Seal
“Human Bong”
- Warner Bros.
Grade: C+
The twisted, midnight blue-col
ored Seal on the cover of his new
album, “Human Being” appears
frozen and confused - much like a lis
tener once he has played it
His latest album gets off to a
promising start. For die first six songs,
Seal stretches his musical range to
include elements of funk, soul, R&B
and, of course, a little techno. And
while he may be borrowing from a few
more refined artists, it is refreshing to
see that he does not confine himself to
one beat
On top of that, Seal makes no
attempt to make another ballad song
such as his biggest hit “Kiss From a
Rose.” While die track may have been
a wonderful ballad, it also had a
“Clockwork Orange”-like association
effect on the listener, conjuring up
images of the movie “Batman
Forever” whenever the song appeared.
Unfortunately, Seal regresses to
making slow, pensive ballads on the
second half of the album. With the
exception of the last song, the second
half is a drawn-out drone.
Critics have clubbed Seal for being
a product of super-producer Trevor
Horn and nothing more. Horn has
been responsible for incorporating
soul and jazz arrangements in albums
by Simple Minds, Boyzone and Paul
McCartney. However, Seal’s yocals
grow more distinct with each album
released. And when he’s messing with
different musical elements, his vocals
can be downright arresting.
The themes of “Human Being” are
fairly weighty in Seal terms. Failed
relationships, the inability to commu
nicate with one another and racism are
all covered. Unfortunately, neither the
music nor the vocals is engaging
enough to make the listener care.
“If you take away my pain you take
away my chance to grow/Here, take
the blade, my love, and drive it through
my heart,” are typical lyrics on this
album. And as a public service ges
ture, Seal makes sure his most impor
times larger
notes.
Seal’s earnestness fades slightly in
this album. In his lyrics, he still comes
off as a humbled, spirituality-seeking
crooner, but he breaks the title of his
album up to achieve a greater effect.
“Hu Manbe In G,” is the perceived
tide. It’s a nice trick, but it comes off as
slightly less annoying than the tide,
“Mellon Collie and the Infinite
Sadness.”
With all the releases in the past few
weeks, “Human Being” probably will
get lost in the bunch. Perhaps if Seal
could have spent more time in the stu
dio expanding on the experiments that
worked on the first half of the album,
he could have made an album that
would have stayed in listeners’ ears for
more than a few weeks.
Instead, “Human Being” seems
destined for background music in a
bookstore. You can almost smell the
latte and cheap stick incense in this
album.
.V " — Sean McCarthy
Garth Brooks
“Double Live”
Capitol Nashville
Grade:A
It’d be somewhere around the mid
dle of the show when Garth Brooks’
voice would blend with thousands as
he leaned up against the drummer’s
pod while playing an acoustic version
of “Unanswered Prayers.”
With an awed expression on his
face, he’d smile and say, “Yeah. Way
cool.”
Then the crowd would take over.
For more than eight years, Brooks
has relied on this pattern of crowd-ori
ented music and theatrical stage action
for his enduring success as a live artist.
Now he has released his “Double
Live” album, which includes 22 previ
ously recorded songs and three new
songs that capture on disc his famous
live experience. >~
It’s everything you’d expect from a
Brooks concert - minus die endless
running around and reckless banter -
pumped into two compact discs and
more than 100 minutes.
There’s Brooks yelling “God bless
Chris Ledoux” in the middle of “Much
Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old).”
Fiddle player Jimmy Mattingly plays
his extended intro for “The Fever.”
There’s the acoustic version of “To
Make You Feel My Love,” and of
course, an eight minute, 56-second
version of “Friends in Low Places.”
It’s all there - with the exception of
any screw-ups. Brooks never sings
off-key, and Mattingly never breaks a
string because each song is taken from
a compilation of different shows -
most of which were recorded during
his recent world tour.
So yeah, Brooks kind of cheats a
little bit, but you still get a really live
feel and great sound quality compared
to many live albums.
He shows a lot more freedom with
his vocals than he does on his previous
albums, stretching notes out and bend
ing others. His musicians are also
given more improvisational freedom
throughout each song.
Brooks chats just a little bit in the
middle of some songs, and you get to
hear the crowd sing on a handfril of
ballads. Most importantly, the world
can finally see that no one - not even
Brooks’ guitar players - can pick the
previously recorded intro to “The
Thunder Rolls.” How it appears on the
album “No Fences” remains a mys
tery.
The new songs on the album
include “Wild As The Wind,”
a duet with Trisha Yearwood, “Tearin’
It Up (And Bumin’ It Down),” an up
tempo song written-in-part by Brooks,
and “It’s Your Song.”
It’d be somewhere around the end
of the show when Brooks would lean
up against the drum pod, pull his hat
down over his face and sing the final
seven words of “Friends in Low
Places.”
His band would slowly bring the
song to a close as Brooks would cross
his arms across his chest
Just as he structures his live show,
“Friends in Low Places” wraps up die
double-disc set, leaving room for only
one more track. His favorite song
“The Dance,” generally finishes his
live show, and it ends the album as
well.
Although you can’t cram the com
plete Garth Books concert experience
into a CD, “Double Live” is about as
close as you can get. There’s no
encores or swinging on hanging ladder
ropes, but there’s a feel to old songs
that you won’t hear anywhere else.
Way cool.
-David Wilson
New Barnes & Noble ‘superstore9 features music, cafe
By Jeff Randall
Staffwriter
Advocates of Lincoln as a boom
ing metropolis found a new reason to
cheer Wednesday as they pointed
south to the soon-to-be South Pointe
Mall and the opening of the newest
Barnes &*Noble Booksellers at 2910
Pine Lake Road.
The new store is Lincoln’s second
Barnes & Noble.
The bookstore occupies 26,000
square feet and employs 65 people.
More than 175,000 books adorn its
shelves, and more than two-thirds of
those books were selected by Barnes
& Noble, Inc. to reflect local tastes
and interests, according to Mary
Lilja, a publicist for the company.
“A lot of chain stores tend to be a
somewhat bland and faceless entity,”
Lilja said. “But Barnes & Noble has
dedicated itself to community-driven
stores, not cookie-cutter institu
tions.”
Much like all other Barnes &
Noble stores, the newest one features
a 28,000-title music department and
a bistro-style caf6, which serves
Starbucks coffees and light foods.
Although at first glance it would
appear that a “super-store” of this ilk
could give a black eye to some local
shops, area booksellers are taking the
new Barnes & Noble opening in
stride.
“We really didn’t notice any
change in business when the first
(Barnes & Noble) opened, so We
don’t foresee any radical chaise this
time around,” said Scott Wendt, co
owner of Bluestem Books, 712 O St.
Bluestem, like most other locally
owned bookstores, sells only used
books. And, Wendt said, the new and
used book markets are quite differ
ent
“I think we carfy a different
stock,” he said. “People who want
what Barnes & Noble have to offer
will go there, and people who want
what we offer will come here.
“I don’t think we overlap enough
to consider it competition.”
Barbara Chesnut, owner of the
Book Rack, 6940 Van Dorn Sfc,
agreed and added that she saw the
arrival ot the new Barnes & Noble as
more of a boon than a hindrance to
her business.
good, because people
ire books to bring in,”
Lhesnut said.
She said the influx of new books
into the community would only
improve her business and her inven
tory, which she builds through cus
tomer trades.
“I think (Barnes & Noble and
WUVE MUSIC
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