Seal Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		5.0

Seal Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 4, 2024

You might be able to differentiate between generations by simply asking people who sang the song "Crazy", considering the, well, crazy number of tunes with that title. Older folks might mention Willie Nelson and/or Patsy Cline, while younger listeners may insist it was Gnarls Barkley. There are a plethora of other choices, of course (I highly recommend the website Second Hand Songs, a really fantastic database for cover versions in particular), but kinda sorta in the middle of all that "craziness" is the global smash single off of this album, one which helped elevate Seal to superstar status. Kind of interestingly, in the "first shall be last" (or at least second) category, Rhino recently released Seal: Seal II a few months ago, but is now offering Seal's first album with fantastic sounding Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes, as well as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo iteration. Perhaps saliently, the disc's original producer and musical participant (bass), Trevor Horn, did the remixes for this new audio Blu-ray disc.

The album's track list can be seen in the screenshots of the disc menu I've uploaded to accompany this review.

Seal Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Seal is presented on audio Blu-ray courtesy of Rhino Music, and while there is an AVC encoded 1:78:1 "image", this is another Rhino release that features a static menu. The track playing highlights in red, and if you use your arrow buttons to move through the track, the titles turn blue as you move down the list (until one is chosen, at which point it changes to red), but otherwise there are no "moving parts" (see screenshot 10 for the, um, Red vs. Blue color changes). Unfortunately this is one of the Rhino releases that does not allow for easy toggling between audio codecs with the colored buttons on your remote, so you may need to have your monitor or display on for this release. In the good news department, changing audio codecs does not start the song (or even album) over, as in some other Rhino releases.

Seal Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Seal features Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. As winning as the "old school" stereo mix is, I can't imagine anyone not wanting to opt for either the Atmos or DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 options, as they not just significantly open up the densely layered vocals and instrumental backings on this album, they also have greater overall amplitude and a much more forceful midrange and low end in particular. Kind of interestingly, I'd actually argue that the 5.1 mix has even more "oomph" in the midrange than the Atmos track, perhaps because elements are kind of dispersed around the soundstage in the Atmos version. Use of the Atmos speakers can be subtle, but is nonetheless noticeable in moments like that cool "pulsing" at the beginning of "Crazy". "Crazy" also provides some really effective immersion and discrete use of the side and rear channels for things like the organ and wah wah guitar. Fidelity is exceptional across all three audio options. For you trivia lovers who know about the different versions of some of the tunes on this album, it looks to me like these are the longer versions based on timing and the fact that "Violet" includes the talking.

Seal Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements on this disc. The insert is a simple foldout that reproduces the original album credits and photos of Seal.

Seal Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another absolutely fantastic sounding release from Rhino. While the Atmos version may be subtle, it definitely offers an incredibly spacious accounting of this very evocative album, but the "standard" DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 option is also wonderfully immersive. My only niggling complaint about these typically unbelievable sounding Rhino releases is the lack of standardization in terms of menu design, ability to toggle between audio codecs, and even packaging choices (this one comes in one of the "old style" High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray keepcases, while other efforts like Seal II were packaged more like CDs. This lack of standardization may make finding appropriate "together" shelf space for some collectors a bit of a challenge. Otherwise, though, this release comes Highly recommended.