Play

Helt chiiill

Mellow tunes. I feel too many of them can be boiled down to 60s sample + dance beat + additional piano and/or guitar

Some of the tracks sound a bit dated, but others still hold up. The blending of blues and gospel with his own lyrics on top of breakbeat and other electronica made a pretty fresh sound in 1999. It's still a good listen and the singles are still catchy. One of those albums that I would have rated higher back when it came out.

Downtempo electronica with blues and gospel samples. It was a pretty novel idea in the 90s - especially to mainstream American audience who didn't listen to any of these genres much. The way Moby as producer puts his own vocals on tracks between the gospel ones keeps the collection interesting throughout the hour-plus runtime. I thought the Mission of Burma cover was going to be on this one.

In the end I had to go for 3. Whilst some of the songs are very nostalgic, I don't really find it that interesting overall and certainly wouldn't want to listen to it again.

Idk why but it sounds pretty goof

I felt this

didn’t age well, there’s no life inside it

I really enjoy discovering new songs but i don’t know if is actually the type that i like

I listened to a few songs of this album, it’s not really my type. So I didn’t finish it

Long album. Over 2 hours of mainly Lo-Fi sounding background music. Good vibe, helped me focus on work, but no songs on there I would save to listen to in the car or ad to a playlist.

This hasn't really lasted, has it? Porcelain and Natural Blues have recovered slightly from over-saturation, it's true, but there's far too much filler on this.

I find Moby to be at his best when it does that atmospheric synth thing over some gospel samples or whatever, but some of these songs are not aging so well, I think. Th emore upbeat stuff sounds out of place for me, and the album is kind of messy because of it.

It's okay. It did not age very well, but I understand why it got popular at the time.

Better than I thought. I wouldnt listen to this often, but great background music when you do something else

Better than expected. I'm not a huge fan of 90s downtempo, but this album has a little something. Moby uses the piano very well and the strings texture are beautiful. A great album to get lost in it. The last few atmospheric tracks were superb. I would have like it a little shorter, with only the best material on it.

deja écouté

osea bien pero bueno qsy no me copó mucho,,, igual slay eh! 7 /10

Better than expected! Fair few songs added to library. Need to get over my negative Moby bias - caught myself out half way through the album when I realised that if I hadn’t heard of the artist, I’d like it a lot more

I found this enjoyable, though I'm not too in love with it or anything

Solid. Maybe not his best work though?

No pos muy sazón.

Balls

Meh

23 Aug 2022

mid, monodrone far better

I had never heard of this artist but ended up enjoying him quite a bit. I recognized one of his songs was sampled on a ASAP Rocky song that I like which was pretty cool. I liked listening to it, but don't see it becoming one of my favorite albums I'll listen to repeatedly. Mainly just a background noise type of experience for me.

I can see why this album was a hit at the time, but also not all of it aged well. The album got pretty repetitive. This isn't my preferred genre so probably wouldn't give it another listen, but wouldn't skip a song if it was in a random playlist.

Trip hop, 1999. A well executed record and quite enjoyable song but not so brilliant or innovative. It is a pretty normal album for me, so it could be an interesting listen for the lovers of the genre, but there are better projects.

I'm very conflicted about this album for many reasons. before this Moby was just another producer who dropped some great tunes like Go, I knew his tunes but had less of a concept as him as an artist. this was true of most electronic artists, they were enigmas even the most recognisable like orbital and chemical brothers were obscured behind light shows and computer graphics. Moby to an extent did what the Gallaghers brothers did, he took a genre of experimental alternative music and made it Pop. With the impact of both bringing something beautiful to the world's attention whilst killing a part of it. Sure there had been electonica in the charts for years and Moby wasn't the first and only to do this. There should be a law for this phomenna in music the 'chilli pepper' law which dictates that the ratio of success to music impedes creativity. too much and your making advert fodder too little and you have to get a job. All that aside Moby combines elements of so many things that were going on the beats from trip hop, loops from hip hop. it's all interesting and accomplished and compelling. I loved this at the time but listening now I just think I'm being sold a Tesla!

Was it a great album? We'll come to that. Was it overplayed? Yes. That summer, that winter, all the Bourne films, and a lot of tedious wankers really loved this album. What did it do well? Great samples, interesting lyrical bits, a range of styles, nice to here some old stuff in a modern style that want just a cover version with a heavy beat. What did it do wrong? Too many instrumental mood pieces. Was it a great album? Yes, for its time. It was brave and innovative. It doesn't age that well though.

Moby is an artist that it seems I've heard about a lot, but couldn't name a single song of his that I've heard. I'm sure I have heard songs by him, just not sure which ones. Having said that, I enjoyed the opportunity to listen to one of his albums. I liked this much more than most electronic music I've heard - I think because for the most part this actually sounds like music. Especially interesting how he was able to weave in so much blues music - I would not have expected blues and electronica to blend together so well. A bit repetitive, but good stuff overall. 3 stars.

Hatte ich von damals nicht als so langweilig in Erinnerung. Einige Klassiker dabei, die sich tief eingebrannt haben. Schlechte drei. Weil die Platte exakt darauf angelegt ist. Intentionaler Soundtrack.

Some nostalgic songs I didn't even know were by Moby. Too long overall and dragged at times.

