Seal (2003)

Something must have kept soul-pop perfectionist Seal busy in the five years since 1998's ''Human Being'' -- but self-reinvention evidently wasn't on the to-do list. He and producer Trevor Horn surprise occasionally -- galvanic breakbeat-plus-guitar backing lifts the infectious should-be first single ''My Vision.'' But with its layers of synthesized strings and all-too-tasteful ''dance'' grooves to which no one would actually dance, much of Seal sounds dated and tepid -- it's as if its creator has been, um, sealed off from all influences except his own records.

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