Play

Bald music

When the movie “The Beach” came out, I was obsessed with it. Sure, I’ll admit that the film has flaws. I mean, there’s that whole “video game” section, where Leo is running around pixelated, set to Blur’s “On Your Own”. What the hell was that?? But, I still maintain that the movie is good enough to allow us to ignore the bad parts. I loved the ideology it had around travelling. The concept of seeing the real side of the places you visit and avoiding “The Big Chunky Charlie”. I read and loved the book too, but it was the movie that I came to first. My friends used to tell me that Leo’s character reminded them a lot of me. I definitely don’t think they were complimenting me on my looks 😅, more that my general cranky and opinionated attitude towards things like travel, video games and music reminded them of Richard. They used to say that some day I’d just be gone, with no goodbye, the only clue left behind of my whereabouts would be a hand-drawn map they’d find under their door. I did end up backpacking around the world for a year, and getting to Thailand was something I was eagerly looking forward to, 100% because of this movie. I couldn't wait to experience the hustle of urban Bangkok, checking for bugs under my bed in a grimy hostel. I wanted to stay in wooden huts right on the beach, with big covered porches to shelter from the monsoon rain. And of course, pay my homage to the movie by finding that perfect beach - real perfection, not just “oh that's nice”. We made our way to Phuket, and from there we hopped on a crowded boat to the island of Ko Phi Phi Don. Once there, we paid a local to bring us out in his longboat to the uninhabited national park island of Ko Phi Phi Leh, the home of Maya Bay Beach. We’d made it to “The Beach”, and managed to do it without getting in trouble with weed farmers, or swimming massive distances with the ever-present threat of sharks. In real life it’s just as spectacular as in the movie. And as I sat on the sand taking it all in, it was impossible to not have Moby’s “Porcelain” playing in my head. “Porcelain” is an incredible song. The absolute insanity of the brilliant vision Moby had to create this gorgeous song by reversing a section of a random orchestral score from a 60s movie (“Fight for Survival” by Ernest Young, from the movie “Exodus”). It blows my mind. Moby’s soft spoken vocals work perfectly coupled with samples of traditional South African singing. And then that gorgeous, delicate piano piece hovering above it all. I remember, back in January 2000, an Irish radio presenter, Dave Fanning, said that it sounded like Moby had gotten a box set of gospel and blues songs for Christmas. That piqued my interest. Turns out he was right. Apparently Moby was loaned a CD box set of field recordings made by Alan Lomax and that's what gave him the idea to blend these old blues songs with electronica. And it's exactly that mixture of worlds that makes this album so great. I've been consuming and playing music for as long as I can remember. As a very young kid, I started playing on a tiny David O’Doherty-esque electronic keyboard I got for Christmas one year. I'd listen to whatever was on the radio back then, but electronica used to always particularly get my attention. I mean, I was listening to The Prodigy when I was just ten or eleven. As a teenager I started listening to Oasis and Britpop, which led me to sixties and seventies rock ‘n’ roll. I inevitably started playing the guitar, something I continued right into adulthood. As I began to discover some of the guitar greats like Page and Hendrix, I followed the trail back to the old blues masters like Robert Johnson, Leadbelly and the likes. I couldn't get enough of those amazing crackly blues recordings of artists from the 40s and 50s, playing their acoustic guitars with broken beer bottles, and somehow sounding like a full band. My long-winded biographical point is that I was very, very eager to consume music that blended those worlds: old Delta blues, gospel and electronica. And that's pretty much the description that Dave Fanning gave of this album. It was right up my street. “Play” doesn't disappoint. Fantastic old samples from Bessie Jones, Boy Blue, The Banks Brothers, Bill Landford and so many more make up the bones of these great tunes. Moby surrounds these raw Lomax recordings with slide guitar, piano and big beats to fantastic effect. Songs like “Honey”, “Find My Baby”, “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” and “Natural Blues” are what make this album so special. And “Run On” with its gospel harmonies, is my favourite song on the album, quite simply because it's just so much damn fun. It's not just blues and roots samples though. The album is made up of a mix of genres. “Bodyrock” and “South Side” show the more guitar-heavy side of Moby, while “Rushing”, “Down Slow” and “If Things Were Perfect” are more from the world of trip-hop. The last third of the album verges on ambient minimalism, with some pretty great instrumental tracks. While it’s absolutely the gospel and blues infused tracks that make this album stand out so much, maybe it was a good idea to diversify the sound across the track list to keep things fresh for the hour-long runtime. It just so happened that my first ever (proper) concert was Moby. He played Castlegar Sports Grounds in Galway on June 5 2000, right when this album was at the peak of its fame. It was amazing to see the little dude perform in such a small venue in my hometown right at the time that I was listening to “Play” on repeat. And I really was listening to this album over and over back then. Almost as much as I was watching “The Beach” on a loop at the time. “The Beach” and “Play” are fully interlinked in my mind. That’s why the first half of this reads like I forgot my assignment and instead accidentally spun up a review of the Danny Boyle movie. When I listen to this album, I’m viscerally brought back to that period of my life, where I was first starting to go to concerts, during the “Richard” period of my life (a stage I don’t think I’ve ever fully outgrown). But, for obvious reasons, it also brings me back to my travels around Thailand. Sitting on The Beach in gorgeous Ko Phi Phi Leh, Moby's “Porcelain” playing in my head, the only song that can do this place justice.

Makes me want to buy an early 00s Hyundai

Ken Chutney is Moby - discuss! 4.5 3/18 Porcelain

that's brilliant

Did not age well

This was a lot better than I remembered

Pretty good. Just the album cover alone has a lot of recognition. I’ve heard a few of the tracks before. I know it’s super popular and influential and I get why. Another one that I may or may not revisit, but have no complaints about the listen.

ew!

Pivotal album for me in college. Fits so many moods

Есть заедающие мотивы, но в остальном абсолютно не самостоятельно

2000s type beat

This is a lot of Moby. Over two hrs … nah. I’m good

I think this bald dude just healed something in me

very interesting, this is a unique album for me, it conveys a lot of emotion and had great production, for me, however, it kind of lost its legs near the end. solid album.