Some bangers but the album does drag on a bit too much

Heroin den tones

The very definition of "wallpaper music", in ways that even Brian Eno couldn't have envisioned when he coined that term 25 years earlier. Too bad that... a) The beats and synth licks behind those blues samples have aged so poorly. b) Those tracks have been so ubiquitous in ads and You Tube videos that nobody in their right mind should want to play them in their living rooms now. A more positive assessment would say that Moby's talent is undeniable when it came to the way he selected those blues samples so as to create so many earworms. Side A is very impressive in that regard. Each and every track has imprinted its mark on the audience's consciousness, thanks to all those ads and videos using them. And all things considered, side B's less known tracks are still cohesively conceived and edited compared to A. My mood is generous today, so I'm gonna give a neutral grade. Because that wallpaper is well-crafted. Even if it's still wallpaper, at the end of the day. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 860 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 77 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 35 (including this one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 29

Really simple productions based off of today's standards, but it was made in 1999, which is cool. It can get really beautiful at parts, with some epic chord progressions out of nowhere. Simple and constant use of samples (usually from blues singers) with a bouncy beat to support it, usually with a bass playing simple roots, a bouncy rythm, fat drums and sometimes guitars, pianos, synths. Nice experimental productions. At the end, the album gets really introspective and conceptual, and Moby really went off harmonically and with his sound design. Col

Oh yeah that Moby song

I haven't listened to this for years! It was nice to listen again. I thought it was fine.

Some notable songs on this album; Flower (my favorite), Porcelain, and others. Interesting album but way too long. 7/10.

This was...fine overall. I was a fan of the samples used, but not so much of the production Moby put over it. That being said, I was enjoying the strictly instrumental stuff? Some kinds of blending of genres isn't my thing, I guess.

My very uncool and old fashioned question about this kind of thing is, does it lean more heavily on the strength of its samples than its own contributions? I’m pretty sure I owned this at some point, listened to it a lot. Returned my to it after many years I feel like, astute sample choices aside, the compositions are pretty pedestrian.

I used to like this album a lot when I was a teenager, but I haven't listened to it in about 20 years. I don't really care to listen to it now, so I perused the big hits from the album to remind myself of what it sounded like. There are some catchy pieces on here, some clever uses of samples, but the production is kinda flat and the beats are pretty dated. This feels very locked into an era of the late 90s that doesn't do it any favors. I listened to this alongside Fatboy Slim and Aphex Twin and The Crystal Method and Basement Jaxx and Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, but this album is closer to Enigma. It somehow slipped into popular culture, but it's essentially new age music with samples. The problem with this is that it's groundbreaking, but it's groundbreaking in an area that proved to have no real depth for innovation. In only a couple years this trend of 80-year-old samples would go from cool and fresh to novelty when entirely too chipper people would market electro-swing to people with no social skills. Hey, remember when that vaguely grunge band Primitive Radio Gods became one hit wonders by sampling BB King on a song that sounds like nothing else in their catalog? Want to hear an entire album of that? Boy, have I got the album for you. Here is That One CD In Your Collection You and Your Mom Can Agree On So You Don't Have to Argue the Entire Car Ride to the Mall! I wonder which version is the version on the list, the original, or the re-released one with Gwen Stefani's vocals plastered onto Southside. I don't care enough to look up the entry in the book.

That dude looks like moby!

Pleasant enough

Overall a pleasant album to listen to but not super engaging like I’d go back and listen to it

This got some flak back in the day as Mr Moby had whored out most of tracks to adverts. Hes a good egg being all vegan and that but its a bit formulaic. Take an old blues vocal/lick sample is over a beat with a Fairlight. A disparate collection of tracks that don't really stand as a great album. I didn't like it then and and I'm not won over now. This sounds like a 2 review. Maybe I'm being too harsh. 3

Still like the hits on the album but thats about it.

Good background noise.

I knew the good songs. "Natural Blues", "Porcelain", "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" - all great. Not a fan of the whispering in songs like "The Sky Is Broken" near the end. Speaking of the end, Jesus Christ this album never ends. Moby looks like the villain from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2.

This was everywhere for a few years! He's taken a bit of a back seat since, but I suppose he made so much money that he'll never have to work again. Hard to pick a stand out track because so many are so well known, and because they are all pretty similar.

While not a fan of electronic music, this is not awful. How is that for an endorsement! I was relieved when I discovered it is actually only a little over an hour and the Apple Music album included the "B Sides". Was also surprised to discover the song "South Side" was on the album, which was written by Moby. Didn't expect to actually recognize a song I like. 3

Fine and fun, not much else to say.

3* kinda boring

Overheard!

Yo, is that Moby?! If I had to describe this album with one it would be "sample" cause it feels like it was made as a sample album for a 1999 music program for windows 98. Pretty ok The later songs are pretty emotional. Didn't expect that, but I like it. 3

Ok, I still don't like electronic music at all, but this is list is trying hard to convince me of the contrary. This is a very nice release. Could be shorter, ending at the tack 5m but still nice.

Það var rosa móðins að gera mikið grín að Moby í langan tíma, en nú virðist hann mikið til vera gleymdur. Þegar maður heyrir þessi plötu man maður samt hvað hann var út um allt um tíma. Og smellirnir eldast ekkert illa, en annað er svoddan filler.

Jawel

Tja wat moet ik hier dan mee. Heel aardig, en veel bekende nummers. Maar inmiddels ook wel een beetje gedateerd.

Porcelain sampled in A$AP Forever by A$AP Rocky, great beat wow South side a banger too

It's good music, so much is memorable. I imagine Moby has spent the rest of his career trying to create something nearly as good. Reckon this is dead boring live though.

I grew out of my Moby phase.

Cool mais trop long.

j'ai bien aimé les morceaux instrumentaux malgré quelques flashbacks des années 2000

3.5/5. Listen, it’s decent, but also annoying ass commercial gen-x/millennial workout music

It's fine.

Fine, I'm not super into the electronica ones, but the other ones are fine background noise.

Lots of good beats, chill vibe music. Not sure if I'll ho back to most of these songs, but a handful of them were really great. 3.5/5

Still a tough listen with how overplayed this was in the day

This album was incredibly long at over 2 hours. There are some pretty nice chill songs on the album. You trim the album in half and it’s probably one of the best electronic albums. However it’s not like that and it feels like a chore to get through. 5.7/10

Like 10 different genres in one...but was still somehow repetitive. Kept thinking it was leading somewhere that it didn't go. Some really nice moments like the choir and synth sounds. Didn't know Moby, seems like a cool dood!

