This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
By my count, it has been just under five years since the last Seal album, which is just a little longer than average for this slow-paced soul-pop crooner.
But for the life of me, I cannot figure out how Sealhenry Samuel filled the time between records. He clearly didn’t spend it thinking of album titles — of his four albums, this is the third one to be eponymously christened. He didn’t spend it auditioning producers — as always, former Buggle and Yes-man Trevor Horn is behind the board. And judging by the content of Seal IV, he certainly didn’t spend it attempting to evolve as an artist and songwriter. Which is not to say this 56-minute offering is bad. But it sure is fairly predictable. From the soaring adult-contemporary pop numbers to the sweeping piano ballads, most of Seal IV will be instantly familiar to anyone who’s heard earlier hits like Fly Like An Eagle and Kiss From A Rose. Funkier numbers like the Curtis Mayfield-meets-Al Green opener Get it Together, the Philly soul-powered groover Waiting for You and the strummy Let Me Roll up the booty-bounce quotient slightly, but not enough to make the 13-track disc cool with anyone under the age of 30. I wouldn’t go so far as to call Seal a one-trick pony, but it is high time he put a few new twists into his routine.