поки нармальнс ну у е зновуж такт американське меке але на 3

i'm sympathetic enough to moby's melodramatic tastes to enjoy this overly long record p much the whole way through, i like a good emotional arpeggio and i often rly like the way he structures his songs...they always do feel like theyre Going Somewhere, or at least not staying in the same place, while maintaining a coherent song-length world. that all being said it was hard for me to not think about one of the nadirs of art and human expression, the fucking caravan palace cover of black betty. this was both a blessing and a curse. on one hand, it rly does make this whole thing sound tasteful by comparison LOL whatever objections u might have to moby as a producer he doesn't do fucking electro swing mixing, and there might even be Something to conceptually putting The Bluesman and The DJ in the same context, even if the DJ in question is a corny white guy. but there's undeniable Lineage that stretches from the style here to the black betty cover, and that's a little hard to get over. the samples here at least are focused on the Emotion of the material, even if its arguably removing it from the context of black survival in an antiblack world. but that layer of removal is imo preferable, or at least a million times more dignified, to early 20th century larping in the form of a hellishly produced Fun Banger. didnt bother to listen to all the b sides but u know i had to throw on memory gospel. pimps dont commit suicide.

This is the extent of my Moby knowledge: - He's an electronica/techno artist - He's bald - That song 'South Side' with Gwen Stefani - The bar on Eminem's 'Without Me' where he emplores Moby to give it up because "Nobody listen to techno!" This was my first extended listen of any Moby album, and it wasn't bad at all! Some cool mixes, fresh beats, good energy, and most songs sounded unique and fun. Last third of the album dropped off into ambient techno boring territory, so it won't get a perfect score, but it's a good 4/5 for me.

Late 90's electronic/prog rock. Not spectacular, but not bad. Pitchfork: 2.2 initially, revised to 5.0 secondarily. Rolling Stone: n/a Best Songs Porcelain South Side

So goated. 5/5

Porcelain is my fav Inside feels very frutiger aero (however you spell it) 3/5

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.

Very good, really shines on the calmer tracks.

I knew of Moby back in the day, but what I heard didn't incite follow-up. I put the album on, there were mildly appealing bits, but stretched thin, bland. It's not unpleasant, I zoned out for a bit, I wondered why was this music made? I started reading around. If this is 'electronica', why are the drum patterns so conventional? Songs were supposedly ubiquitous, but I recognise the styles more than the songs - some of them (eg Porcelain) do sound like they were written with the objective of being an inoffensive soundtrack for an ad - maybe I didn't see those ads because I avoided commercial TV/movies? I gather there are divided opinions on a few aspects, including the extensive use of long vocal segments from folk recordings - which I'm not a fan of. On a different note, I was interested by a comment that there's an album within the album - after all the 'hit' songs, the last eight or so songs have a different feel - I certainly noticed (and appreciated) that shift while playing through. But overall, it might be skilfully done but is fairly tedious, so I'll call it Mix of Good and Bad, 5/10.

Relaxing and yet danceable. I was very suprised how many of those songs I knew without actively listening to them. Great album!

I feel there’s a lot of great individual songs on here. Like you could throw them on any decent playlist and it’ll work. That said as an album it’s too long and other than great production the songs don’t hold together well. Nostalgia factor probably high on this one but I think the parts are better than the whole.

Yeah I like it

Didn’t like the genre

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

waaaay too long of an album

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

A lot of fantastic songs on here (shoutout Flower for all the workouts) but just way too long for my preference.

Some good grooves. Too long. Filler really adds up as the album is winding down.

Owned Bangers

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.

Fine for background music. I was expecting something .. better.

I was working at a marketing company in 2001 and we had two shared CPU work stations and the CD player in one of the CPU towers was our sole source of office-wide music. One of the guys I worked with wore out this album, White Stripe's White Blood Cells, and Steely Dan's Greatest Hits. And some how I didn't get sick of this Moby album.

Decent background music

Love this album. Porcelain is my favorite track. It's one of those unusual songs that makes me nostalgic for a time that never existed.

I always get happy when I hear the first few songs on this album but I never reach the end. It’s just to long.

The nap inducing, global sensation.

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.

I don’t dislike it as much as the beep beep boop boop electronic music but I just don’t really care about electronic music. Anyways this reminds me of challengers

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”

I liked a few of the tracks, a lot of the rest of it dissolved into the background. Which is not always a bad thing, as I have loved some background fading albums, but I don't think this is one that I would revisit while working since it wasn't generally something I loved. I like the experimental DJ style electronic music, but the more I get exposed to it, the less unique and exciting it feels, and the more it just comes across as repetitive looping without a ton of payoff. Still, I generally enjoyed it. Lowish 3.

you probably have already heard every song on this album really interesting approach to sample based electronic music, capable of transforming voices and sounds from the past into something contemporary, through hypnotic and contemplative grooves and warm textures of modern synthesizers really "simple" tunes, build around repetitive loops and accesible progressions, but with a powerful emotional charge, something very valuable to achieve with so few elements i wish i could rationalize what its missing to be a 5

I was so pleasantly surprised by this album I'm writing a review. This exceeded all my expectations and preconceived notions about Moby.

Wait I didn't know Moby was cool. This is an incredible reappropriation of recorded folk blues and gospel singers into downtempo electronica. Idk how much I would replay this but it's undeniably interesting and cool.

Very disappointed that this version of Southside did not have Gwen on it. (I decided to cheat and add that version to my playlist). Also put on Bodyrock. Never been a huge fan of Moby, but he has some decent stuff.

Oh... I dunno bout Moby. He's allright, I guess. This album ain't bad. A bit mundane, perhaps. It was interesting that this was a sleeper album for Moby, not charting until well after its release as a result of TV and movie licensing.

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

Even though the track isn’t actually on this album, every Moby song is associated with Jason Bourne in my head

Very good. Moby never fails to deliver.

1 1/2 really

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

I feel GCSE music flooding back through my veins…. You know what I really thought this was going to be pretty corny? But ended up really enjoying! It’s longer than it needed to be but all in all it’s aged pretty well! Thank you Vegan Man!

I don't want to sound like a broken record but the amount of albums on this list I'd absolutely love it they were about 30% shorter is getting a bit silly

I already hate what I know is his near constant use of old timey blues vocals repeatedly. 2 for 2. Porcelain was the hit, it was in ads and movie trailers all over the place. South Side was big too, no Gwen Stefani though? Eminem was right, this guy could get stomped by Obie. Natural Blues...more old blues singing with electronic music behind it. Why are these electronic albums all so long? Run On does it again...thank god Johnny Cash took that one back. This album feels never ending. I'm picturing Moby "playing" the flute on his synthesizer. It's probably the worst song on the album. It sounds like a cover of a track from The Princess Bride score. Thanks for the spoken word moment Suzanne Vega. My Weakness was the alternate music for The Truman Show when he's trying to escape on the boat.