I've probably seen this album cover 100 times in my life, but I never had the urge to check this out. It wasn't really what I was expecting, but there were a couple of songs I enjoyed. It is definitely a product of it's time.

The album sort of died on the vine for me halfway through. The earlier songs that I hadn't heard before were good jams.

It was interesting enough. It's the kind of stuff my dad likes to listen to. A bit boring after a while but I can see why it's important. It would've been much better if it was a shorter record.

Moby is a strange bird, but you have to hand it to him on his ability to take this style of music into the mainstream. This thing was huge. Songs played on the radio, in movies, and albums sold. There's a vibe to this album that on one side is meditative, but on the other it feels very dated. These songs take me right back to the mid 90s, and not necessarily in a good way. There's beauty here, cool beats, stylistic vocals, and imaginative concepts, but overall, I'm left with a sense of Brian Eno, again, not in a good way.

Another electronic dance album from the late 90s- this time with its feet planted firmly in blues and roots music. Most of the samples here come from blues tracks, often focusing on singular moments- a distinct hook, a drum pattern, a titular phrase- and building a collage of electronic textures around them. In putting this album together, Moby frontloaded all the accessible tracks (selected for singles) and put a lot of his personal favourites (the more soundscapey, experimental material) in the second half. He did this assuming very few people would ever hear "Play", and even fewer would make it to the end. Embarrassing for him. It made it to the "1001 Albums" list, meaning so many completists are now forced to sit through it, and the whole world can see that he didn't even bother to give a track like "Guitar String and Flute" a more exciting name. He must be furious. Because it's more accessible, the first half definitely contains more material (and excellent live guitar work) that immediately caught my attention. Aside from the ear-grabbing 1-2 hit of "Honey" and "Find My Baby" (they both ring in the ear for the remaining 55 minutes of the rest of the album) "Porcelain" and "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" are two back-to-back wonderful exercises in melancholy. I saw a review had likened "Porcelain" to a Magnetic Fields song, which made me like it that much more. Both these tracks are so richly textured, brilliantly evocative, and deserve their places in the soundtracks of any film that can match them. On the other end of the scale, there's the occasional breakthrough into something more upbeat, with mixed results. "South Side" surprised me in how instant it was: how linear, memorable, "song-like". There's an actual verse-chorus structure to it, and a distinctive hook: it was also apparently Moby's breakthrough in the US, which makes a lot of sense if it had to be any of these. On the other hand, "Bodyrock" and "Machete", the two heaviest electronic pieces, don't quite work. They feel more intrusive, further out of place from the much mellower mood of the rest of the album. A downfall of "Play" is that it can start to feel repetitive: I was sometimes wishing that the samples would go a bit beyond one lyric or loop. In some cases, the tracks reach a threshold of being irritating: some of them are then able to cross that threshold and transcend into becoming hypnotic. "Honey" and "Find My Baby" are two examples of this: in both, the one phrase becomes intoxicating, allowing all the instrumental developments and changes to stand out much more as they're woven in. However, elsewhere it doesn't quite land for me: "Natural Blues", "Run On" being two examples. "Play" is also overlong ("Inside", "Guitar Flute and String", and "Everloving" are pretty but all variations on the same mood- I felt on first listen that not all of them were necessary.) Despite this, I enjoyed the haze the album dissolved into at the end and thought overall, it was structured well. It's certainly rich enough to invite further listens, and will lend itself well to an immersive listen as much as a background "wallpaper" listen.

Honestly, this album is not as good as I remember it being. The first half is amazing, which is the half of this album that I remember. The second half is great sleepy-time music, but I kept checking to see if YouTube had switched to a different album, since nothing interesting was happening. It's not that I don't like Moby's ambient stuff. It's good. It just doesn't fit with what he was doing in the first half of the album 3/5

Sounds like the late 90s electronic, but pretty great use of old blues samples.

Great singles if a bit dated, some shite. I'm hindsight it sounds exactly what it was. A marketing album for adverts. 3

Conflicted. A pleasant listen to, but probably won’t repeat.

Liked this album a lot more than I thought I would. Would listen again

Good headphone music. I felt motivated and was productive during a work day. Likely won’t revisit.

Enjoyable. This is the closest the US came to embracing EDM as a whole.

The start was quite good, then a bit of a mix bag

I quite enjoyed the first half of this album. I feel almost dirty saying it (Moby has always given me creep vibes a little bit, doubly so after the whole Natalie Portman thing) and it does feel like the same trick over and over again, but here we are. I didn't like the second half so much.

Not a big Moby fan, but I liked it more than I thought I would

I like how he sourced samples from a range of genres, and overall this works for me.

Over played this at the time, and with that and the number of commercials it supported have got over-tired of it.

Gets repetitive.

-I like the reference to "God's Gonna Cut You Down" in "Run On" -"South Side" actually seems like a full song with choruses and some nice guitar stuff in there -idk, the songs were fine but seemed kinda simple. Catchy, but simple

The song I know best from radio play is Porcelain but I'm not a fan. It has a structure reminiscent of some of the uninspiring (albeit lucrative) songs U2 was doing earlier that decade. South Side, another radio friendly song, is quite good with some decent lead guitar mixed into spoken versus and a floral chorus. I guess there were a lot of singles from this album. Some of the songs that didn't make the cut to be a single are interesting. Rushing which is heavy (by Moby standards) has a good tempo and fuses in rap quite nicely. The album seemed to have lost steam and the last third of it was lacklustre. The only time before today that I listened to a Moby album was when a friend was flipping through my music and found an unopened Moby CD. I have no clue where it came from but we gave it a spin. I didn't mind it but I never spun it again. If I had found Play I would have spun it again. There are some cool songs on this one, some good guitar playing as well as interesting samples and genre hopping. In the 1st 2/3rds of the album anyway.

