Seal (1994)

Very special thank you to Wendy and Lisa whom I love and will always love, Gus, whose exceptional melodies grace this album, Jamie M, who I happen to think is the most complete musician I have ever met, John Wadlow for standing by his artist and making all the right decisions, Julia Spicer for his attempts to organise my life, Katrina Fraser (aka 0464) for her personal touch and for sorting out my woman problems. Tim France for humouring my efforts to emulate Cartier Bresson, Brue Richardson for trying to heal my soul, Michael Gormley for holding everyone off and making sure her artist had the best working conditions possible, Rob Dickins for all his understanding and support, Liz Rosenberg for her love and invaluable advice, Bob Cavallo for what he will do and last but not least the genius of my producer Trevor Horn for seeing the complete picture and giving me the album that I always dreamed of.
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A letter to a friend

Two years, three months, a week and two days—that’s how long it’s taken me to finish this album. During this time it’s been through quite a few changes as I’m sure you can imagine. Different songs, different location and even different producers, which brings me to what was perhaps the most significant turning point in the recording of this album. Being the type of person who doesn’t like repeating themselves, I thought it would be a good idea to go after a new sound and hence a new producer, but what I didn’t take into consideration was the rapport that Trevor and I had built up during and after the first album, and that he and I were both thinking along the same lines. He is in my opinion the only producer for me.

One of the most popular questions people seem to ask is "Why don’t you print your lyrics on the album?”. Well the answer to that is that quite often, my songs mean one thing to me and another to the listener. But that's OK because I think it’s the general vibe of what I'm saying that is important and not the exact literal translation. How many times have you fallen in love with a lyric that you thought went “Show me a day with Hilda Ogden and I’ll despair”, only to find that it went "Show me a way to solve your problems and I'll be there”. I guess what I’m saying is that the song is always larger in the listeners mind because with it they attach imagery which is relative to their own personal experience. So it is your perception of what I’m saying rather than what I actually way that is the key.

In a world that’s constantly plague by disasters, I think that it is important, however difficult it may sometimes seem, to keep crossing that bridge of peace. I believe that the main cause of problems like war and racism etc, is people’s inability to communicate and hence to understand and respect each others cultures. Turn on the television, read the morning paper and you will be confronted with more death, more hatred, more deterioration of the human race. All of this can paint a very sad and bleak picture of our future. When will it all end? I find myself asking, where does it all begin? How can I get to where I come from? Sadly I don’t know the answer to these questions but one thing for sure is we are at the dawning of a new spiritual age of awareness and that complacency is fast becoming a thing of the past. All over the world there are people asking why must I fear you because of the colour of your skin and why can’t I love unconditionally? So if ever you feel you can’t go on, rest assured that you are not alone and that fast changes are arriving.

Love, life and eternal happiness.
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Produced by Trevor Horn for Horn Productions
Engineers: Tim Weidner, Carmen Rizzo, Steve Fitzmaurice, Steve MacMillan, Gregg Jackman, Robin Barclay, Paul Wright, Sean Chenery
Mixers: Steve Fitzmaurice, Steve MacMillan, Tim Weidner
Programmers: Carmen Rizzo, Eric Caudieux, Tim Weidner
First Assistant: Richard Lowe
Assistants: Tom Elmhirst, Andrew Gallimore, Howard Bargroff, Efren Herrera
Assistant to Trevor Horn: Mike Higham
Technical Back-up: Bill Ward
Studios: Recorded mainly at Sarm West Studios, but also Sarm West Coast, Sarm Hook End, Sarm East, Real World, Angel.
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Principal Players: Gus Isidore, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Jamie Muhoberac.

Musicians: Jeff Beck, Bill Benham, Mark Berrow, Mike Brittain, Chris Bruce, Nick Busch, Betsy Cook, Laurence Cottle, Richard Cottle, Ben Cruft, D-Influence, Mike De Saulles, Pandit Dinesh, Charley Drayton, Anne Dudley, Andy Duncan, Jon Evans-John, Joseph “Amp” Fiddler, W. Garfield-Jackson, Richard Garland, Wilfred Gibson, Trevor Horn, Luis Jardim, Paul Kegg, Pat Kiernan, Boguslaw Kostecki, Chris Laurence, Helen Liebmann, Martin Loveday, Sam Maitland, Mark Mann, Rita Manning, Harvey Mason, Jim McLeod, Perry Montague-Mason, Dick Morgan, Andy Newmark, David Oladunni, William Orbit, Peter Oxer, Pino Palladino, John Pigneguy, Anthony Pleeth, Judd Procter, Maciej Rakowski, Carmen Rizzo, Eddie Roberts, George Robertson, Seal, Jackie Shave, Bob Smissen, Roger Smith, Phil Spalding, Tony Stanton, David Theodore, Ian Thomas, Derek Watkins, Sarah Webb, Tim Weidner, Kate Wilkinson, Barry Wilde, Gavin Wright, Gota Yashiki.

String Arrangements: Anne Dudley, Wil Malone
Orchestra sessions arranged by Graeme Perkins
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Jeff Beck appears courtesy of Epic Records
D-Influence appear courtesy of East West America
Joni Mitchell appears courtesy of Geffen Records
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Mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Precision Mastering, Hollywood, CA

Seal Information: PO Box 102, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 2PY, ENGLAND

Management: John Wadlow @ IZM/Bob Cavallo for Roven-Cavallo Ent.

Photography by Nick Knight. Design: Michael Nash Assoc.

© 1994 ZTT Records Ltd. Made in the U.S.A.
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