No puede sonar a más de esa electrónica de finales de los noventa/inicio de los dos miles.

7.5/10 Best songs: Honey, Find My Baby, Porcelain, Bodyrock, Natural Blues It's kind of impressive how iconic and of the time this album is. In a lot of ways the songs on this album define an era - the late 90s in terms of electronica, and the early 2000s for the sheer ubiquity of these songs on advertisements. The album starts quite strong - at its best the songs are undoubtedly 5 stars - but it definitely outstays its welcome by the end. The last few tracks actually feel like they come from a completely different project: one that is pared-down, the electronica version of acoustic. I don't think this is particularly successful (the dance tracks with 57 billion samples are more my jam).

There were a couple tracks of blah, but overall, I thought this was pretty decent.

I haven't spent too much time with Moby before, but this mostly worked for me. Enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. 3.8

Inoffensive beats and sampling. Haven't watched enough TV to recognize it from any commercials, so I can't attest to the fatigue that some folks on here have talked about. All in all, it all felt a little samey and repetitive and seemed to drag on for a bit longer than I liked. 5/10 Would I listen again? I'm sure I will involuntarily if I watch more TV

not bad

3/5 Favorite Song: Run On

This album is, at once, pleasant, mind-blowing, eclectic, passive, electric, ephemeral, and beautiful. At least, that’s how it is for the first 5 tracks. And then it becomes kind of annoying for the rest of them. See, it’s really cool and fun up until it starts going through the same motions it’s been going through, and it’s all kind of whatever after a while. Also, it’s really fucking long. Like REALLY fucking long. Too long for something like this. And the sample choices can sometimes be awesome, but it gets to a point where you kinda get the sense that Moby REALLY thinks he’s the shit for sampling these lo-fi blues joints, and he kinda is for the first few times he does it, but the novelty fades, and he also starts to use worse and worse samples (see “Down Slow” and its use of a wack-ass barbershop quartet sample that ruins the song). That being said, the highs are real nice, and it would probably one of my higher ratings without the lows. Whatever. Sorry Mobes. 6.8/10

What a great coincidence! I love this album and I'm going to see Moby in a couple of weeks! Its been a while since I played this. There's a lot of really good songs on here. It does tail off at the end though.

royalty free music

It was nice

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)

Sorry moby I just couldn’t make it through this 2.5 hour album especially when everything sounded the same

It's a quite beautiful sounding and relaxing album, though can get reptitive and boring at times since it is so long.

Late 90s electronica. Blends blues samples with electronica. Loads of hits, featured in film and tv.

Good album for a 38 yo bald headed fag...blow me.

Was surprised by how much of this I know, enjoyed it a lot. So funny to imagine Moby as a poo culture force around the millennium.

Ok, so it's repetitive for sure, and the album is 1 hour long, so fairly long. People today will listen to techno a lot, but I prefer this type of dance music. It's the kind of dance music I can dance to but also listen to on the bus, for example. Can't say the same for modern dance music. That being said, the combination of blues and electronic was just waiting to be capitalized on, and Moby did it correctly. Sort of like the actually good parts of some rap music (the sampled chorus with revived instrumentals), but it's the whole song. He explores the breadth of his style with enough variety for me to not get bored, which says a lot considering the style.

honey: LOVE IT! so catchy and bessie jones voice works perfectly, i love that it is no longer an innuendo, because it is made obvious and the tune is wonderful. makes me want to move. the "sometimes" is one refrain i will keep coming back to. find my baby: i love ethnomusicology and alan lomax, wow! blending gospel with electronica and folk is so cool, this is why we need creatives in music. this is why we need to study music and what it means to people and how it keeps us going in a society. v interesting music video, there is something about moby and his insistence on showing the finger to the music industry that reminds me of damon albarn. porcelain: to think this came out of a breakup, guess pain does lead to great art! easily and predictably one of my favourite moby tunes, i think it's wonderfully heartbreaking, the "le le le ngoba..." with the piano adds so much to this song. it almost feels like coming to terms with a breakup when the anger has subsided and you are left reminsicing. why does my heart feel so bad?: firstly, what a name! and exactly the kind of song i would listen to after porcelain, makes me feel so many things. i particularly love the post-chorus, "he'll open doors..." south side: tenderness will always be the new punk, do not become desensitised to violence and conflict! beautiful lyrics, and i think it makes for the quintessential millennial teen song and the guitar solo is crazy. "here we are now, going to the south side, i pick up my friends and we hope we won't die." listen to the version with gwen stefani! rushing: the intro reminds me of massive attack/enigma and the likes and as i am growing older, i think that is my jam. noice instrumental. i think moby is crazy talented and blows my mind with each song, even though this is not my favourite instrumental of his, it still slaps. bodyrock: oooh? i wasn't expecting that intro, but i dig it. it is reminding me of westerns and a very run dmc/beastie boys sound (east coast hip hop) along with some sexy guitar work. LOVE IT. orchestra to a predominantly hip-hop sound is so cool, man. i love the synth and electric guitars. lovely looping, will listen to it while gymming. natural blues: it's equally hard to like/dislike any song from this record, but i love the percussion set to vera hall's folksy sound and i think it has a mournful sound which is so refreshing. makes me want to close my eyes and move along in a dark room, even after the shittiest day possible. machete: now we are talking! i am sure this was a pleasure to listen to live. spooky sad lyrics also. i liked it, but i need to be in the mood for this. not something i would enjoy at any time of the day. 7: i love the industrial ruggedness and what sounds like manipulated tribal sounds. run on: oooooooh, very cool intro. i love the keys, and it's interesting to listen to this version, because i have heard odetta and presley's version of this. the thik thik thik towards the end is so cool also as is the distortion on the disc. down slow: as somebody who rarely likes instrumentals, the ones on this album are so so good. they have completely changed how i view and will view instrumentals, calming and riveting somehow? if things were perfect: spoken word over a tune, interesting. i like the general spookiness. trip-hop vibe that i seem to enjoy. i can daydream to this, as in think about nyc or such cities right before daybreak. everloving: the humming is so comforting. makes me feel like i can fly and it tugs at all the right strings in my brain. i love the crescendo towards the end. inside: like the keys in the last minute and the general ambient sound, but not necessarily something i will keep listening to. guitar flute and string: definitely one of my favourite instrumentals from the album, reminds me of a morning in the mountains seeing the sun rise from inside the tent and feeling like anything is possible, but in a slightly melancholic way. maybe you're leaving? the end of the trip? the sky is broken: moby and his spoken word and i can spot a ccr sample from miles ago. i like this also, i can imagine this being played in films and shows over certain characters. i like the minimalism that he leads with even though there is so much that he can do, the "speak to me baby in the middle of the night" took me by suprise and i love how i almost hear the turning of a page. if the world ends today, you will come over and speak to me, won't you? my weakness: more ethnomusicologists, aah! jean michel beaudet, wow. overall: 4.25/5. lovely album and i think it's one of those albums that will never age, because it is so innovative and so genuine. it is grounded in actual music and shows the potential of electronica and also human experience and singing, through the usage of samples etc from the great depression. i see why fred again is compared to moby at times. there are more songs in the album, i heard 18 out of 34. will find the time to listen to the rest soon. this album is a reminder to hold onto yout crazy, because you will invariably find your people! they will do wacky things with you.