Good for background music. Porcelain will always be a favourite.

fine, fuck moby though lol

An interesting album that is for the most part pleasant to listen to. Actually a pretty good introduction to electronic music for newbies. The sampling of roots music is inspired and was probably incredibly fresh at the time. No complaints about it really except that it's excessively long. There's a fair amount of filler that could have been dropped and Moby would have had a better album. I get that Moby thought this might be his last album, but it would have been a classic had he shown some restraint. Fave Songs: Natural Blues, Rushing, Everloving, Honey, Inside

Chilled, relaxing, clean

Overall a pretty chill album, but the overall feel was that of a string of Apple commercials. Most of the music is good but forgetful. Listening to individual songs is good but I didn’t enjoy the experience of the entire album all at once.

Great Album. Why does my Soul, ist an al time fav. Sounds Like He was eine decades Prior to ihr musk today.

Pretty eclectic mix. All over the place but I don’t hate it.

Favs: South Side, Honey, Porcelain Mehs: Inside, If Things Were I don’t think Moby ages that well. It was innovative for me in 1999, when I was limited to music I/someone I knew purchased or music that got radio play. But, now that there are so many artists who do this better, it seems derivative/repetitive. But I used to skate at the roller rink to “South Side” because I’M OLD. So I gave it a 3 for fond memories. I think if I were hearing it for the first time, it would be more a 2, 2.5.

Favorite Tracks: Run On Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad Half of this Moby shit sounds like the background to a cheesy youtube where someone is skydiving or some shit.

Pretty solid jams

Groovy riffs around 'n' around 'n' around

For all it's knocks and calls of selling out, it's was a good album of its time. Feels a bit lifted in hindsight.

not gonna lie, i didn't enjoy this more than a nice vibe to chill to.

Helt ok

Creo que es un álbum muy interesante pero puede llegar a ser algo repetitivo, tiene canciones que son buenisimas pero no todas son memorables

Authentic sounds from 2000

a lot of familiar songs. Not bad.

Lyrically repetitive at the start, not in it for the lyrics, good evolving sounds 7/10

Some interesting tracks on an overlong album.

I'm not going to listen to this again. This was certainly an album that brought a lot of things happening in clubs into the mainstream awareness. It was labeled a sell out by many. That doesn't matter to me. The beats are compelling and the production is strong. It doesn't exactly feel timeless though. Like, it lives firmly in its moment right alongside Fatboy Slim.

I like a lot of Moby's songs, just not enough to want the entire album.

Back half need not be, front half bangs.

Inoffensive hipster background music.

It's interesting in a weird sort of way. Not sure I'd actively listen to it, but it's pleasant to have it on the background

Skönt album, fick bra fokus av musiken.

didn't expect that. truly had no idea of who he was. so far very enjoyable. very 90's rushing is a bit slow to get into the beat is very 90's like the texture of the guitars natural blues sounds great the bit is a bit repetitive tho starts to be more experimental the placement of 7 is a tragedy machete has confused me je trouve pas les interludes très ouf ouf the rest has gotten very low key plaisant mais ça casse pas trois pâtes à un canard la première partie est vraiment sympa, je trouve que le reste devient un peu long on perd le rythme mais la dernière musique sauve la fin beaucoup de musiques oubliables à la fin. genre générique des frères scotts je pense que la nostalgie aide beaucoup de personnes. 9/18 likés le reste n'est pas du tout mauvais... simplement, pas très marquant. juste des musiques d'ambiances. l'expérience n'est pas désagréable mais bon c'est lassant, surtout quand il y en a 10 à la suite je pense 65-70/100 -> 3,35 3/5 = 60/100

I struggled to find the album on YouTube. The songs are actually quite intersting, although some lyrics are literally the same thing on repeat, they don't sound too repetetive and annoying. Though it does actually become quite repetetive after some time, it could have been way, way, way, way worse. The album is quite neat though, I rather liked it. The songs have an interesting variety that aren't all the same.

Sounds like the soundtrack to early 00s movies, like the matrix but less edgy (I know the matrix wasn't in the 00s but that's the vibe)

Very atmospheric and evocative; makes it easy to picture a place/story as you listen to it. Slightly repetitive/dragged on at times.

Um álbum agradável com vários passagens instrumentais. O álbum sofre com o seu comprimento, as músicas do meio do álbum são chatas enquanto que o início e final valem mais a pena. Nota:5/10

Más como el valor de sus canciones (su máxima brillantez lo encuentro en los temas minimalistas apoyado por su spoken word y sus baterías a lo hip hop), lo disfruto a modo de arqueología musical para redescubrir a esas bandas de soul y jazz de donde roba los samples. Interesante. ¡Primera experiencia con Moby!

That there are parts of it that are much better than I remember. But there are some serious stinkers on here as well. But all in all I’m glad I listened to it again

dont have much to say about it good electronic sounds fav. song: porcelain

.

Tämänkin levyn aikanaan kirjastosta lainasin ja omin kätösin mp3:ksi käänsin. Tykkäsin levystä enemmän nyt kuin silloin aikanaan, vaikkei nytkään miksikään suosikkilevyksi kohonnut.

Some songs were decent hallway through then it got bad

Tämä olikin tuttu albumi, tätä tuli loppattua junnuna läpi, taisi olla niitä aikoja, kun mp3:t eivät kasvaneet puissa. Tuttua levyä on vähän erilaista arvostella kuin noita tuntemattomia, toisaalta melodiat on tarttuvia kun ne muistaa, mutta toisaalta puhkikuluneet renkutukset ärsyttää. Pistetään semineutraali kolme tähteä nostalgiatripistä!

Wasn't a massive fan of it then and still not now. Why Does My Heart is a tune and respect for the fact every tune got used in something.

Eh. It's okay.

Moby good

A victim of its own success

I like it slightly more than Natalie Portman does, it's pleasant but it's very bland. Vacuous almost.

