Seal 6: Commitment is the seventh studio album by British singer Seal. It was released worldwide on 20 September 2010 with the exception of the United States where it was released on 28 September 2010.[1] The album is produced by David Foster, who also produced Seal's previous sixth studio album Soul. It debuted at number eleven on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Seal's highest-charting album on the chart since Seal IV in 2003. As of January 2012, the album had sold 52,932 copies in the United Kingdom.[2] The album has produced two singles – "Secret" and "Weight of My Mistakes".

Seal 6: Commitment
Studio album by
Released17 September 2010
Recorded2009–2010
Studio
  • The Village Studio (Santa Monica, California)
  • Blue Studios (Malibu, California)
Genre
Length44:37
Label
Producer
Seal chronology
Soul
(2008)
Seal 6: Commitment
(2010)
Soul 2
(2011)
Singles from Seal 6: Commitment
  1. "Secret"
    Released: 12 September 2010
  2. "Weight of My Mistakes"
    Released: 21 November 2010

Background

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In an interview with Reuters Seal attributed the title of the album to his wife Heidi Klum, saying, "I think that commitment is the recurring theme that kept popping up. Certainly the last seven years of my life since I met my wife (Heidi Klum) have been extremely committed. But not just in our personal life. My work has a level of commitment to it. The team around me consists of people who are committed."[3] According to Seal the recurring themes on the album range from "relationships to searching to sacrifice to digging in the dirt." He said, "I had to do that on one or two songs. In order to write things that are going to resonate with people, you are going to have to dig in certain places."[3]

Angus Batey of The Guardian stated in his interview with Seal that:

Commitment is as much about looking back to who he was as celebrating the contentment he feels today. Seal came to the sessions with 41 songs at least partly written – unprecedented for an artist who would struggle to come up with a dozen strong ideas every three or four years. "What's changed is me," he says. "Trevor and David were dealing with two different people."

Seal is still driven by his perfectionist muse, but family life has meant rethinking his priorities. Rather than booking a studio, he rented a house in the town of Montecito, with the plan being to live there while recording. But the pursuit of art had to take second place to his responsibilities as husband and father.

"It was just an hour away from Los Angeles," he says of the house-turned-studio, "so I did come home, to be with my family. [Music] is something that you love doing, but second to the thing that you really love, which is your wife and kids. I mean, it's only music – it's not that important."[4]

Reception

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Commercial reception

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On 26 September 2010, Seal 6: Commitment debuted at number 11 on the official UK Albums Chart, outpeaking previous studio album Soul and his Hits album. It became Seal's fifth top 20 album in his homeland.[5][6]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [7]
Billboard(positive)[8]
The Guardian     [9]
USA Today    [10]

Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave Seal 6: Commitment a mixed review, rating the album two stars, expressing:

At times, the only edge comes from the 47-year-old singer's voice, now raspier than ever. However, hairs are invited to stand up on necks during Silence, which begins as the sort of exquisitely assembled song about loneliness that David McAlmont, say, would kill for, before somehow turning into a scarf-waving anthem. The other standout is Weight of My Mistakes, which mixes contemplative lyrics with an upbeat tune so catchy it requires surgical removal. However, elsewhere, there's too much polished, overwrought, formulaic slop, with You Get Me's line about a "beautiful song you've heard a million times" containing more than a hint of irony.[9]

Singles

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"Secret" was released as the album's first single in the UK on 12 September 2010, where it reached number 82. The second single from the album is "Weight of My Mistakes", which has been remixed by Brio Taliaferro for the single release. The music video for the song was directed by Nabil.[11] The radio mix of "Weight of My Mistakes" was due for release 21 November 2010.[12]

Track listing

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All tracks produced by David Foster; co-production by Jochem van der Saag.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."If I'm Any Closer"Seal, Gus Isidore3:29
2."Weight of My Mistakes"Seal, Isidore, Marcus Brown, Mark Summerlin, Michael Thompson4:20
3."Silence"Seal, Isidore4:11
4."Best of Me"Seal, Isidore4:23
5."All for Love"Seal4:03
6."I Know What You Did"Seal, David Foster, Summerlin3:37
7."The Way I Lie"Seal, Peter-John Vettese, Isidore, Brown4:34
8."Secret"Seal3:21
9."You Get Me"Teitur Lassen, Pam Sheyne4:27
10."Letting Go"Seal, Isidore, Summerlin3:58
11."Big Time"Seal, Isidore4:04
iTunes Deluxe Edition bonus tracks[13]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Weight of My Mistakes" (Live)Seal, Gus Isidore, Marcus Brown, Mark Summerlin4:39
13."The Way I Lie (Live)" (Live)Seal, Peter-John Vettese, Gus Isidore, Marcus Brown3:20
Amazon.com bonus track[14]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."You Get Me" (featuring TinkaBelle)Teitur Lassen, Pam Sheyne4:19
Spanish Edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."You Get Me" (featuring Concha Buika)Teitur Lassen, Pam Sheyne4:17
Finnish Edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."You Get Me" (featuring Anna Eriksson)Teitur Lassen, Pam Sheyne4:17