Album 91 Top 3 "favorites" off the album: Rushing, Natural Blues, Porcelain Listen. I know it looks like I'm lazy style rating things by giving them all 2/2.5-ish ratings. In reality, it's just that I've hit another stretch of albums that I'm not terribly passionate about in either direction. Eventually, I'll hit something that I really like again. It's just taking a while. Vocals across the first two tracks weren't my thing. I liked some of what was going on instrumentally. I don't have much to say about this one. Every song felt about a minute and a half too long, even the ones with vocals that were bearable. Sorry.

There are some really good tracks on here, mostly the blues samples. There are also some really bad tracks. Overall, the good slightly outweighs the bad. 3.5

Masterpiece!

It's perfect 5/5

loved

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.

The record feels like a sunrise caught on tape. A pulse that never quits. It’s the kind of soundtrack that makes early‑adult nights feel limitless. Spins: 3 Playlist Additions - Honey - Porcelain - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? - South Side - Bodyrock - Machete - Run On - Everloving - Inside - Guitar Flute & String

enjoyable. too techno heavy

이런 장르의 노래는 처음 들어보는데 신선하고 좋았다. It was my first time hearing a song of this genre, and it felt fresh and good.

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.

Good

This might be one of the most bloated albums on the list. But honestly it’s fine for the most part.

mannnnnnn this dude is such a poser clown. every song on the first half is basically the same song. oh! youve heard a blues song! and you think its time to sample a blues lyric with some corny tepid key samples! oh my god! bless be! fuck this album. its trash. it came out in ‘99 and it was old fashioned and cheesy in ‘92. a truly vapid artist lacking any soul. except for the soul he smushed from other artists. yucko.

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

Love it and have tickets to see him in a few weeks time so perfect timing.

9/10… electronica / trip hop / *1999

Ja kommerz halt, aber als ganzes Album und nach all den Jahren ganz okayer Sound

He's such a dweeb and this album is woefully uneven and unfocused, but I have a special place in my heart for the record that opened my mind to electronica and ambient music 20 years ago.

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

Things trailed off into the ambient, which I enjoyed more than the first three quarters of the album.

3.5

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

After learning that this album became a smash hit after all of its songs were licensed for use in film/TV/commercials, suddenly the acclaim feels superficial. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant marketing strategy and I have to commend Moby and his team for using that angle to their advantage, but this actually DOES sound like music for commercials most of the time. Am I crazy? I like "Porcelain" a lot though.

I just rather be listening to A$AP Forever

Not my thing but plenty of familiar tracks. Pleasant enough album, though all sampling and looping - the originals (some c/o Alan Lomax) no doubt more interesting. Listen to the superior ‘He’ll Roll Your Burdens Away’ by The Banks Brothers for instance - sampled on the hit track ‘Why Does my Heart Feel so Bad?’ Much better than Moby’s music made for adverts.

Well... this was right up my alley. I feel like I'm a sexy 90s woman, clad in blood-red lipstick, grey-eyed, pixie cut, slinking around a night club, on a secret mission, because I'm also a Vampire Slayer, and the club is actually a secret vampire nest, and I need to scope out the leader.

Gran álbum, el mejor en semanas. Placentero.

This feels so 1999 optimistic and groovy

hell yea

I wonder what’s up with me liking more electronic music as I’ve gotten older. Never listened to this when it was made.

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

It takes me straight back to working in Virgin Megastore and people seeking out certain albums for collections that contain Moby, Dido, Enya and other BBC Radio 2 background music classics for people that like to be distracted rather than entertained. This is one of the most Vanilla albums ever made.

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

90

no just no 1/5

This album might be the only album worthy of defeating the reigning champ Bjork's Post album as 'Eclectic: The Album.' The styles on this album are crazy, there's quirky trip hop ("Honey"), straight blues ("Find My Baby"), barbershop pop ("Run On"), folk music ("Everloving") and also general downtempo feel to most songs, truly eclectic. My mind about melted when the first song "Honey" transitioned into the second track "Find My Baby." Like holy hell Jesus Christ on a bike, what a left turn. From hip-hop-adjacent music in the first song then the next one takes you back 50-60 years (at the time of the album release) right into raw blues. Still not completely sure where I stand this album, but I believe I will grow to like it. It's very interesting. I can tell lots of care and thought was put into this album. Highlight Song/s: "Honey", "Rushing", "Run On" and "Everloving"

A solid 3. The jumping between music styles was a bit strange but kind of worked

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

maybe its because i just muscled through all 127 hours of tank battles by dagmar krause but this was a pleasant surprise! kind of gave sinners at times, which is not something I ever thought I'd write

Couldn’t find the “original” album, but the B-sides and complete collection are way too long, half the songs are whatever and the other half range from classic EDM to semi-boring elevator music. The few songs I know really well bump up the 2.5

I’m DEEPLY nostalgic for this album. My mom played it a lot. I used to sing “why does my fart smell so bad, please open the door.” It also features my favorite version of Run On, which is like saying my favorite juice is Mountain Dew. There sure is a lot of crap filler I DON’T remember on this album. So that’s why it’s not getting 5 stars

music for walking in slow motion down a cool street

A classic album that brings back a lot of memories. I bought and listened a lot to this in the early 2000’s. It varies from cool party hits to relaxing background music. It still is a very strong album. Favourites: Everloving, Natural Blues, Find My Baby, Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad, Porcelain, Bodyrock, Honey.

Okay, Im in love. Moby, damn, finally listening to Moby properly, amazing music!

Lo repetí en mí memoria aunque después lo escuché de nuevo

Okay, this was a pleasant surprise. I only recognized the one song from the collab with Gwen Stefani, and it was lovely to hear this version. I enjoyed my nostalgic journey through Moby calling Eminem out for his racism and homophobia, just to be called a slur in Without You. Thrilled to be the same age Moby was when Eminem called him old.