Flips between a 5 and a 2. Some amazing tunes but then the rest lets it down

I must have been one of the few people that didn't buy this album in 1999/2000. At the time I didn't think I'd be keen on it. As it transpires, I was right, although I didn't mind it. Some of the singles are almost classics and most of the other tracks were better than I expected. However, it just doesn't interest me or click with me for some reason. A competent, pleasant, commercially very successful album with some stand out moments, but overall pretty forgettable. 3/5.

3/5

doing drugs in not the same as art. The artist is clearly talented however.

For a "finale" album, this piece started off with a bang and the began to fizzle near the end. Not horrible, some truly good electronica soundscape stuff going on, but suffers from bloat and too much downtempo at the close.

strange but I liked it

That's a lot of music. With some really good beats. I wasn't totally into all of it, though.

I remember it was quite a big deal back then. Gospel samples. Electro. Listened to it a lot. Now, after 20+ years the shine has faded. Would Play be released now, I'd find it kind of mediocre.

<<Pitchfork reviewer Brent DiCrescenzo believed the "raw magnetism" of the sampled recordings was lost to "innate digital recording techniques", resulting in music that was "fun and functional, yet disposable.">> -- and this is pretty much my same take on this album. I accept it's a piece of late 90's music, nice for the memories, but I always found all those old blues samples a bit boring, perhaps because they're so repetitive. Three stars anyway.

Semibängeri. Har inte riktigt förstått genren? Typ techno/edm/what?

I know the dude’s a tool, but… I really don’t mind this album. I can put it on. It can play. It neither demands my attention nor entirely loses it. Of the electronic-based records we’ve had on this list, I’m more inclined to think I’ll remember a few of these tunes than, say, anything on that Chemical Brothers record. But, yes, I’m really just waiting for Portishead to appear and show mofos how it’s done.

Nice solid energetic vibes all around, top track: South Side

Old school techno cool!

Felt like the accompaniment of an epic sci-fi action romance feature

it's fine I guess some of the songs are real soothing, but the best ones just sound like budget primal scream I think the problem is that when you've heard all these songs fucking everywhere they start to sound a little generic the zeitgeist had really moved on

Fine

okay background noise

Pretty good

Veel hits op dit album. Zeker voor die tijd absoluut zeer gepast. Niet alle nummers zijn geweldig.

Many nice beats

Not particularly my style, but it was interesting.

The singles are absolute bangers...the other songs are pretty meh

2000-luvun alussa niin tuoreelta kuulostanut levy ei ole ikääntynyt erityisen hyvin. Innolla aloin kuuntelemaan tätä pitkästä aikaa mutta ei innostanut lähellekään niin paljon kuin nuorempana. Suurin osa aika junnaavia biisejä. Silti välillä ihan miellyttävääkin kuunneltavaa

Great

Best songs: Honey, Bodyrock nice gospel hip-hop nice rock parts weak second half 6/10

Don't just watch the ads listen to them

Pretty good. Features what I consider to be Moby’s biggest hits. Maybe he has more? South side is good though.

Surprisingly high hit value.

First two third sounds like a commercial, final is just bland. At least he made that money tho (a fact that will never sit well with me when the artists he sampled surely did not).

FIrst time really listening to Moby. He's a name I've been familiar with obviously but I just never really got involved much in that scene. The wikipedia entry for the album is interesting. Describing Moby as thinking this project would be the last of his music career and the low expectations he had. Wonder if that allowed him to give himself more freedom to explore on this? Three songs in I wonder if I'm just going to think this sounds like a film soundtrack, not because of any issue with the album, but because of how ubiquitous some of these songs have been in film/tv On If Things Were Perfect, I can hear Moby's mouth noise during his speaking parts and that's a star off just for that. Now we're on The Sky is Broken and Moby decided I didn't have enough mouth noises previously. I'm sure people like this but all I can think is "Drink some damn water" I honestly was probably going to put this album at like 4/5 but those mouth noises are so unnecessary I'm going 3/5. I was real tempted to go 2/5.

An album made to sample off of.

Had some high points but was way too long

most of the songs are repetitive/boring 2/5

was not enjoying it until "guitar flute and string" started playing. amazing song.

I had this CD from the library when I was a kid and I remember loving 'Inside,' and that is still my favorite non-'Porcelain' song here. The blues with trip hop drums thing is just an awful idea. Most of this would have sounded like shit in 1994, much less 1999.

DIDNT LIKE IT🙁

It’s great for background music.

didnt like that much, loop much, didnt find it very pleasing to hear

too bald

While I appreciated this album, it wasn't for me.

God this is long. Seriously does it ever stop. 18 tracks and I think track 1 is the best of them.

bisschen bot aber geil

Ei mun juttu. Mutta kyllähän se meni. Muutaman kerran kattoin että joko loppuis eli ei paras mahollinen merkki. Vähän liian boyfriend ASMR experience.

Bald music

truthfully didn't listen to the whole thing bc it was 2 1/2 hours and i simply wasn't going to do that. it was fine. mostly remixing old songs but kind of boring style. i might be slightly influenced because i heard that this guy falsely wrote in his memoir that he dated natalie portland when she was a teenager and she came out denying the allegations and calling him "a creepy old man". lol.

Didn’t like the genre

#977. Not particularly good. 2/5: no thanks

i like the ones that evoke an underwater donkey kong country level less enjoying the moby spoken word bits

A diverse blend of down tempo edm sounds. To be honest, while most of them are tolerable, nothing really stood out to me as noteworthy.

Decent background music

Mid

Play did not age well, in my opinion. Apart from a couple of good singles, these songs are often way too underdeveloped and the album itself is unjustifiably long. I haven't given it a listen in years and with good reason, there really isn't a reason to come back to it.

