Reviews (page 12 of 13)
This kind of music will never do it for me. Beats for the sake of dancing without much substance.
A box of chocolates in terms of music variety. Some classic beats
Didn’t finish, sounded bleh, mushy Johnny cash cover good Bye now
Wallpaper magpie music
This has aged very, very badly.
Expertly used digital tech to produce well crafted blandness
Pretty decent but again just kinda not hitting the spot
Some interesting production techniques, but felt a bit tiring by the end
2.5
This album was not for me. Took me two tries to get through, and I kinda just tuned it out.
Formulaic as hell. 80% of this album is a classic sounding R&B/soul/gospel vocal chop looped with some keys and mid ass dance music in the background: the term "whitewashing" comes to mind. Porcelain and the closer are decent, everything else is just average. No thank you.
No me gustó en general, muy repetitivo. Algunas canciones concretas no están mal
I remember back when Eminems Without Me came out, Moby did an interview with MTV for his own music and someone asked him about the line Em wrote about him that ends with "you dont know me you're too old, let go, its over, nobody listens to techno" and he replied with something like "I dont even make techno so I dont know what he means" in his loser Moby voice. Also the Natalie Portman stuff cements him as a dipshit creep. This album isnt great, it makes me appreciate Fatboy Slim way more. If you like electronica maybe this is your jam, but as it stands he manages to make it low energy and it feels way longer than it is.
I thought it a couple of songs started out ok but they all seemed to quickly devolve into repetitive synth and drum machine crap.
No, it seems more like an album.
Está bien. Me parece álbum de banda sonora de juego de carreras urbanas rollo need for speed o de película como las antiguas de fast. Machete y My Weakness mis fav
i bobbed my head at points, but this album never escapes the feeling of "music made to be used in an advert"
Interesting how many of these songs are from movies. It was ok. Idk if this is what I'm in the mood for
Ei ehkä nii groundbreaking 2025 ku at the time. Erikoista, en ehk kuuntele uudestaa
I listened to the two hour version and by the time it was over, I was also over it. Some I really liked, others I had to skip before the song could finish up.
Moby never really tickles my fancy. Porcelain and South Side are the highlights for me. But the samples over the production is a cheap trick overused as an album. Just my two cents.
This one was a hard rate for me. I'm honestly usually more of a lyrics guy. The music is important but what connects in my brain are the lyrics. I don't do a lot of instrumental stuff because it just doesn't hit the same for me. That said, this album would have been infinitely better overall if it was just instrumental. I loved the beats, the music, but the single phrases repeated over and over were just grating. This one ultimately isn't for me. If it was just the music I'd rate it much higher, but as-is I can't give it a very good score personally. Others more into this genre will likely disagree and that's fine.
Álbum razoável. Moondrop May.
Dated and dull - didn’t grab me at all - then and now!
Electronic music. Somewhat nostalgic sound. Sound can feel redundant as samples and drum machine are heavily repeated. Nothing stands out and doesn’t scratch that creative itch.
It's pretty dull. And does seem exploitative, serving up pre-digested old blues recordings.
Boring Sad Boy Electro.
You can definitely listen to the album. It also has good songs...especially when it grooves. However, for me the songs just ripple along without much variety. I also think that the album hasn't aged well. In my opinion, this is due to the drum beats.
It's fine. Not timeless, not essential listening. Maybe interesting as an example of sampling/cutting techniques in a listen that follows up on listenting to the source material or other old blues/gospel music. Total meh. Not awful or unlistenable, but also not remarkable. I'm neutral on it. I'm happy I finally listened to this but haven't been missing anything. I love the fusion of genres generally but the whole isn't better than the sum of the parts here. There are better blues, gospel and electronic albums, and personally I'd remove this from the 1,001 albums list and replace it with one of them.
dance, lounge, 1999 -> 2-3
Adtroducing
This is not my preferred way of listening to cool old blues and soul songs. It’s a 1.5, but hearing Porcelain kind of brought me back to when I was a kid hearing it on a compilation CD. I remember it being pretty hypnotic to me. Glad I heard better music after that though.
Intensely forgettable. “The Complete Recordings” version of this album has an unreal amount of bloat that sound more like test or incomplete tracks. There are some obviously catchy tracks on here, but having heard them 10,000 times in life, the novelty was a bit busted.
Front-loaded with a bunch of great songs thrown together on an album that's simply way too long and unfocused to be great itself. High points: "Porcelain", "Why does my heart feel so bad", "Natural Blues" Low points: "Body rock", "South side", entire back half, terrible poetry
Fair enough, Moby and Fatboy Slim. You never have to work again because you found out that people in the 90s apparently loved hearing the same 5 second sample over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again
Boring
Forgettable. Repeatable. Dull.
For the first half I wanted different mixes of most of the songs. The second half picked up and was an enjoyable ambient group of songs.
I tried this twice, but didn’t care for it. It’s so repetitive, I’d love a song that just doesn’t repeat the same lyric over and over.
Kind of annoying. Not bad but just…
i just did not vibe with this one and also it did just go on and on
2 hours of Moby is too much for me. I remember liking this when it came out, but I hate it now.