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.

Discazo, me encantó. Ya había escuchado bastantes temas, pero nunca hasta el final. Es cierto que podría ser más corto, porque los últimos temas los sentí medio relleno. Pero es un gran disco, Moby es un capo.

pleasantly surprised, even knew 2 of them well.

new for me. i love somes songs so bad!

Nice trip down memory lane, but nothing really amazing that stood ou.

Surprisingly smashy

okay enough

Remember when Moby wrote in his book about how he had a relationship with Natalie Portman and she had to come out and say that never happened? Anyway, this shit sucks ass. It's probably a 2, but Moby is such a pretentious douchebag I'm giving it a 1.

The formula hasn't aged too well, perhaps, but the sampled blues vocals over laid-back contemporary indie-dance backing gimmick still lands more often than not.

Surprised how much of this I had already heard before in other media. It’s pretty fun, even if sometimes the repetitive sampling kind of makes it feel like a series of sketches as opposed to fully realized songs. But whatever it slaps

Incredible front half but starts to fall off on the backside. South Side is an all time banger if you can get it with the Gwen Stefani backing vocals. For some reason the version of that song on Spotify does not have the Gwen vocals and the track suffers without them.

This album was like a soundtrack of the end of high school. It was in every tv show, movie, and ad campaign. Pretty sure I only knew one or two songs from radio. A little Moby goes a long way. I was pleasantly surprised with the variety of tracks. A few were tedious but most just made my wretched morning commute feel like a cinematic moment. Porcelain Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad South Side Bodyrock Natural Blues

Har aldri virkelig satt meg ned med Moby før, så dette var mye mer consistent enn jeg hadde forventet! Åpenbart front loaded med Honey, Procelain (må være en av 90-tallets kjennelåter eller?), og Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? ila. de første fire sporene, men mister meg ikke selv om det fint kunne vært 20 min kortere.

Dette er egentlig en veldig Kulturelle skolesekkencore plate. Det er litt sånn «no skal vi få høyre gamle melodiar og nye rytmar. Hold dykk fast!» Føler jeg har belegg fordi Ugress kom til bygda i den kulturelle skolesekken en gang. Uansett, toppene er ganske bra. Det funker jo ganske bra med låtene som er bygget rundt gamle samples. Hadde han plukka seg ut ti låter hadde plata vært en firer, men det blir for mye strekking av CD-formatet til å holde det interessant

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.

If you were around in 1999, this album was inescapable, mainly because Moby licensed it everywhere. If you weren't you probably know these songs from car commercials. Regardless of how this got to be a part of the turn of the century culture, there is no denying the music here. The first half of the album is banger after banger, and while the second half is more mellow in comparison, it doesn't slow down enough to hinder the whole experience. Techno may not have lasted long as a mainstream force, but this is one of its quintisential records.

5,3/10 South side

i liked this

Porcelain is great. Otherwise it's just Moby ripping off more talented musicians.

I didn't expect this album to be as dance or fast as it was. It's due to my misconception of what Moby is from that Porcelain track. Fun listen, but jumps around a bit too much for me.

First listened on 22nd and 23rd April 2026. This album is not for me, but I like Porcelain.

Kinda neat dance music. The mood board for Apple ads in the iPod era was heavy with Moby, I suspect. I dig it, definitely sounds like 1999 but great music for productivity or focus!

excelente y vuelvo a escucharlo

it was decent but I felt like it wasn't really for me. It had a lot of "piano" songs or songs that are very slow and traunquil. It was decent overall but there wasn't even any songs that were very memorable.

Enjoyed exploring this album from start to finish and the various samples throughout. I was already familiar with/remember listening to South Side, Natural Blues and Honey.

computer show me badass music for sony ericsson’s ringtone

둠칫둠칫

Sort of ambient chill techno.

It’s hard to explain to people who grew up in a later era but this album was unavoidable for a couple of years around the millennium. Turn on the TV and an ad. comes on, a song from Moby Play. Go to the cinema, a song from Moby Play. Walk through a shop, the radio is playing a song from Moby Play. Not all the time obviously but enough that everyone heard the songs. Some drag a bit but the good stuff is still good.

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

3,5

hard to get into at the start but much better later on. the longest album i've ever seen. very cinematic and i can see how influential this is for electronic music today. favourite song is machete

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

Electronic legend.

Cool electronica, uses samples really well and the arrangements sound great. Love the mix of piano with strings on some of these songs. I can see him getting some inspiration from Adore by Smashing Pumpkins Standout songs: Find My Baby, Why Does My Hear Feel So Bad, Machete, Everloving, Inside, Guitar & Flute String.

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

A lot is going on in just one album It's insane.

I recognised more of this than I expected. I suppose that's because of the number of tracks that were released as singles. It's okay but I wouldn't seek it out.

Chill & fun.

Enjoyed this album for its chill vibe. I’ve heard a couple of these songs before but it was fun to hear them in album form.

Weirdly I happened to hear Mobys music in Europe last year. I like this repeating almost Canon style of music, though this album was long and not every song is a winner. However, there are some great songs too. All in all I think this is a worthwhile sound to hear, and was pleasantly surprised to see a Moby album rather that mediocre dad rock album #102 or crappy British 80s punk album #87.

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.

Always had a soft spot for this. 3

156. ok

This is apparently a techno album relying heavily on blues samples. I have never heard of this album or artist. My original characterization of the album is slightly incorrect; it's literally blues samples looped with techno beats added to them. Essentially, that's like serving the reheated leftovers of a gourmet steak after they've been in the fridge for about a week. It's not going to be anywhere near as good as the freshly served steak(the blues originals) was. Steaks aside, this album lacks any form of real artistry. I, a random 15 year old kid, could recreate this incredibly easily. No real good lyrics, no real songcraft, just looped samples and beats that are usually uninteresting. It's not good, and it's definitely not essential listening. It's just a boring waste of time.

Okay actually this is pretty fun…

This was a solid album in the massive Attack/ Avalanches- adjacent space. When I heard the first song, I thought it was outdated in the production sounded amateurish, but the rest of the album quickly want me over. The sampling and live instrumentation blend together very well. I don't love the occasional spoken word vocals he puts on there, but it doesn't bother me that much.

About a third of the way in, I was thinking: probably a 3; feels kind of dated (and possibly cultural/artistic appropriation issues?), but I have to admit it grew on me, as it went along and, while I'm not entirely willing to discard the negative thoughts, I think I'm still willing to give this one 4 stars.