An album that at the time of release really straddled the line between the genres of “albums you’d hear at a party” and “albums you’d hear in your mum’s car”

6.12.26 not really my vibe but still has good moments. needed more variety than anything. Favorite Song: Machete Rating 2.5/5

1 1/2 really

Blues samples on repeat + keyboard + ambience = this album.

royalty free music

I can see its merits but each song just felt three minutes too long (and yes, each song was in total about three minutes long)

I thought this was OK if a bit samey

I like most people didn't realize the long and storied collection Moby had prior to this album and to Porcelain. This reminds me of how blondie is only really known for that one disco track they made, despite them not playing disco music at all. Ill check out more Moby. The album is a little boring though, bit too long, bit too many repetitive samples.

Has a few great songs. The late 90s bedroom production sound is sometimes grating. Deducted an extra star because Moby is kind of cringe.

Just not for me. Found myself getting bored. Some really good tracks on here but the collection as a whole just not something I enjoy.

not my cup of tea as well

This is a tough one. I'm not a fan of techno music, so that's a tough start for Moby. Then you consider that he sampled heavily from public domain recordings by Black artists to elevate his music. The line between appropriation and celebration is quite thin to be sure, but commodifying sorrow and lived experiences of Black folks falls on the wrong side of that line. Also it was long. 3/10

Not a huge fan. Wasn't when it first came out, and still not.

Safe to say I don't get the hype, felt very long winded for alot of loops and the same drum line on every track 2 stars because it wasn't entirely terrible but every track I enjoyed was too dragged out

I just rather be listening to A$AP Forever

Slow, atmospheric, sampled music on a vicious loop. Extremely repetitive and generic enough to be bland and uninteresting. His liberal use of blues vocal samples does feel exploitative. A couple of good tracks here and there but the rest of the beige album drags it down. 2/5

I recognize the talent and artistry required to create this kind of music. It's as much art as any visual collage or similar repurposing of one thing into another thing. I just really do not enjoy it. Nothing here is interesting to me, and it's no coincidence that Moby made his money on this record by selling basically every track for a commercial. No shade, get that money, but for me it's just an hour of non-irritating background music that is perfect for your neighborhood Starbucks

This is a jumble of noise a lot of the time. I tried, but its not for me.

I don't mind Moby, but by the third track I was pretty tired of sample mixing with random vocals in the corner of the track. I don't think I could sit through this entire album in a single sitting.

pleasantly surprised, even knew 2 of them well.

Top review says it well enough. Some cool beats that I wish someone would rap over. The asap rocky sample ID was cool to organically figure out I guess. Obvious he’s a great musician/has a good ear but this thing is too long and too boring.

In a time where people felt apprehensive of the rapidly approaching Y2K, the massive world popularity of this album astounds the brain. Over a quarter century later, not all wines taste better with age.

Sort of ambient chill techno.

As a xennial raver, this album is very familiar to me. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up. It doesn't help that yesterday's album was The Avalanches' masterpiece Since I Left You. The sampling on that album is done with so much creativity and reverence that it makes Moby's album seem like an elementary school music project. The whole album is trite, boring, and unimaginative. I cringe when people describe electronic music as 'elevator music,' but I hate to say that this album actually fits that description.

just a DJ album not my vibe

Sonidos adelantados pero nada le saca lo raro, me incomodó de escuchar por algunos temas pero ciertamente lo banco

Too long. Too boring. Too tryhard.

2.5

The main issue I have with the album irrespective of the issues of overexposure, blues appropriation and Moby himself, is that this album has an overriding feeling of melancholy and sadness. Over 63 minutes this becomes wearing, and when you come to it feeling okay but then songs like "why does my heart feel so sad" work their magic you start feeling really down. Despite there being some great songs like Porcelain, by the end I couldn't wait to listen to something to cheer myself up and steer clear of this.

Very repetitive and kinda boring

The beats and music are fine, if not repetitive and formulaic. I didn't find this music as impressive or attractive as its sales statistics indicates most other people did. I appreciated the opportunity to formulate an impression of Moby's music, but it wasn't so favorable that I would explore it any further.

156. ok

started off annoying. every song is too long for what they’re worth. feels pretentious. occasional flashes of something interesting. much better listening experience by the end of the album 2.5 i liked “7”, “down slow”, & “if things were perfect”

Ganska udda blanding, helt ok men inte riktigt min stil

bland and unimaginative.

There are some absolute bangers on this - but as an album, it doesn't feel like a cohesive effort and at over an hour, it really outstays its welcome.

If l you like one to three phrases looped over and over with different, admittedly good, beats then boy do I have an album for you. I think I would like it more if I was doing something else and this was background noise, like cleaning or yardwork

I remember songs from this album being on the radio for months when it was released and I even had the album. On revisting the album I don't think it stands the test of time very well.

func & funk

Meh it’s okay. I wouldn’t go visit it it again. A little same same throughout the album.

Catchy and pleasant if lyrically limited. 2 star

I realize repetition is part of musical structure, but iy's not a valued oitcome in itself, in itself, in itself, in itself, .......

I'm already upset that I had to listen to this on Youtube just because I didn't want to listen to the deluxe version that was twice as long. Overall, this album was just okay to listen to, I couldn't really enjoy it and it was all just boring to listen to.

Another artist I’ve heard of but never got to hear. This is sample based dance music which can be ok but this album makes me wish that it had more adventurous content or that I was at least listening to some real musicians playing. There are some moments here and there of harmonic movement which keep it interesting however presented over an unchanging electronic beat does make it sound a little flat. It was neat that we got two electronica albums from two different decades, but I just don’t think the genre is my bag. However, I am curious though to listen to at least a couple more albums by Moby to see if anything grabs me. In the meantime unless I can muster up any desire to listen to this one again to see if it clicks, I’m afraid that this will be filed under non-essential listening for now.

