Seal - Soul 2 (2012)

Seal - Soul 2

I have a number of friends who are reaching the age where gray hair is beginning to invade their scalps. While some simply accept it, others have chosen to color their hair to cover the gray.  But they soon learn that hair dye is like a cosmetic heroin: once they begin it is tough to quit.  Oh sure, they could do it for a few months and stop.  But if those months turn to a few years, they are essentially hooked for life, as stopping would result in, as Sting would say, a shocking "field of gray" that would make them appear to age a decade in just a few weeks.

That's a bit of a metaphor for a seemingly endless trend of aging artists attempting to shore up faltering recording careers by issuing albums of "cover" songs, remaking hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s. For some it provides a temporary sales boost (think Michael McDonald on his Motown album), but for almost all it takes them down a path from which it is tough to turn back.  Some may get away with it once, but if they cut a second covers album they become almost impossibly boxed in an oldies prison from which they'll never emerge. McDonald's Soul Speak sold 80% less than its predecessor, Motown 2, and Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow -- while hitting the top 10 with their many albums of remakes -- will likely never again be able to record meaningful albums of new material.

All of this brings us to British rock and soul man, Seal. He surprised those who thought of him as a still-vibrant recording artist in 2008 by jumping on the tired R&B remakes train on his album Soul. It became a hit but made it that much tougher for him to get back on his creative horse for 2010's Commitment, which didn't sell nearly as well. So he has now capitulated, going back to the well with Soul 2, another album of 70s and 80s soul classics redone.

A gut reaction may be, do we really need another album of soul music remakes?  Is there anything that is left to be said with this tired trend? Of course, the answer is "no," especially when the songs covered are the usual wedding band suspects like "Ooh Baby Baby," "Let's Stay Together," "Lean On Me" and "Love TKO," and the arrangements are mostly lower budget-sounding doppelgangers of their revered ancestors (save a lush but plodding take on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On").

It's not that Soul 2 is bad. In fact, it is unchallengingly listenable and would be fine in the background at Kohls; but Seal's fans have the right to expect something new or at least interesting, and unfortunately 2 has nothing to say in its defense. Scratch that. There is one defense, and that is that Seal is still an interesting vocalist even when saddled with tired song selections and arrangements:  His falsetto is surprisingly strong and appealing on "Ooh Baby Baby,"  he channels his inner Teddy on "Love TKO" and he gives a sensitive reading to the Chi-Lites' "Oh Girl."  But nothing here really answers the fundamental question of why Soul 2 even exists, except as a cash in. Every song on Soul 2 has been recorded dozens of times by other artists, and each has a seminal version the sandals of which Seal's covers aren't worthy to unstrap.

I suspect that Seal still has "game," but with his cynical plunge into a second album of remakes he apparently begs to differ. So, like Willie Mays signing autographs for Benjamins at a casino in Las Vegas, here Seal appears to be turning in his chips, flashing his plaintive wail in just enough spots on "Backstabbers" and "Love TKO" to remind us that he used to be a contender, but in the end simply giving us a wink and a smile as the line moves on.

By Chris Rizik