I don’t like electronic music too much
So, Moby found a way to play the system by licensing tracks to movies, ads and tv shows, an approach that made the general audience more aware of who he was. I have heard the singles, some of them are good, the ones with repetitive vocal samples that arent masked by additional instrumentation are annoying. So for me this is a 9 new track experience, lets see if it pays off... No it doesn't, just like the Natalie Portman did not work out for Moby I'd keep Bodyrock and South Side(if it's the one with Gwen Stefani). 3/10
5/10 I have insanely weird feelings about Play by Moby. It’s an album I’ve known all the my whole life passively from all of the songs used in advertisements and soundtracks. If you managed to somehow miss hearing a Moby song in your life, you absolutely didn’t miss the influence this record had on the world of sample-based Electronic music, as it is possibly the most influential Downtempo album in modern history, not in terms of influencing the world of the genre, but influencing mainstream commercial music as a whole. You can vividly imagine these tracks soundtracking $80k trucks driving through mud, a baseball promo, the newest designer perfume, this album paved the way for the overblown soundtrack, with atmospheric beats and sticky samples, it was guaranteed to do so. This record seems to confuse Moby however, as it’s his most successful record by miles, and he remains to be a pretty condescending person because of it. It was a record he succeeded from after a discography’s worth of commercial and critical failures, and Play was a boatload worth of soundtrack music to influence the masses, and he failed to understand that fact from then on. The reality is that when tasked to make a record to save his career, he resorted to the most simple and effective uses of Hip Hop, Ambient, and Dance production. It wasn’t that revolutionary, it wasn’t so untouchable, it was just easy, and the lack of real strength to this record is only made more unappealing by a bald guy who thinks people are stupid for not enjoying his other music. Oh, and also his other music just fucking sucks. Sorry, nobody listens to Techno
Tracks 1-4: The songs at the start of this album are kind of great and kind of terrible - they make me feel like my brain is broken. It’s as if Moby has 75% of the ingredients needed to be an amazing artist but just has something missing. Something is slightly off. Tracks 5-7: There's suddenly a nauseating variety of genres introduced. Like you're eating ice cream and gravy. The closest artist I can think of is The Flight of the Conchords. He's trying out loads of different styles. But with no jokes. And the songs are suddenly just bad, but like, in a skillful way. Track 8: Back on more even ground here. You’re starting to understand the formula of Moby’s better songs. He finds an amazing, niche sample, then puts some pretty impressive production over the top of it that almost matches, but doesn’t actually match. Track 9: Moby as an Acid House hellscape New Order. He wants to show us how talented he is and how many genres he can master. He is a musical genius. A musical tyrant. Tracks 10-13: We’ve reached the filler tracks baby! And you know what? It’s respite from all that damn flavour. Moby sedated and running out of ideas is my favourite kind of Moby. Quick - catch him while he's tired. Don’t let him loose! Track 14: Who gave Moby an acoustic guitar?! Now I’m having to contemplate the sentence “epic downtempo folk rock music.” This is unnatural and wrong. Tracks 15-16: Woah. Ambient Moby is really lovely. I feel like I’m in the hypnotist’s chair. “Your eyes feel heavy. You are feeling sleeeepy. The last hour of music has been the flawless product of a musical mastermind.” Track 17: Okay. We’ve reached the tipping point and I’m finally prepared to say it: these songs are pretentious. Moby needs to stay as far away from that mic as possible. He is talking quietly and has the mic’s gain turned up to max. It’s an ASMR nightmare. I can hear the saliva in his mouth. Horrible wet mouth sounds. Why would he want me to hear that? He has intentionally chosen for me to hear that. Track 18: Nothingness. Empty nothingness. There was life before Moby. There is life after Moby.
Pretty boring but chill downtempo album. i like the touches of old blues and folk samples but apart from that nothing that interesting here. 5/10 Favourite: Porcelain Least Favourite: Guitar Flute & String
Gets old quick
Electronic music is just not for me. This isn't too bad but I still wouldn't want to listen to it.
Not a huge fan of songs where one line is just put on a non stop repeat- even the songs I initially liked ended up getting a bit repetitive or going on a little too long. Favourite: South Side or Run on Least: Machete
Cultural appropriation??
I don’t think this album has aged well however I understand that it could have sounded fresh at the time. Certain tracks really tap into a part of my brain that makes me feel nostalgic or even liminal. Others leave a lot to be desired.
2.5
Super
**An ok album
Je ne connaissais Moby que de nom mais je ne connaissais pas du tout son travail. Dès les premières secondes, cet album m'a donc surpris : ce mélange de vieux samples blues / gospel avec ces arrangements modernes de musique électronique, ça capture tout de suite l'attention ! Malheureusement une fois passée la surprise et la curiosité du début, je me suis vite ennuyé : la plupart des chansons sont très, très répétitives. Et je ressors de cette écoute avec une drôle d'impression : celle d'avoir écouté une musique "sans vie", distante... le côté répétitif et électronique me donne l'impression que tout est robotique, automatique... Content de l'avoir écouté car c'est un album intéressant et surprenant, mais ce n'est pas un style de musique que j'écouterais régulièrement.
It isn’t something I’d ever listen to again. Good for background music. Would be better if the songs were all 1-2 minutes shorter.
Artiste inconnu. Musicalement peu intéressant. Chaque morceau est terriblement ennuyeux car trop répétitif. Et 18 morceaux répétitifs sur plus d'une heure .... trop pour moi. Des instrumentaux vers la fin le sauvent cependant de la note minimale. =>2/5
Just didn't find this interesting....
Is three musical ideas - grab a vocal sample, lay some nineties trip-hop style beats under it, add some ambient synth washes half-way through enough. it would appear so. Has not aged that well and there are half-a-dozen tracks no-one over 40 needs to hear again. 2.5 but rounding down.
Not for me. 2/5. Couldn't get thru it
This album sounds more dated than some much older albums. That said it is representative of a particular sound and style from the time. Interesting to revisit but it won’t make it into rotation.
I feel that music like this, meaning made with synthesizers, keyboards, sampled vocals, and essentially a repetitive track for 2-3 minutes, is what makes people think this type of music isn't real music. I understand that argument, but I feel it is a little unfair as some unique sounds and enjoyable tracks can be created from this type of medium. There are a few tracks that I enjoyed, but the album can get quite repetitive.
Never found Moby to interesting, and I still don't. Most songs are pretty boring and repetitive.