Music for film credits and DVD menus

Jeg hører albummet som en fyr der gerne vil være soul full og lave musik som lyder lidt a la massive attack ift. features af sangere - det når bare i den relation aldrig tæt på at komme i mål. OKAY, der er lidt stilforskel, lidt mere repetitivt og lyden er anderledes især på tyngden af det instrumentale, der jo er meget lettere. Men det gør det også bare ret uinterresant og forglemmeligt. De første spæde spadestik til den moderne flydermusiktrend??? Bare for kedeligt... for at understrege reference til Massive Attack: Why does my heart feel so bad lyder som en dårlig version af et massiv attack nummer med Horace Green og South Side, der følger efter lyder i starten som et nummer der gerne vil være ligesom f.eks. Blue Lines hvor Tricky synger. Nøj, hvor er det også langt... 2.3

En klassiker, men det er som om, at det trækker ned for mig, at stort set alle sangene er blevet licenseret ud til så mange film og reklamer, at når de høres i én sammenhængende plade, så føles det som at sidde foran sit gamle billedrørs-TV 2.4

Interesting artist - I don't mind some of the tracks but a lot of them are not for me and the runtime is way too long.

Apart from being an idiot (recently complaining that Lola by the Kinks was transphobic!!) I’ve never really liked his music. This doesn’t change my kind. Same formula throughout. Boring.

Sometimes this works but a lot of times the songs come off as repetitive and un-engaging. Likes: South Side; Everloving

Every time I hear Play mentioned on one of the many "greatest albums of all time" lists I really have to ask myself if this project is that good or if the author truly doesn't have a good understanding of Electronic music as a whole because this project is honestly not all that special in my eyes. Don't get me wrong Play is a very influential album for the time it was released, but I also feel it is a very Pop-like electronic album hence why is seems to be so widely known and praised. I know some people may not agree with Pitchfork but I feel their short blurb summarizes this album beautifully, "it's fun and functional, yet disposable." The songs here feel good in the moment but have absolutely no lasting power in the grand scheme of things. The first half of this album has some very safe Dance tracks but the samples are so fucking repetitive that it makes it kind of a sore to listen to. The second half of this album is Moby trying his best to branch out and experiment and honestly it feels like Moby has no idea what to do with himself so he is throwing shit at the wall. Play is a mess of an album that can't even decide what it wants to be, and it is supposed to be one of the faces of Electronic music in the 90s?? I may not be as harsh as Pitchfork's review but this album is nothing close to being a "essential listening before you die" kind of album. I wouldn't it call it necessary to hear in the grand scheme of electronic music unless you are curious to hear for popularity. Nuff said.

Just OK. Liked the more uptempo songs, but the slower songs left me wanting.

Hmm. Not entirely sure what to make of this. Some easy background listening, but not one I’d reach for regularly I don’t think.

Not a Moby fan

Repetitive

Less aggressive than the Prodigy, funky in parts, and dancey. Reminds me of Fat Boy Slim in parts too.

You just know he would have had dreads if he could grow out his hair

Boring. I didn't like it in the 90s and don't like it now.

I was surprised at how many of the songs I recognized - I suspect mainly from TV soundtracks! I enjoyed the musical arrangements for the most part, but the vocals/lyrics were too repetitive for my taste. Didn't finish the album.

well. hey, did you guys know Moby is vegan?

This was not my favorite listen. Techo and electric just aren’t my thing, sorry. There were some songs I enjoyed though.

I think this album is okay background noise.

Wow - I am so surprised this album is on this list. I had the Porcelain single when I was a teenager, but has always felt a bit embarrassed about it. It was fun to actually give the album a fair chance, and I will say it was overall pretty pleasant. Songs like Porcelain, Natural Blues and Down Slow where actually pretty good and bring up the overall rating. Unfortunately there were a few clunkers and Machete was especially awful. A strong 2.

sf with leo and max chinatown

Bald people piss me of

The blues/roots mixed with Electronica is unique, multiple songs are 10 second segments repeated with different backgrounds and feels to me repetitive

I didn’t hate it, but most of the tracks outstayed their welcome. He introduces a sample, does some pretty cool layering and atmosphere around it for a *little bit* too long, then moves on. A little concision would have boosted the score.

Im not gonna shit on the album, it's good music. But is it a must listen before you die? I'm not sure. I'm not too experienced in electronic music and I can see how this did well commercially- it's a relatively easier listen for people not versed in the genre. That being said, I've listened to electro that had me far more engaged than I was at any point in this listen... and I listened in the studio. Find my Baby and Sunspot were the only tracks that made me look for the name. Everything else felt overly sync. For that reason I probably wouldn't go back to any individual track, but I'm not ruling out a second, maybe third listen to see if I can warm up to it. only 5/5 is the album cover, shits hard as fuck #baldpride

Lo mismo que Fatboy Slim. Creo que lo bueno de este tipo de álbumes, no son las canciones dentro. El valor cae en los samples que otros artistas hacen usando de base estas canciones. Es la única forma en la que le puedo encontrar valor a algo así.

Not my thing

How boring do you want your music to be? Moby: yes! Although the 18 tracks on “Play” all sound the same, he manages to make each one sound even more boring than the others. From a music history perspective, I understand that this minimalism was somehow necessary in the late 90s. In the right club, a looped beat with a few chords and sparse melodies might work after midnight. But why press it onto vinyl? Admittedly, “Natural Blues” and “Porcelain” do contain a few catchy ideas. Overall, however, there is simply too little substance for a music album. I didn't like it when it came out, and I still don't like it now.

Rigtig gode numre indimellem, men jeg kedede mig også lidt

En klassiker, men det er som om, at det trækker ned for mig, at stort set alle sangene er blevet licenseret ud til så mange film og reklamer, at når de høres i én sammenhængende plade, så føles det som at sidde foran sit gamle billedrørs-TV 2.6.

Ну типа навеяло воспоминания из детства, но что-то какое-то меее

This is the kind of album that reminds us why djs probably shouldn’t have full albums. There are a couple of great songs here, but the majority are repetitive and uninteresting.

je me demandais pourquoi le nom Moby me disait de quoi pis en écoutant j’ai réalisé que j’ai shazam ‘Natural Blues’ l’autre fois en regardant le chef-d’œuvre Freddy Got Fingered (2001) chanson préférée : Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?

