Seal – Live in Paris: …stand stillllll to the music
Written: Jun 11 '05 (Updated Jun 11 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: the voice, the talent, the look, the charisma – Seal is simply a fabulous artist
Cons: I'm dumbfounded that an artist who's written such inspiring music isn't literally moved by it
The Bottom Line: I'm giving Seal the benefit of the doubt, because he's so much better on average than a lot of pop music today. But for him, this recording is merely average…
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| bob_tomato's Full Review: LIve In Paris [CD & DVD] - Seal |
I can't dance.
I can sing.
But when I find myself listening to and singing along with something even a bit funky, my less than graceful limbs start to move of their own accord – music has the power to move you even against your better judgment.
So then, what's the deal with Seal?
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My Vision
Seal's newest release, Live in Paris, packages together an audio and video version of his July 6 2004 show at the Olympia Bruno Coquatrix, and it's an odd display of musical prowess and relative boredom. The DVD contains eighteen tracks, the CD has fourteen of those tracks, and after absorbing both of them the past few days, I wish I could have been at that Paris show in order to make a really fair judgment about this concert.
I've been to a lot of concerts, and I know what a tricky thing it is to get a concert album to accurately reproduce that peculiar vibe you can only get listening to live music. Stereo CDs tend to sterilize the sound, since most concert recordings are touched up to bring the concert sound closer to studio quality sound. With the improved surround capabilities of SACD and DVD, the live vibe can be better captured by presenting the ambient sound along with the music, but the sterilization factor can still come into play.
I think that an artist can only really overcome these inherent problems with a performance that exceeds the studio albums, stretching himself musically to try to bring something fresh and innovative to his music. This is the main reason I love Sting's music so much; he has let his music evolve with his own personal tastes over time, and he is not afraid to radically (and capably) rearrange his songs for his concert tours.
Seal's music has always impressed me – he writes wonderfully personal lyrics wrapped in terrific melodies and funky rhythms that often do the unexpected. Seal isn't afraid to do an atypical chord change, or to let a lyric phrase take over and extend a rhythmic pattern just for the sake of saying what he wants to say. I like that he seems to do what he wants, and that he does it with such panache. His music is understated and ultra-cool, intricately laced with funk and soul; Seal's music moves me each and every time I hear it even if I can't dance.
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Crazy
So then, what's the deal with Seal?
I first listened to the CD, and my first impression was "well, those songs sounded like the albums. I wonder how Seal looks on the DVD when performing them?" The audio-only tracks sound fabulous, excellent quality sound, excellent instrumental performances, with Seal's voice terrific as always, full and charged with emotion. But then, so are the studio album tracks… Somehow, it seemed to me that Seal was just singing the songs and yes, singing them well, but he didn't sound like he was providing anything new for his audience. Seal didn't sound engaging, just sounded great vocally. I found myself wondering if watching the show would prove me wrong.
The first track on the CD and the DVD is Crazy, the monster hit that started his career. This song lives and breathes "groove" and that groove is infectious. It grabs from the moment the bass and drums engage in that powerful hook, and the synthesizer provides just the right anesthesia to numb your inhibitions - Crazy will make you move.
So then, why doesn't Seal move?
I wasn't sure about it when I listened to the CD, but my distinct impression that he was merely singing the song was confirmed when I saw the concert on the DVD. How can he just stand there, with an occasional movement of an arm or a hand gesture? How can he just walk a few steps towards one side of the stage? His voice sounds marvelous, and it drips with emotion and conviction; Seal obviously feels and believes what he is singing - it's apparent on his face. So how can this delicious groove not move the man?
Sure – I admit that this criticism is completely unfair. Seal can respond to his music any way he damn well pleases, but still, it jumps out at me for some reason. Throughout almost the entire concert, this lack of movement continues. There are times where he gets a bit more animated, but these instances are few and far between. For me, the result is that his music remains at the level of Seal's personal average; despite being wonderful tracks in and of themselves and sounding really good, Seal doesn't elevate them to anything more than the sum of the parts that are already there.
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Bring It On
Despite the attractive price tag ($17 at Amazon for my purchase), the problem I have with this CD/DVD combo pack is that it fails to make me feel anything new and different for Seal's material. I have his first album, so I already have these versions of Crazy, Killer, Bring It On, Whirlpool and Future Love Paradise. I don't think that ambient crowd noise adds much to these songs at all, and Seal doesn't provide much more of interest than an occasional extended keyboard or guitar solo here and there.
Songs from later albums provide the few real moments of interest in the concert – Seal plays guitar as the sole accompaniment for 1994's Don't Cry, stripping the studio arrangement bare to reveal the real strength of his solo vocal. Don't Make Me Wait is equally fabulous on the DVD (sadly, it's not one of the tracks included on the CD) as it was on Seal IV – Seal convinces me he could have been a revival preacher with this one, and Heavenly…(Good Feeling) soars here just as it does on IV.
The DVD includes songs from the encore and one of the real gems of the concert – a bluesy guitar reading of Jimi Hendrix' Hey Joe. Now, this song was always about blues guitar, but Seal takes it down to ONLY blues guitar, and the understated accompaniment brings a new reflective quality to the lyrics. Instead of sounding justified for "shooting his lady down" as Jimi sang it, Seal makes it sound like he might be genuinely sorry for this act. It's this sort of rearrangement of a song that I was hoping to hear more of from Seal in his own material, but most of the tracks don't grab your attention any more than the original studio versions.
All that aside, Prayer For The Dying is simply too good to pass up in any incarnation – someone special once said to me about this song "I think that he is an old soul. When he sings Prayer For The Dying, I crumple up into a ball of tears." I know what she means by this – Seal has a knack for infusing his songs with real emotional impact, and can bring you to tears of sadness or joy even while making your body move with such fabulous grooves.
Well, most every body moves…
What's the deal with Seal?
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Seal - Live in Paris
CD/DVD released June 07, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records
Track Listing
CD
Crazy / Get It Together / Killer / Just Like You Said / Dreaming In Metaphors / Prayer for The Dying / Love's Divine / My Vision / Waiting For You / Kiss From A Rose / Heavenly...(Good Feeling) / Don't Cry / Bring It On / Future Love Paradise
DVD (Songs appearing only on the DVD)
Crazy / Get It Together / Killer / Just Like You Said / Dreaming In Metaphors / Prayer for The Dying / Don't Make Me Wait / Whirlpool / Love's Divine / My Vision / Waiting For You / Kiss From A Rose / Heavenly...(Good Feeling) / Don't Cry / Bring It On / Future Love Paradise / Hey Joe / Deep Water
Related Reviews
My review of Seal (I)
http://www.epinions.com/content_161017794180
Sting Concert album, All This Time
http://www.epinions.com/content_112326053508
Sting Concert Tour
http://www.epinions.com/content_4100104324
Recommended:
Yes
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bob_tomato
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Member: Andrew
Location: Dallas Metroplex
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no more thhppptttt...
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