Ok
el reimy en calvo y boomer
2 and a half, leaning towards a two
meh. I don't know about this one. repetitiveness doesn't bother me, simplicity doesn't bother me, but it feels like there's something missing that would make it more compelling. For sure there are good moments here and there. wish there were more of them given the length. Best tunes: honey, porcelain, south side, rushing, bodyrock, machete, 7, down slow, inside, my weakness
If I’m being honest I liked this better than I expected, but it did not keep my attention. I skipped through quite a few of the songs, there is no way I could have sat through almost 2.5 hours of this.
Jesus going from NWA to Moby is like running into a brick wall at 80 mph. Fine background music, a few more interesting tracks but nothing special. I kept on waiting for something, anything to make a change, a bass drop perhaps, a different BPM? anything....
Just didn’t hold up for me. Dated sensibilities and not enough soul.
I remember hearing South Side, but nothing more from him. Perhaps I skipped the necessary influence.
This album is a moment in time... But felt kinda scrungy and repetitive to me.
The bluesy, mid-tempo songs are good. Techno in a personal way
Another good in the 90s artist
No
I just can't stand this. It was ruined by repetition for me at work in the 90s. I thought I would enjoy it after all this time but it gives me a nauseating headache.
The important thing to remember about sampling vocals, is that you don't just loop them constantly for an entire track because then they get annoying. So why would you do that on your opening two tracks?
Man, Moby is white as hell. Southside is good, but I am white.
Heavily front loaded with the big singles. Was surprised by how much this petered out by the end as it shifts completely to downtempo chill. Also feels like every song is twice as long as it needs to be. By the time you've heard half of a track you've pretty much heard everything it has to offer. I can't deny it's impact and influence (both positive and negative) which certainly earns it a spot on this list but returning to Play was kind of eye-opening in how empty it actually is
Not my cup of tea but I listened all the way. “Natural Blues” was an ok song. Still kinda nostalgic hearing some of these tracks that I heard as a young kid.
I really thought I was gonna like this…not only was it not great, I just don’t think this white man sampling all black music with very little credit to original artists was worth it
Saw Moby as the headliner for the Area 1 tour in college ... and he sucked balls. Outkast ... as the warmup actually killed it. That's always how I've felt about this album. 90s kids loved it, but me, I was way more into classic hip-hop.
Das Lied was ich am meisten mag, Lift Me Up, ist nicht auf dem Album
I did have Play on CD so felt very nostalgic, had no idea what trip-hop was at the time. Quite enjoyed it but I think it'll only be a 2 as I can't see myself going back to it again and the second half dragged a bit, bumping it down a star. I didn't know at the time but If Things Were Perfect sounds like a massive rip-off of The Overload by Talking Heads.
⭐️⭐️ i'd only ever heard Porcelain years ago, which was alright to me at the time, so I had high hopes for liking the rest of the album i just didn't like it, i'm afraid. the majority of this is looped blues samples over near-identical and repetitive drums and keyboards. on the few tracks that aren't samples, the vocals aren't great and the lyrics often sound very basic, almost sterile i guess can see how some people could get into this sound when it first came out, but it definitely didn't age well. there's plenty of albums from the 90s or older that feel timeless and innovative in comparison to this i'll give this a (very reluctant) 2/5
Some really great tunes and production on here - Porcelain and Why does my heart - but overall this serves rather as a demonstration of production and technology. Not enough owned music, too many borrowed feelings embedded in flawless production generate something like an advert for a DJ for any tomorrow's night. A testament to a culture of recycling that mistakes recycling for re-use and repetition.
Not a fan sadly. I know even back in the day I didn't like it either
A few good tracks but didn't feel as impactful as I remember
Meh. Not sure how Moby got famous.
I enjoyed the vibe of the music just not my style :)
Didn't like it then, don't like it now either
This album sounds like 1999. I don't love dance music, so I had no problem listening to a minute of a track and then skipping. I do appreciate his use of old blues and gospel samples. Southside was a banger when it was on TRL. It still slaps now. Honey, Natural Blues, Bodyrock, and Run On are still great tracks. I didn't like Porcelain when it came out, and I still don't enjoy it.
The man knows how to bottle up a cool sound, but it’s all just a preview for a song that never materializes. Seems like he would’ve been better suited to producing for a real band. This is my complaint about every hip hop record as well, so paste this review for all of those. Normally I give one star for anything I won’t listen to again, but I’m bumping it up because of some obvious talent and willingness to show some pasty skin on the album cover. He knows what we’re here for.
I’m not really sure how to rate this album. It’s kinda cool music, but it sounds like I’m listening to a movie soundtrack. I wouldn’t choose to sit and listen to it, but I wouldn’t mind it on in the background while I’m doing something else.
Man this album was inescapable when it came out. The funny thing about it is that if you listen (closely) there are actually some pretty interesting things happening here. The not so funny thing about it is that it is that like all of this kind of music from this era (Fat Boy Slim and even Daft Punk I'd lump in with this among others), it is so repetitive it is hard to listen to for any length of time. But most of it is so simple you tune it out and it's sort of just paying in the background. It was a slog getting all the way through this album, I was ready to move on halfway through the second song. Generous 2/5.
There is a few songs on this album, that I can stand listening to
every song is just a repeated theme for 3 minutes dreadfully boring and dull
Advert music
Sampling - bad start. If done well works well but feels a bit GCSE music. Feels like its dragging and frist song is only 3:30. Track 2 - I'm not going to enjoy this! Vibe was actually pretty good. I know this. Feels like Background music for an advert. Better. I know this once too. I don't remember liking it. Realised that my favourite part of each song is the sample itself. And not the drum machine and reverb...
Didn’t mind this and it has some classic highs but it also has a lot of filler.