I was aware of Moby from the time I started being interested in music as a kid, because of dad's CDs. His music was underwhelming to me then, when I was enthralled by the contemporary electronic music being made, and it's still just as underwhelming to me now. It seems so uninspired; lazy beats with vocal samples doing most of the work on top of weak chords. I guess it works as background music? It really doesn't hold my attention

Very good.

Some very famous songs in this album but not all of the songs caught my attention.

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”

fun, jazzy, rythmé, whammy, house, short voice loops over beautiful instrumental arrangements, gets more and more melancholic

Nice dance beats, otherwise ho-hum.

El original

I can't really knock it. You either like this kind of music or you don't. Porcelain is great, the rest just kind of exists. It does get repetitive after a bit.

Ganska udda blanding, helt ok men inte riktigt min stil

This is good. Easy to listen to while working. Good backgroun music.

Honestly better than I expected. I think this was probably the right album for the time it came out, but I don’t necessarily love it.

Honestly if I still was a kid I would give this 5 stars, it's nostalgic, a great record, however side one is much much stronger than 2nd one even though it still has nice songs, but even though I might rated it for 4.5 on RYM, it will go for 4 here.

Memory gospel on bängeri mut se on extended Levys varmaan vaan

My score might be influenced by sentimental value but for me this album is a delight to listen to. My only tiny issue is that it tapers off a little bit at the end and could maybe do with a tiny haircut.

A good album, I miss the South side version with Gwen Stefani though.

Not five stars I don't think

Sooooo fun to listen!! Love how it started and ended!! Really, my weakness, a beautiful way to end a movie about life, or an album ahah

Honestly ended up liking this way more than I expected, despite my personal distaste of Moby as a person

Nogle af numrene er virkelig fede, men andet er lidt for ambient til mig.

Honorary five but still great album

better than i expected

NOBODY LISTENS TO TECHNO It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be

Some of the tracks here are good, some just kinda go by. Same style throughout. Taking old black spirituals and adding the most polished and commercial production and keyboards on it is kinda much.

293/1001 Moby - Play Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this on first listen. I guess I knew and enjoyed the singles from this and should have told me to pick it up sooner. It maybe a touch overlong, but great listen.

i liked south side, and body rock and natural blues all were cool machete sounds like a panic attack a little run on is fun fav track: natural blues least fav: find my baby 6.6/10

Repetitive garbage.

Do I like it?

I'm sort of biased on this one.. I knew and enjoyed Moby before I wandered over to his set at ultra music festival 2008. What I saw was an artist who knew the crowd he was playing to and threw down so hard in that sweaty tent. It solidified my love for this artist and his versatility. This album isn't much like what that was, but it has its place.

love porcelain, really housey vibe that i love in a track

Moby Dick

umm it’s just kinda. boring. Giving it a 3 but just barely. The occasional vocals is nice

red lobster music is actually better

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

pretty sick dude

Definitely different from everything else I've listened to. Moby has a unique style of techno and samples. Some is really good ambience, but if you don't like techno, you won't like it. I didn't think it was bad, I just can't see myself going back to many of these songs.

A throwback but enjoyable. I recognize so many songs.

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.

Awesome album!

func & funk

This is what Frutiger Aero sounds like to me.

I like Moby but not sure I like him for more than like 5 songs in a row. I do feel like the tv show montage vibe of his music loses its novelty after a little bit. All things considered this is still a solid album

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

oh to be a woman pushing 30 in 1999 wearing a bandeau dress in a miami rooftop club…

Catchy and pleasant if lyrically limited. 2 star

Some really great tracks on this and the whole thing feels familiar even though I feel like I never purposefully listened to this album before. The best tracks are basically pillaged from the Alan Lomax catalogue and updated with the sound of the time. It’s a success in many aspects. However the later 3rd of the album is pretty rubbish in comparison and some of the tracks sprinkled between the standout are really skips.

This is a really cool album packed with legendary tracks. While listening I felt happy, energized, and strangely comforted at the same time. It’s full of catchy tunes that stick in your head for days. What makes Play so special is how Moby took old blues, gospel, and folk samples and turned them into modern electronic songs that actually feel soulful. The production is clean but warm, and the way he builds the tracks around those vocal samples is brilliant. Almost every song feels like a hit. One of my favorite moments is how he sampled Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Long As I Can See the Light” on “ The Sky Is Broken.” That haunting vocal combined with the simple piano and beats creates something really emotional and beautiful. Tracks like “Porcelain,” “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?,” “Honey,” “Bodyrock,” and “South Side” are all absolute bangers that defined the late 90s and early 2000s. It’s one of those rare albums where nearly every song is strong. Catchy, emotional, well-made, and still sounds fresh even today. Definitely a modern classic.

I don't want to review, just listen

I've heard a ton of these songs just being around, but pretty enjoyable - nothing really stood out as much better than the rest, but great to 'do stuff' to. favorite track: Porcelain

Lot of really good stuff here, felt like watching an ad break in the 90s

Maybe my favorite experience with the genre so far (probably due to all the other genres present in the songs). Seen lots of people talking about how it's commercial crap made for selling cars, and though I don't remember any of the songs playing in advertisements here in my country, they really sound like they were made for that purpose lol. That doesn't really detract from the experience though; there's a wide variety of really good tunes in this. It loses a bit of steam in the second half, mainly in the spoken word and instrumental songs, but it still is a very solid record that I will revisit in the future.

I like some of the songs here, especially Body Rock (because its rock and i like rock). Many songs sample other much older songs and remixes them with electro elements, some may say slop, but yeah, there is good stuff to be found here.

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

As someone who doesn’t care for techno music/electronica, I find this rather soothing to listen to. Contrary to my opinion of the genre, this seems more approachable and, even - dare I say it - interesting? It’s not enough for a careful scrutiny, but as a background, it’s great. 3 stars.

Talk about a tale of two halves The first 8 or 9 songs of this album are phenomenal, just banger after banger. Love how high energy and varied each song is, from super electronic but still musically sound tracks to ones that almost feel like live performances, just truly amazing stuff for someone I honestly don’t think I’ve heard of before That second half really slows down though, it’s not awful and there’s definitely some cool songs in there but all the fun and variety is gone. I think on its own it’d be more palatable but it’s just really disappointing when I was looking forward to another 30 mins of the 1st half and that’s just not what we got Variety is really excellent on this one though, hard to complain too much. I think this would be a 5 if the aforementioned 2nd section got cut, but it’s a pretty damn solid album nonetheless

So the interesting thing about this exercise is that we get albums that are in the same genres, but I have wildly different ratings for them. It then makes you wonder, "Why is this album a banger while the other one sucked?" And from that, I can figure out exactly what works for me in this album. I love the use of layered samples. Each song is fully unique and the samples and mixing are used to create a diverse soundscape. It's easy listening too, so the sampling can shine. And then it's broken up by songs that are original and they stand out and feel special, even if it's just a simple instrumental track. The effects and editing are done tastefully here; no obnoxious distortion or dubstep wah-wah.

