly great song. Actually among my favorites. This could've easily been a disaster but Seal actually generates a future classic with it. "Dumb" is probably the only song that carries any elements of his previous album with the acoustic guitars that we've become familiar with. Those who yearn for some older sounds might find some solace in "Dumb". It took some time to digest but "System" has become another five-star work of art in my book and am glad it's very different from the previous. THat's what makes artists new albums exciting, knowing it will be very different from the old. Highly recommended. :)