I found this a pretty dull listen as I have done in the past. Some fun moments like South Side but trip hop Moby just doesn't do it for me.
i dont love really long albums like this, but i really enjoyed the sound generally, and in some specific songs
It was ok, kinda boring.
fine
A weird electric album with a good beat and repetitive lyrics. This reminds me of dry-land sessions when I was a swimmer. Some of the songs felt pretty boring; however, I could use listen to this album as background noise.
I liked it 20 years ago
Just alright
This album was everywhere for a while. It wore thin.
Not as bad as I thought, the singles are pretty good. C
It was fine but really not my type of music. Had trouble paying attention. Solid album but I wouldn't call it one of the greatest. Porcelain isn't bad tho
eh, kinda repetative, i can see why people would like it but it's not for me.
None of this is as good as what was sampled to make it. Much of it is really fucking boring to boot.
I move between "eh, it's fine" and "wow this is annoyingly repetetive, can't wait for it to change" and "ok, this is pretty decent". Leaves me feeling really indifferent about the whole thing. Plus, it's quite long - making it an exhausting listen.
Alright
Blev uttråkad halvvägs genom
The most slap bang average album I might have ever heard
this album is all over the place, but not in a great way. I didn't mind most of the tracks... but there weren't a lot that I was bopping to. I think there was one track that I recognized from maybe a movie or something, but the rest just took me on a weird ass journey. It's gonna be a no from me, dawg
Mostly esoteric music, which is not my style...some of it was creative, some was repetitive.
Boring as fuck, sorry.
Some of the songs were catchy but it just felt very, very repetitive.
I tried, I really tried to like it but it just sounded so repetitive..
Started strong finished weak sadly.
Entiendo la importancia que tuvo Moby para la popularización del House, pero "Play" no es una de las entradas más entretenidas o imaginativas del género. Con una extensión de poco más de 1 hora, el LP se torna aburrido después de las primeras 5 canciones, costándome sinceramente escucharlo sin quedarme dormido. Su lugar en la lista está justificado, pero personalmente, no podría haber disfrutado menos este disco de Moby.
I can see why this album has been used in a lot of films and television because the songs fade easily into the background and are nowhere near interesting enough to draw attention away from a plot or performance.
I recognised a few tunes in this album however the ones I didn't recognise were very repetitive. Overall it was far too long and did not have enough variety to keep me interested I was very relieved when this one was finished
This just isn't for me. It's not bad at all but I finished listening to it and honestly can't remember any of it, even the songs I already knew.
Can't say I've ever heard a Moby song before, I just know him as an annoying guy in like VH1 shows. Pretty solid instrumental electronic stuff, it kinda sounds like background music to me... which I'm sure is an ignorant opinion... but it's all pretty repetitive and one-note, it definitely isn't terrible though.
Das Lied was ich am meisten mag, Lift Me Up, ist nicht auf dem Album
Seriously who is electronic music for?? I’m trying to understand but I don’t get it at all.
Moby’s Play ist ein Album, das zwar in den späten 90ern bahnbrechend war, heute aber nur noch wie uninspirierte Fahrstuhlmusik klingt. Fast jeder Song ist einem durch unzählige Werbespots oder Filmeinsätze bekannt, was zwar einerseits von der kommerziellen Reichweite des Albums zeugt, andererseits jedoch dazu führt, dass die Musik abgenutzt und überstrapaziert wirkt. Was damals vielleicht revolutionär klang, hat seinen Glanz verloren und fühlt sich heute in vielerlei Hinsicht veraltet an. Play hat sich seiner Zeit nicht entwachsen und leidet darunter, dass es durch seine allgegenwärtige Präsenz in der Popkultur seinen musikalischen Wert verloren hat. Trotz seiner früheren Erfolge schafft es das Album nicht, sich auf Dauer relevant zu halten. 2/5
Not really my type of music. I liked Porcelain and Bodyrock was my fav. Just not my style and kept skipping/ignoring.
This is a weird thing to hear. It's not got a ton of cohesion but it's because it feels like a craft project vs an album. Lots of gutting and gluing and glitter. I think Moby is probably pretty lame. Some of this is catchy though.
Natural Blues was definitely one of the better sampled/electronic tracks from the late 90's but overall this album just isn't super high quality. It is fine at times, boring at others, and very memorable.
mid
I have no idea what this is doing on here. It’s “ok”, sure. That’s it
I usually love B Sides! But not this one.
prob grunge
Here’s my thing with Moby. I find him to be a pretentious fuck and really far up his own ass. And his obsession with Natalie Portman is so weird and creepy. Clouds my feelings about his music. Also his voice is terrible. I actually liked a few songs on this album, but it happened they were all ones where he sampled the vocals of black artists. I understand sampling and generally don’t have problems with it, but this felt like appropriation to an extent. I mean, the production was good? And the non-Moby vocal songs were generally enjoyable. But overall I didn’t care for this album (or him).
I admit, I only listened to half the album. Pretty repetitive, so I don't feel I missed anything earth-shattering
Quite literally what others have said: blues sample, drum loop, synth, repeat.
Down the middle for me, nothing too terribly memorable, but also not offensive either. Not one that I will actively. Reminds me of high school.
Honey 3 Find My Baby 2.4 Porcelain 2.2 Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? 2 South Side 2.1 Rushing 1.7 Bodyrock 1.9 Natural Blues 2.5 Machete 2.3 7 2.4 Run On 2.2 Down Slow 2.4 If Things Were Perfect 2.3 Everloving 2 Inside 1.8 Guitar Flute & String 2 The Sky Is Broken 2.1 My Weakness 1.7 Score: 2.166666667
Another album that shouldn't be on the "must listen" list.
Honestly I thought this album was incredibly boring and repetitive. It's like rock for people who either think they like rock or are just getting into it. The vocals were abysmal.
I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t think it did anything groundbreaking. Not really my kind of music, super repetitive
I've heard this so much it feels like white noise now. There are some really excellent tracks in the middle, but i'd never choose to listen to the whole album. 2.5
I think the songs that have made it off this album into my general knowledge are the ones with staying power. The rest was just drum and base.