Dance and electronica from Moby. Not bad, not great. Mid. Hence the 3 stars. I have a hunch that his other 22 albums sound pretty much the same. Good on him for the rags to riches story, though.

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.

You can feel emotion, each song is its story but it all comes together as a singular entity that has clearly inspired a lot of electronic music that came after that project. Not the most exciting project but definitely a great experience I give it a 3.5/4

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

A huge album. Cleverly placed with samples and being available to college and schools. Very clever marketing. Some tracks I like and others not so much.

Some pretty unreal songs on this album... also some filler. Probably could have cut it off at about 13 songs. But still, great album!

Not bad. “Nobody listens to techno!”

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.

Pretty interesting though it's a bit dull to listen to the whole thing. Some good tracks.

At the turn of the millennium, Play arrived like a slick cultural Trojan horse: an electronic record that smuggled the ghosts of American roots music into malls, movie trailers, and every third TV commercial. Moby’s central conceit—looping field recordings and weathered blues or gospel vocals over polished downtempo beats—was smart enough to feel novel and accessible enough to become inescapable. What made the album resonate beyond its marketing saturation, though, was its mood. Beneath the licensing frenzy lies a deeply melancholy record, full of empty spaces, soft-focus textures, and the kind of late-night introspection that defined post-rave electronica. When it works, Play feels expansive and strangely human. When it doesn’t, it slips into the genre’s familiar traps: overextended loops, prefab drum programming, and a tracklist that stretches a modest idea past its breaking point. Eighteen songs and just over an hour may not sound excessive, but the album often feels longer, especially in its less inspired stretches. Still, even its flaws are tied to its ambition. "Porcelain" remains the centerpiece, all piano shimmer and hushed vulnerability, while "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" turns a plaintive sample into something hauntingly universal. "Natural Blues" is the clearest realization of Moby’s old-meets-new thesis, and "Run On" injects some much-needed bounce into the proceedings. Elsewhere, "South Side" leans into alt-pop charm, and "The Sky Is Broken" proves that spoken-word sensuality is harder to pull off than it sounds. Overplayed, overlicensed, and occasionally overlong, Play still captures a moment when electronic music briefly convinced everyone it had a soul.

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.

This is a difficult one to access, the style is definitely not my thing, however I found myself enjoying a few of the tracks, maybe it was a subliminal recognition of the advert music? Some of the tracks were dreadful. I've explored Moby before and not been impressed.

It’s way too extensive for what it is, but gotta respect the man and his craft.

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

#108/1001 🇺🇸 ▶️ Another record that i played endlessly at the time it came out. Listening back today it doesn't hold the same appeal, maybe its been overplayed. The vocal samples do get a bit repetative, but still it holds more appeal than say the Fat Boy Slim record that i got a couple of weeks ago. Best tracks: Porcelain, If Things Were Perfect, Down Slow

Appreciate it but not an album I listen to often or much at all.

Loved it badly. Sabroso, sabroso. Divertido. Fan.

Honey - 2/5 Find my baby - 2/5 Porcelain - 3/5 Why does my heart feel so bad - 4/5 Southside - 4/5 Rushing - 3/5 Bodyrock - 4/5 Natural blues - 4/5 Machete - 4/5 Run on - 2/5 If things were perfect - 3/5 Everloving - 4/5 Inside - 2/5 Guitar flute & string - 3/5 The sky is broken - 2/5 My weakness - 3/5

I genuinely have never listened to a single one of mobys songs so this is exciting. Hm it’s very repetitive to say the least. Very 90s I feel like even though I haven’t heard many of OH PORCELAIN IVE HEARD THIS NVM. My parents were big partiers in the 90s so this is one of the essential tracks they would play in the kitchen when I was younger. I think I’ve heard rushing too. Bodyrock is cool I like it. I also know Natural Blues. Overall it’s a VERY long album and it’s alright there are quite a few bangers but I don’t think it’s something I would listen to regularly.

I was surprised how many songs I recognised from this considering I’ve never gone out of my way to listen to Moby before. There’s some really good tracks on here but a good few that I wasn’t really that arsed about. Shave 15-20 minutes from it and I probably would’ve gone to 4 stars. Top Track - Bodyrock, brought back memories of playing FIFA 2001 and Gran Turismo

was excited about this one but it wasn't that cool, really

The day has come. I must make an honest assessment of Moby. If only I could merely just quote Space Ghost: "Nobody cares Moby. No one." and be witty it could cover all my bases and I can move on. But I am an honest man, and I will listen to bald ambient man that is not Brian Eno. Play is very much the sound of the turning of the new millennium. It captures the americana roots that helped seed the many music revolutions of the 20th century. Waved all together by later 20th century music technology with sampling and multi track productions (they didn't record that early in the 20th century but the music technology grew better and better by the decade starting in the late 30s/40s). Parts of the album wave a sense of techno-optimism and overcoming the burdens and strife of the past, but ends on what the 21st century would actually provide: pain, sorrow and misery. Also not good, compared to the rest of the album. I did like Guitar Flute & Spring though. Play feels important in a way I described in my review about Super Furry Animals' Rings Around The World: it distinctly sounds like the year 2000. I lived in that year, mostly as a five year old, and can remember Porcelain on the radio back then and maybe Bodyrock or South Side? It really captures that pre 9/11 sound of an aborted era of American (and possibly world) history. That sound being: what if many things sounded like the Apple startup music. The stronger emergence of computers coming into our daily routine (the internet soon to follow). Play feels like an important album more as a cultural capture point than maybe the quality of the music. This is mostly good! There's a lot of songs to go through and it's easy to at least find a few that are good for a blind listen. The B-Sides (and I choose not to go through all of them because I loved Space Ghost growing up) are a decent follow-up as like an optional side quest. There's definitely parts to the album I don't care much for but it's not too bad throughout. Not too much that would make me want to hear it again, but I understand its importance.