I was quietly pleased to see this pop up until I remembered a podcast I listened to a few years ago (can’t for the life of me remember the name of it!!) with some guy basically saying he lent Moby this tape of old songs and he then used that tape to sample for this album which ofc blew up and made him huge. No thanks to this guy. And worse yet no thanks to the countless black artists whose samples he took. To add insult to injury I expected the album would be no skips but frankly it was 80% filler. White men continue to disappoint.

Stomped by Obie.

I like two songs of the eighteen which is too low of a percentage for a decent album rating. 2 stars or D+.

I like the instrumental songs like rushing pretty fire 2.5/5

Not horrible not great

2.5hrs is crazy work. 2-3 acceptable songs but some were downright annoying. Hard to rate, 3.5?/10

Definitely a cool track or two on here, but it's not something I would ever listen to again. Just not for me.

This is fine. It’s super bland and the sort of thing I would not hate if forced to listen to it in a waiting room for a doctors office or something, but never would I choose this to entertain me.

Is it talent? Absolutely Is it musicianship? Yep Is it enjoyable to listen to. Sure Then why does it at times feel fraudulent? I don’t know- plus I think Moby may be a POS- possibly.

I enjoyed each song for maybe a minute, but it then repeats the same thing for 2-3 more minutes. It got so repetitive by the end. It wasn’t terrible by any means but I really wanted it to end for most of it. South side was a good song though.

Too long, kinda okay.

Feel like this was the predecessor for so much shit music in the 2010's... and maybe some good as well

No es para mí.

Llevaba mucho tiempo queriendo escuchar ‘Play’ de Moby y por fin le he dado la escucha. Quizá se me hizo un pelín largo, pero definitivamente tiene canciones que, sin saberlo, formaron parte de la banda sonora de nuestra vida

Some of this I liked, some of this just felt stuck on a loop

Dance crossover album in Fatboy Slim vein, very popular in early 2000’s

Very inconsistent. Didn't hate every song.

Look, I’ll be honest. I didn’t finish this album. I’m not the Universe’s strongest soldier. I promise I’ll listen to the rest of them in their entirety. This is background noise. That’s all it is. Sorry if anyone else feels a different way.

boring and repetitive.

Back-to-back trip hop/downtempo-album. Elektroniske låter med en masse retro samples. Noen spor minner om en tidlig variant av EDM-musikken, mens andre er skikkelig “nedpå-bakken” instrumentaler. Sangene med tekst er i grunn bare loops av samples, uten at det nødvendigvis trenger å være så negativt. Instrumentalene er på sin side perfekte å lese til, da de er rolige og svevende. Totalt sett en helt ålreit opplevelse. Verken banebrytende eller helt ræva, men totalt sett ikke veldig interessant. Top 3: Natural Blues, South Side, Run On

The thing about The Moby Song Formula (beats, repeating strings melody, sample of a blues hook sung by an old Black man) is that you don't notice it if you're hearing a song here, a song there. But back to back for over an hour? You start to wonder if you're going crazy because didn't I JUST hear this one? Your mom: We have Fatboy Slim at home. The Fatboy Slim at home:

Another album that, listening today, is just... fine. I remember when it came out and appreciate that it was a seminal step in bringing electronic music into the mainstream. And I spent a decent amount of time in dance clubs in the late 90s enjoying Moby's techno and still love to trance out on occasion. But listening now, this album is repetitive and overlong, and not in a great way. It just hasn't aged well.

This isn't typically my genre, but I had fun with this one. Some tracks were a bit bland and repetitive for me, but I can see the appeal if Electronic is your thing!

Kind of nostalgic for this sound and this moment in time. Reminds me of watching the movie Holes as a kid. There's a reliance on the strength of the samples. Moby deep dives into each one, juxtaposing them with late 90s electronica to create a trance-like atmosphere. But it's just...so...repetitive. I don't think this music rises above the sum of its parts. One song was enough.

Good atmospheric background music. I can see driving or studying to this. As for critical listening, it's a slog fest. I can appreciate it for what it is. The instrumentation over samples is creative albeit repetitive. Not bad, though not for me.

The first track relied heavily on repetition rather than lyrical depth. As someone who values lyricism, it didn’t connect with me, although I thought the production was fine. I picked up on it in the first track, and by the second, it became clear that this repetition was likely going to define the whole album. Most songs seemed to centre around one repeated sentence instead of fully developed verses. I really do not like this and do not see a point. Each song sounds like something that would be in the background of a commercial.... Porcelain is the first track that introduces more than one repeated line, which gives it a bit more depth. However, I can’t tell whether I actually liked it on its own or if it just stood out because the first two songs set the bar so low for me. South Side and Run On were other songs i somewhat liked, but i doubt I would go out of my way to put on. I think to make this appeal better to the new generation, someone should sample this and add more lyrics to these songs......

MOBY YOU CAN STOMPT BY OBIE

Partly heard before Saved 6/18 Top track: Natural Blues

Its just really not for me. Its probably baning for that right audience though

very fight club…. probably would not relisten for a while though

"Today's album is brought to you by the all new 2000 Nissan Maxima. Nissan: Life's a journey; enjoy the ride." This album reminds me of Enigma and the countless other artists that popped up during that weird phase where we were, as a society, collectively into Gregorian chants put to dance/electronic music. Just replace the chants with blues/spiritual samples. Super mid and made for television commercials.

not for me; samples are good, but i don't enjoy the final package; pat would probably like south side; 2 stars for me

Ok

not my choice of listen but i can see the appeal? pretty long, one song was very challengers-esque (machete) highlights: Bodyrock

One extra star for inside and my weakness, the rest was dookie.

it was fun

hard to explain just how much this dominated all forms of media and advertising from 1999 to 2001. it was inescapable. sucked then and sucks now