After listening to an entire Moby album for the first time I firmly believe this is all music made to be in the background on movies/TV shows and in commercials. With the exception of South Side, I cannot see myself intentionally listening to any of these songs. Only South Side feels like an actual song. The rest? Cool sounds…..but they are a collection of samples with some piano, drums, and guitars added. I sorta get where Eminem is coming from…….i am just not as angry about it.
Late to the party - Vini Reilly and Colourbox and others had been masterfully mixing in vocal samples in the 80’s. Moby marketed it better and sold it to everyone for commercials, but that doesn’t make it a great album. Too repetitive and way too long.
Why??? Mediocre, repetitive and uninterresting music by a pathetic creep. So why is this on this list???
it was ok but mostly didnt interest me that much. some good songs
I would instantly be suspicious of anyone who got excited about dancing to this aural wallpaper. It is fine for what it is - a load of other peoples work over a beat, but it is greige in the extreme Fat Boy Bald
It was honestly very surprising to me to hear that this album was so big. I truly truly did not see the hype surrounded by it and I found it rather boring. I tried to understand but it just kept going and so could not find any interesting part. Props to them for making such a big album, but not for me.
Pas écouté en entier mais nice en ambiance sonore
Did not like this
The whole album just feels too long and pretty discontinous. However, I did enjoy a few of the tracks, such as 'Bodyrock', 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?' and 'Machete'
This was pretty bland - just repetitive loops of songs that sound like they would be better as a whole piece rather than a 15 second sample. It also massively gives up in the last 5 or so tracks, and meanders off into almost nothing.
2.5 idk there were definitely some tracks on here I really like and would listen to again but the album overall eh not for me
Elegantly constructed - a relentlessly commercial sheen over solid beats and blues/gospel samples – it is all very familiar, having been used on so many adverts and so many tv beds. Sometimes in this listening process there is a very familiar album that, when I listen to it as an album, sounds much better than I remember it (for example - Rumours). Not the case here.
Maybe inventive for its time, but felt mundane and flat listening today. Some cool flow but otherwise just left me wanting.
The soundtrack to too many late 90s bar shifts.
Like one very long ad.
Honey Natural Blues I really wish this was a hip hop album because some of these tracks would absolutely slaughter with someone spitting on them. Just about as repetitive as every other electronic albums. Snooze fest
I like Moby. But this album felt more repetitive than I remembered, and went on way too long. Guess fro me - it didn't age well.
Music you’d hear in an empty bar that you’d want to walk through and not stay in
I knew it was a mistake letting this guy out of prison.
2.5. Nothing about this record sounds revolutionary to me. Sure, the songs are catchy, but a lot of the songs get old after about 2 minutes, especially given how repetitive some of them are.
Strange collection of songs. It was bearable.
Meh. I remember a few of these songs from back when they came out. I was deep into my late teenage punk phase at that point so this wouldn't have done much for me then. Can't say a lot has changed in 24 years tbh. There's a bit of nostalgia here but honestly I don't think that I would choose to listen to any of these songs again. Top tracks: South Side, Bodyrock
Far enough into this list where ratings are becoming less about a given album and more how it compares to the others. Not my thing but it ain’t Kid Rock 🤷
I reeeeeally don’t like constant repetition so this album is quite annoying for me. Every song could be about 30 seconds and I would get the picture. There are some bangers but they ALL go on too long and are one idea again and again. I can imagine someone who thinks they ‘know about music’ absolutely insisting that this is an amazing album at a party but… nah.
It’s funny to me that there are people that actively choose to listen to Moby
There was a bit of good stuff on this, but it really wasn’t worth trudging through everything else to get to
Man, Moby wasn’t kidding when he said he stacked the back half of this album with songs to put you to sleep. I thought the album was fine in the first half, but that kinda ruined the whole experience. I enjoyed the unique synthesis of old recordings with modern digital sequencing in the first few songs, but it just goes so downhill after that.
Wasnt huge on this, made decent reading music though 😎
Some nice individual tracks but overall meh
It was fine, but I got bored and didn't bother finishing the album, and already can't really remember a single song from it
Too repetitive for me. Could have branched out a little. 2 stars
Maybe I just don't get it
not exiting or good
Didn't listen let me see the fucking reviews
Didn’t hate this but never need to listen to it again
Not for me
Most of the album is like secret Lofi girl mix. I never knew that.
I guess it’s whatever.
Holy repetitive batman. Glad the genre evolved beyond this or it would be long gone by now. Lots of catchy beats but the repetition kills me.
Some of it is OK, a lot is boring. Favorite song: Run on
Harmless toe tappers. Nothing remarkable. You will know 1 or 2 songs...
Escutei um pouco e achei legalzinho, mas achei muito genérica, música de elevador
2.5/5 cool album that’s made well. However, not an album I would listen to for anything besides a party. Definitely gets a little repetitive and stale for an everyday listen.
It's a good album, but not to my taste. It's mostly calm, it has songs that I liked, such as "Porcelain", "Inside" and "My Weakness", but I didn't like the others as much because of their repetitive rhythms and lyrics.
If it’s from the late 90s, the music put me to sleep. For an album with 8 singles released, I recognized 1. Must’ve been a deep sleep.
okay so a few of them were too dreary or too 80s but most of this was TIMELESS. the harmonies… what can be said. Women win every time it copied my review of trio into the review for play by moby which i think is great so i’m leaving it. that said i was incredibly bored by this and don’t care. men lose every time
Immediately after pressing play, I have the answer to what that song that mumbling that gets stuck in my head is from. I've been trying to figure that out on and off for a few years, but it's difficult to google a mumble. That might be the most positive thing I have to say about this before it's over. Ok, I suppose I should give Moby some credit for not making each track drag on for 7 minutes like so many other electronic albums on this list have done so far. However, it's still too long as a whole, and that's without the b-sides they've tacked onto the end of any streaming copy of this album I could find outside of youtube.
