Music for the Afternoon

One of the oldest CDs in my collection, and one of my favorites, dating back to the early 90s.

Seal's first album is one of the best debut albums ever, in my opinion. It must be appreciated in its context, which is at the end of the synth era of British pop music. Seal brought an element of soul to the format. It was a new sound at the time. I think it is his best LP. Like many artists, there was a vitality and youthful energy to his music that proved difficult to reproduce later, though maybe he didn't want to.

Production on first albums is frequently lessened, with more of a focus on getting good sound quality in the recordings rather than embellishing them with complex production and more instruments. I prefer this sound for almost any genre of music and could easily list a number of other artists with top albums as a debut followed by increasing bland material.

Seal went on to record a number of great songs after this album, and he sold a lot, but the music ran slower and less energetic for the most part. I still like his music though, and I think he has a great sensibility for melody and has a good, though unusual turn of phrase as a lyricist. He writes most of his own music and his catalog is very respectable.