Deluxe Edition

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Bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."If I Could Ever Make You Love Me"Seal, David Foster4:32
13."You Get Me" (featuring Buika)Teitur Lassen, Pam Sheyne4:21
DVD content
No.TitleLength
1."The Making of Seal 6: Commitment"21:37

Personnel

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  • Seal – all vocals, guitars, bass, instruments, programming
  • David Foster – instruments, programming, arrangements, orchestral arrangements
  • Jochem van der Saag – instruments, programming
  • Marcus Brown – keyboards, acoustic piano, organ, bass, arrangements (1, 4), instruments, programming
  • Mark Summerlin – guitars, instruments, programming
  • Gus Isidore – guitars, instruments, programming
  • Michael Thompson – electric guitars (2)
  • Dean Parks – guitars (9)
  • Steve Sidelnyk – drums, instruments, programming
  • David Foster – arrangements, orchestral arrangements
  • William Ross – orchestration (1, 3, 5, 6, 8)
  • Brad Dechter – orchestration (2, 4, 9, 11)
  • Gina Zimmitti – orchestra contractor
  • Jerome Leroy – music preparation
  • Thanh Tran – music preparation
  • Courtney Blooding – additional backing vocals (11)

Production

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  • Ric Salmon – executive producer, management
  • Tom Whalley – A&R
  • Jochem van der Saag – engineer, mixing (1–7, 9–13)
  • Dave Russell – engineer, recording
  • Jorge Vivo – engineer, recording
  • Chris Owen – additional engineer
  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing at Mix LA (Los Angeles, California) (8)
  • Keith Armstrong – mix assistant (8)
  • Nik Karpen – mix assistant (8)
  • Andrew Schubert – additional mix engineer (8)
  • Brad Townsend – additional mix engineer (8)
  • Armin Steiner – string recording at 20th Century Fox Studios (Los Angeles, California)
  • Larry Mah – Pro Tools
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Steve Fallone – mastering
  • Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) – mastering location
  • Nabil Elderkin – photography
  • Thomas Mastorakos – creative direction

Charts and certifications

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Release history

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Region Release date Format Label
Germany[42] 17 September 2010
United Kingdom[43] 20 September 2010
United States[44] 28 September 2010

References

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  1. ^ "Seal – Secret". Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  2. ^ Jones, Alan (30 January 2012). "Official Chart Analysis: Sales slow, but Sheeran and Cover Drive reign". Music Week. Archived from the original on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b Kit, Zorianna (28 September 2010). "Seal Sings About 'Commitment' On New Album". Billboard. Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Seal: The reluctant pop star, 'The Guardian', September 2010". The Guardian. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  5. ^ "The Official Charts.com – Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive – Week ending 2 October 2010". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  6. ^ "The Official Charts.com – Seal – Top 75 Releases". Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  7. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Seal 6: Commitment – Seal". AllMusic. Retrieved on 2010-15-10.
  8. ^ Mitchel, Gail (1 October 2010). "Seal, "Commitment" | Billboard.com". Billboard. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  9. ^ a b Simpson, Dave (16 September 2010). "Seal: 6: Commitment | CD review | Music". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  10. ^ Gardner, Elysa (28 September 2010). "Seal, Seal 6: Commitment: Seal With a Kiss". USA Today. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  11. ^ "Seal Channels Inner Rocker in 'Weight of My Mistakes' – Video Premiere". Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  12. ^ "Weight Of My Mistakes: Seal: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". Amazon UK. Archived from the original on 19 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  13. ^ "6: Commitment (Deluxe Version) by Seal – Download 6: Commitment (Deluxe Version) on iTunes". iTunes Store. September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  14. ^ "Amazon.com: 6: Commitment (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version): Seal: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. Archived from the original on 3 October 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  15. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Seal – 6 - Commitment". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Seal – 6 - Commitment" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Seal – 6 - Commitment" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
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  19. ^ "Seal Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 40.Týden 2010 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Seal – 6 - Commitment" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Seal: 6 - Commitment" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  23. ^ "Lescharts.com – Seal – 6 - Commitment". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  24. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Seal – 6 - Commitment" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  25. ^ "greekcharts.com – Seal – 6 – Commitment". IFPI Greece. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  26. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2010. 39. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  27. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Seal – 6 - Commitment". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  28. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Seal – 6 - Commitment". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  29. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  30. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Seal – 6 - Commitment". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  31. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Seal – 6 - Commitment". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  32. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Seal – 6 - Commitment". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  34. ^ "Seal Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  35. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2010". Ultratop. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  36. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2010" (in French). SNEP. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  37. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2011". Ultratop. Archived from the original on 25 December 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  38. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2011" (in French). SNEP. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  39. ^ "French album certifications – Seal – VI Commitment" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 6 October 2024. Select SEAL and click OK. 
  40. ^ "Portuguese album certifications" (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  41. ^ "British album certifications – Seal – Seal 6 – Commitment". British Phonographic Industry.
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  43. ^ "Seal: Commitment (2010): CD: hmv.com". hmv.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  44. ^ "Amazon.com: 6: Commitment: Seal: Music". Amazon. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.