The singles brought me back to high school and driving aimlessly around smoking cigarettes. The rest of it - meh. Lots of a filler for a record that probably could have been 35 minutes and a good listen.
он не плохой но как он меня достал, не могу это слушать
Sounds like a never ending apple commercial.
Repetitive most of the time, that made me get bored at the middle of it, but i have to say that it's not bad, but there was nothing special for me to love this.
I grew up with this album, but I'm not ignorant of it's many flaws. A ton of the songs are repetitive and rely too heavily on their samples. This makes some songs unlistenable (looking at you "Find My Baby"). Three of the big hits are pretty great: Porcelain, Run On, and Natural Blues. South Side isn't my favorite, the simplistic lyrics, short little verses, and Gwen Stefani feature stinks of generic soulless radio fodder for the time A number of the other songs are pretty good, but now that years have passed, on relisten, this record scores below the 50th percentile for me. 2.4/5 -> 2/5.
Eh, okay
Thoughts before listening: This came out my senior year in high school and was a very big deal. Moby seemed like the future of music, and while EDM is still certainly popular, Moby has completely disappeared from popular culture. This style of music was never really my thing, but I do tend to enjoy it more as an adult than I did 25 years ago. Review: This is just okay. The best songs are the hits: "Porcelain", "Southside", and "Natural Blues". The rest of the album is either background music or blues samples with techno beats. It reminds me of the music playing in a Gap changing room or something. 2-stars.
Zzz
Electronic music, too repetitious for me. Good for dancing or background maybe.
A few good tracks with a lot of filler. The blues vocal samples got repetitive, but then the droning vocals came in and I wanted the blues samples back.
Better than some of the other electronic albums on here so far, but still kind of weird listening to electronic music while just sitting around. 2.5/5 Probably won’t listen again
I liked the songs Porcelain Natural Blues
What a weird artist for Eminem to have beef with.
I could maybe see the appeal 24 years ago? Some decent samples in there but the drums feel watered down and don’t carry enough weight on the majority of the tracks. Pretty underwhelming album.
Dance, electro, pop, keys, beats, samples, so many singles and radio/musicTV airing, but non of it touched me once, still not really. Solid album though, aged ok, a little bit too long.
I would never personally listen to this but it had some fun moments. Honey was the standout to me, likely because I've heard it before.
In 1999, the album was nondescript music for bland people. Now it’s that, plus it hasn’t aged well…
I liked many of the beats, however Moby is no lyrical genius. Most of the lyrics are highly repetitive.
Some amazing songs, most filler though
meh
The songs don’t sound the same but they all use the same formula so it gets a bit repetitive
Advert music, through and through, with a weird few bits of spoken word towards the end. It's perfectly fine as background music (and most of it is pretty familiar, I reckon I've heard most of it but never listened to it before beyond Porcelain and Natural Blues), but there's not a lot of depth. 2/5.
No thanks
I don’t have a lot to talk about for this one, mainly because there’s not much to talk about. It’s kind of just empty. It’s just an audio loop, typically of some sort of revivalist preacher or old folk song with a light techno beat on top of it. Occasionally Moby will come in to do his best, if underwhelming, impression of Leonard Coen. He’s always talking about the weather though. lol No, this isn’t close to the best on this list, but it’s fantastic background noise. All music has a purpose one way or another. 4.5/10 Best Track: Southside
Unfortunately, if you were paying attention to music when "Play" came out, it's been overplayed. There are good songs, and there are songs that sound like Enya with harder drums. I wasn't into electronica back then, and there's maybe a handful of songs out of that style that I would willingly listen to.
And Moby? You can get stomped by Obie You thirty six year old bald headed You don't know me, you're too old, let go, it's over Nobody listens to techno
Don't know what to expect with this one, I know like one Moby song and then jokes on Community and HIMYM Listening in two parts, first on the way home from the office in Novi. Was not ready for the first song, pretty weird but not too out there. Ok, so it's kinda bluesy? But with a beat. Songs repeat a lot, harder to engage with after Bob Dylan yesterday. Feels very 1999 but not necessarily in a bad way. All of these songs sound like they belong on a soundtrack and I guess they all got licensed out for shows and movies and such. Instrumentation is very good, arrangements are very nice. Second half doing dishes at night Run On is one of the strangest covers I've heard in a bit. I kinda love it but my version would be so different. Things are getting a bit less dynamic, I feel like this album isn't the strongest being played front to back. Everloving is solid though. Came on right when I was feeling not so great about the second half. Ok, so I'm not the best at giving low scores. I am much better at seeing good stuff and overlooking bad stuff. Against an average album this is pretty good. And I see why it's so influential. I think the album itself is not that strong as a whole (no idea of it was meant to be) I'm gonna go 2/5 just because I'm feeling it and I don't know how many scores I'll give out below a 3. Positives: there are a lot! Some great individual tracks, and even more interesting ideas. It sounds really good, and there's a great mix of a huge variety of sounds to enjoy. Very fun to listen to and keeps you guessing. Negatives: I still can't shake that most songs sound like they were written for a movie or game soundtrack. A lot of meandering tracks, and not enough connective tissue between the variety of ideas. Pretty front loaded as well. May go back to a few of the tracks, but I can't see myself putting it on front to back anytime soon. Doesn't help that I just listened to Massive Attack and Bob Dylan and those left such a strong impression. I still think it deserves a place on this list, but against some of the best albums of all time it doesn't hit me the same way.
Interesting, but not my kind of music.
Very repetitive, wich I understand is done purposly, but still makes me not want to listen to the album
Good for the genre I guess, not my style at all
Great hits, but know them only by listening to the radio or from bars. Nothing personally.