Great album. A lot of songs already on playlists I listen to often. Not much more to say other than I will enjoy listening through it once more today!

bit long-winded

Didn't love it when it first came out but it's grown on me. closer to 4 than 5 for me today.

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.

Listening session: april 21st, while commuting to internship Listened to before: heard one song before Thoughts: this was a quite refreshing album to listen to compared to some other things I’ve heard on here and I’m not even a big fan of electronic music. The second half of this album is weak compared to the first tracks though in my opinion, but still a nice listen Favourite tracks: Honey, Porcelain & Natural Blues

The album that launched a thousand adverts. Some wonderful arrangements and creative sampling. However for the 3 or 4 great songs the rest is filler.

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

Listened Before? N You know... I went in expecting to be put off by this cascade of samples and re-treads - and I have to say- it was much better and more tolerable to listen to than I thought it would be. It helps when you put aside how overplayed some of the tracks are and try to just take them for what they are. I'm not here to get into social commentary about "theft" of black artists' music (he paid for all of these samples where not public domain) so I'll just say it was a surprisingly good listen and move on. The famous "Porcelain" really did it for me vibe-wise. Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist: Porcelain

A classic

nostalgic, good

I liked it!

(4/7) some fun stuff and some strange stuff

Do I understand this is good, the vibes are good, and did I feel super cool driving around listening to it? All yes. Did I connect with any song emotionally at all? Not really (Tim Robinson voice)

banger

I thought it was good, but realistically I'm not listening to it ever again.

Okay.. I’m gonna be harsh with this one. I’m genuinely shocked at how good of an overall rating this album has and how popular it is in general. This is bad. There are instances in music where repetition can be effective… this is not an example of that. This album has no right being as long as it is. Even the stronger songs can be best described as dull and uninspired, and the album as a whole was a painfully mind-numbing experience. Over half of the songs follows the same formula: an old blues/soul sample repeated over and over again with some boring electronic beat behind it. It’s an insult to the actually talented people who made those samples. On this album, if you hear the first 10 seconds of a song, you’ve basically heard the whole song. No variation whatsoever. Needless to say, I was not a fan of this at all and will not be returning to it. “Favorite” songs: Porcelain, Run On

An incredible album, but maaaan, this guy is so unlikeable!!!

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

He seems to be a nice guy and has been vegan for a long time, but I really wish he would make better music.

Favorite Track: Find My Baby

Mid.

One of those albums I have always been aware of but had only listened to 1 song. I think this is a 4.

5 - some hits but other songs are shit listens

Repetitive

Album inteiro com músicas de comerciais da MTV nos anos 00's, vim a óbito pela nostalgia.

Deeply cringe. Felt like the dance through time scene in Sinners.

It is built from tension between the ancient and the modern, the human and the synthetic, the lonely and the euphoric. Moby takes blues, gospel, and field-recording-derived vocal fragments and places them inside sleek electronic production

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

Went in expecting to roll my eyes at this one—Moby’s an easy target and Play got rinsed to death in ads and films. But honestly? I kind of liked it. Those old blues and gospel samples still hit a weirdly emotional sweet spot, and the whole thing just flows in this warm, hypnotic way. I recognised loads of tracks without realising I knew them. It is too long—an hour is a stretch, and the last chunk drifts into wallpaper territory. But before that, it’s genuinely lovely and strangely comforting. Not cool, maybe, but really enjoyable.

Gracias por el pack de beats loco

Top álbumes malos. 0,5/10

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

Listening to the complete recordings. 1. Honey - this is very 'Around the World' where you can listen to it and not be annoyed by the repetition. 2. Find My Baby - hmm same thing with the repetition but the listen is easy enough it flows nicely. 3. Porcelain - playing with space is fun. The imbalance left and right ear is fun. 4. WDMHFSB? - it's starting to feel like this inspired some of the Matrix soundtrack tbh. 5. South Side - honestly, pretty catchy and stands out so far as a non-remixed song. A nice change of pace. 6. Rushing - this was so pleasant I forgor I was listening for a sec. 7. Bodyrock - nonstop y'all. 8. Natural Blues - #relaytable my troubles with god yass queen. 9. Machete - i like the harsh vibe. 10. 7 - it was just a minute long 11. Run On - fun quartet in there. We like that blues/a cappella 12. Down Slow - another short one :/ 13. If Things Were Perfect - give me summer. I'm also playing wow and honestly, everything so far is vibing. 14. Everloving - starting to slow down and go low. 15. Inside - i am loving this water-level-esque vibe that has started. 16. Guitar Flute & String - a short-ish one. still chill 17. The Sky Is Broken - i am not a big fan of spoken word songs. this does not hit 18. My Weakness - orchestral feel, we're in the sad sounding songs part that kinda give church. not awful 19. Flower - back to blues repetition. classic 20. Sunday - 5 minutes of a chill electronic song. Nothing too crazy or too stand-out. 21. Memory Gospel - we're getting to the longer songs >:) my favorite. This is why the album is 2 hours. This song tho feels like a slow build, so far is just a background track. 22. Whispering Wind - these are just long chill songs. nothing too exciting really. 23. Summer - an uplifting chill song. i don't wanna say it's kinda boring, but it's a little boring. Just repetitive. 24. Spirit - a swell but still chill. nothing too crazy. 25. Flying Foxes - i'm just gonna repeat myself. it's all just chill electronic 26. Sunspot - bumping beat, still in long song chill mode. (good WOW music) 27. Flying Over the Dateline - very warpled. not awful, still chill repetition. Gonna keep repeating myself I think. 28. Running - okay a pick-me-up. Getting a typical electronic beat. Another long one :] 29. The Sun Never Stops Setting - i can see a sunset to this. very blooming but chill enough it's like a drive at dusk. 30. Micronesia - 180 okay >:O loving the drum sound. it's giving Bomberman 64. Hell yeah. 31. Arp - a pick up at the end. loving it. More on the Tron vibe now. 32. Ain't Never Learned - a good pace, following the previous song. Still has some slow spots, starting to fall into a Gorillaz sound. 33. Sick in the System - it's giving the part of NeverEnding Story where the castle is shown for the first time. 34. Princess - i love me some long songs but if this is just gonna be repetitive again (I swear it doesn't even look like a real word anymore) it's just gonna be samey as the other ones. To be completely honest, this is just an electronic album. Pretty straightforward - there's nothing too exciting but everything on here is pretty mid or chill. It's really at a 3-4/5. Not bad, but not outstanding.

Fatboy slim for vegans?

Honey Bodyrock Natural Blues

Honey Find My Baby Natural Blues Machete My Weakness

Pedophile