No matter how many times I tried today to stay focused on the music, inevitably this album receded into the background. Beyond the first few tracks, which I liked okay, all I can say is it's fine but not memorable.
It is simply not my taste!
A lot of these didn't even seem like actual songs, just some beats or dance music repeated many times. It didn't sound awful or anything, but I'm just confused as to what this was even supposed to be
Boring and repetitive. Got through 3 songs and just had to give up. You can literally skip to anywhere in any song and you will be at the same point
Yeah it’s ok. Like this is sometimes how it goes for important songs in the history of EDM, you can tell it was forward thinking but it sounds a little dated. Go by Moby, not on this album is fireeee tho
Midby
Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: no, didn’t care for it Favourite song: Track 3 - Porcelain
Opzich wel chill, maar het is gewoon niet echt mijn ding. Ik zou dit niet zelf voor m'n plezier gaan luisteren, hoogstens als achtergrondgeluid op werk, maar dan kan ik ook wel betere dingen verzinnen.
Electronic. Not my style
Long and meandering.
A number of these songs sound like hold music. It's listenable, sure, but do I want to listen to it? Not really. Rating 2.
Saving grace of this album a) some on the tracks are unobjectionable background jams and b) just a hint of nostalgia.
I mean I guess I'd rather listen to this than kings of leon but only barely
I found all these songs super repetitive, wanted every song to be over by about 1/2 way through
Weird and eclectic.
Not used to/into this music much Ok experience Tough to get through Too long Not gonna listen to this album again
Interesante. Es una oda al sample, un laburo muy interesante para entender como funciona esta técnica. siento que es un álbum que cualquier productor (amateur o profesional) TIENE que escuchar. Aun asi, el disco es mas aburrido que sacar a pasear a la tortuga [NOTAS POST INVESTIGACION]: Es un disco importante para el techno Primer album de la historia en tener TODOS los temas licenciados para peliculas, comerciales, etc.
Never heard of Moby before. The lyrics didn’t catch my attention but not bad. Of the songs with lyrics, many seem to repeat over and over, but with no real meaning. The ones without lyrics seem to slow the music down to an almost boring level. The tracks seem to get worse as the album goes on, with the first 3 tracks being the best/most interesting. The album should have ended about 12 tracks before it did. This doesn’t make me want to go find more albums by Moby, but I could put this on and not have a bad time. However, by the end, I might have forgotten I was even listening to anything.
Ugh. More techno. Endless techno. It just goes on and on.
It was aweful...
Innovative and interesting sounds. Seemed like a random collection of songs
The 90s/2000s influence is so strong, this album feels like a relic of the time. I wonder what Moby is trying to say with this album. Machete is a standout right now, it doesn't feel time-stamped like the rest of the album does. The tension of tempo drives this story and adds some real angst I haven't felt the whole album. That speedy 2000s action movie drum sample keeps getting used, I wonder if this is where it's popularity originated? What else came out in 1998? Blade? The middle of the album is more interesting to me, it's less generic and has tactile sonic emotion I can feel. Weird that i'm just noticing there's a lot of Christian undertones in the lyrics, I'm going to assume he converted from being an addict? Machete into 7 feels like a breakdown into understanding and enlightening. Followed by Run On where there's a lot of happy chord progressions and lyrics about God cutting sinners and hypocrites down. Just read the wikipedia page about this album and apparently it's based off of vicious sampling of blues and soul songs. Someone called it millennial-core and they're correct. I think this album isn't my cup of tea. First off, I can't place myself into the context of underground techno/electronic music of the late 90s. Second, I grew up watching movies that this music may have been background music for, for all I know—it certainly sounds like it. Everloving could be placed into an emotional Cher running to meet her lover before it's too late montage in a romantic drama about missing out on life standing in front of you. It's not bad music, but I personally think it's overhyped for what it is. It's kind of stuffy and dirty, something to play in the background of a gallery opening for an NFT I don't like. My beef is that this doesn't say anything or move my world forward in any way other than sonically. I can hate it for being uninspired and drab, but it did revolutionize the 2000s motion picture soundtrack genre, that's for sure.
Really boring and not my style. Had one or two fun beats but majority was very repetitive and ambling. It doesn’t really evoke the energy depicted on the album cover.
A few good songs but a lot of boring songs.
Got weird in the second half
Lisäsin toisen tähden Fifa 2001:n tunnarista
A couple bangers don't make up for the otherwise uninspired downtempo tracks. I only like electronica when it goes hard
Way too repetitive, even for techno.
Remains interesting, but bears more than a little resemblance to background music.. It's a good sound. lyrics are simple and basic, not to relatable--phrases on equal footing with the beat. Whoops was Paul McC borrowing a bit of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad for his latest album? Best: Natural Blues
So repetitive. Not a huge fan
i guess its ok but too long and not that much going on
Atheletic music... well.
Much like Moby's memoir, Play has not aged well. In the early aughts, you were practically guaranteed to hear songs from this LP in hotel lobbies that were desperately trying to appear fashionable.
Too much techno
A variety of different beats and samples, but ultimately pretty forgettable.
Not my thing. Found it boring and repetitive
Fav Songs: Honey, Porcelain, Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?, Everloving, My Weakness Least Fav Songs: South Side, Bodyrock, 7, Run On, The Sky Is Broken
I've heard a couple of these. Not bad.
I actually enjoyed this album more than I did on first listen, a few years back. But it's still pretty meh! Samples and a few notes on a keyboard over droning synths and a drum loop. Ad infinitum. Occasionally, maybe a little guitar is thrown in for flavour. Some of it is pleasant enough, but it still sounds like background music, outside of a few notable tunes. It's just all too repetitive and goes on far too long.
Very difficult to listen to. Takes me back to a weird headspace that I'm happy to no longer be in.
Moby is wild, unlike what I was expecting. All I knew about Moby was that he's a bit of a dork, a bit of a creep, and that song "South Side" which seems like it's a big outlier. He is very much his own thing. This was fine.
shrug
Achei o álbum com pouca harmonia, mas com algumas músicas escutáveis.
What essentially amounts to a sample-based beat tape. And a solid one at that. Nothing spectacular but a few really great jams
20+ years later, I am still suffering from Play fatigue.
Could have been the same 3 songs on repeat. Some overstayed their welcome first time through. Dull and uninspiring. Natural Blues one of the few highlights but it's reliant on an interesting sample.
This album is good background music and that's about it.
Underwhelmed: it was just boring an I wasn't a massive fan of it. I know this may come as controversial as this album is rated relatively high but it just isn't all of that. I get the similar aspects to a Daft Punk record which I would love but I found this lacklustre in it's approach to the seen. Wasn't the worst thing I have ever listened to but I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon.
Dick?
Another album I've not heard or desired to hear in probably 20 years. I liked it at the time, along with lots of people. His creeping over Natalie Portman didn't improve that. Some of its aged ok, some of it's aged terribly (Bodyrock). Absolutely a time capsule for 1999/2000. Fine in small doses but it's repetitive and I can't really see me ever digging the album out in its entirety again. I also remember there being quite a lot of nothing at the end of the record even back in the day (Everloving, Inside, Guitar flute strings, the first 2 minutes of Sky is Broken). The Sky is Broken and My Weakness are probably the best aging ones still, and a good example of his talent for soundtracking, his best work is still the theme from Heat, God Moving over the Face of the Waters. More useful these days as a reference point to jump off from into some blues belters.
This is just never going to be my style. With that being said, I like Play a little more than the usual fare in this genre because of how heavily Moby leans on blues, gospel, and soul. I'd still rather listen to the original recordings, but that's just a matter of personal preference than a judgment on the album.
Rant: I really hate when Spotify doesn't host the original album or doesn't distinguish between original and extra tracks. Long original listing (63 min) ends at My Weakness. Album opens with Honey which is centered around a blues/roots inspired vocal sample. Mixing lacks any sort of depth and doesn't have much in the way of progression. Find My Baby goes back to a similar well and honestly is nearly indistinguishable. Porcelain is the most immediately recognizable song here, and it steers away from the sonic profile of the first two. This song is rooted around some sterile drum and bass with twinkling keys and an indie-inspired vocal overlay. Not something to get super pumped about, but its a fine enough song. Bodyrock stands out as another track that grabs more attention than the rest. Weird to me that the album goes from Run On (a hokey upbeat roots inspired song) to a pre-trap downbeat instrumental with Down Slow. The latter is one of the better songs on the album but it ill fits against the rest. Moby is clearly a talented dude and that shines through in glimpses throughout this album. The problem is that the runtime is bloated which distracts from what he does well. He pulls on a lot of inspiration, but on many songs it feels like something is missing. I found this most compelling on his more somber and sparse arrangements: Down Slow, If Things Were Perfect, Porcelain. I doubt I'll come back, but am glad I listened for some of the high points. This is a 2 leaning 3 for me. I'll err on the low side because I had a strong urge to switch albums early.
Mehby
There’s absolutely no cohesion on this schizophrenic Moby album. Starting with the glorious “Porcelain” the album reveals its qualities for a while and I start to think that we just got off on the wrong foot after the horrible opening tracks. But after “Bodyrock” and “Machete” I’m forever lost and just kinda waits for the album to be over. There are glimpses on light shining through the cracks of the tunnel along the way. But Play ends up being quite a long walk.
Pretty poor offering, starts strong with Honey and Body rock is alright but most of the album is shite
I've never been much of a fan of Moby, though I've never really given him much of a chance. Now I have, and now I know that I'm still not much of a fan of Moby.
I find it hard to give a true rating for this style of music - while I know it takes skill and talent to make music around samples and create electronic music, the parts that stood out and had depth were the vocals clips he used of other people's music. The rest was very repetitive and fine for background music but didn't make an impact. Also, I think if it had been a shorter album, it would have rated higher for me.
The parts I enjoyed were because they were other songs. There were some good beats but the album was way too long and didn't do it for me.
meh
People on this site must have some sort of nostalgic attachment to this album because it’s not very good. 4/10
I already knew Flower from the Bring Sally Up/Down push up challenge. I'm happy the other songs weren't as annoying as that one, but dang what a long album (was I supposed to also listen to the B sides?)
A lot of catchy songs that all feel familiar since they sold out so much with this album. It made me feel like I was in one of those classic late 90s/early 2000s movies with Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, George Clooney, etc. Definitely more enjoyable than some of the other techno/electronic we've listened to so far, but also not a fan of how they exploited and didn't credit the vocalists from Alan Lomax's tapes.
moby, you can get stomped by obie
Here we are now on the south side
Not a big fan of Moby. But there were 4 tracks on here I have heard a lot more than I realized. Felt like I was watching a montage of the credits of several movies
Jesus Christ….That’s Jason Bourne
Quite liked it to start with -- although how much of that was nostalgia I'm not sure. But it really tailed off toward the end...
Los van een paar bangers was ik vrij snel uitgekeken op dit album. Beetje eentonig en saaaaai
Not great
way too stripped down and repetitive
I make it a point to listen to every second of every album that is up on the list. I have never been into Moby, after listening to this again I maintain my feelings. It’s music that doesn’t really appeal to me. I know his hits, but I didn’t want to listen to them before and now they have even more of a cringe factor. I know Porcelain is like his main hit, but if it were to pop up on my playlist I would skip it immediately. I know it’s not terrible music. I will slide it through with a 2 and no playlist adds.
Nah. I guess it's fine background music, but this one isn't for me.
not too shabby for borrowing a lot of other folks’ music.
Moby more like Moboring