Saturday, June 27, 2009

891. Moby - Play (1999)

















Track Listing

1. Honey
2. Find My Baby
3. Porcelain
4. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
5. South Side
6. Rushing
7. Bodyrock
8. Natural Blues
9. Machete
10. 7
11. Run On
12. Down Slow
13. If Things Were Perfect
14. Everloving
15. Inside
16. Guitar Flute & String
17. Sky Is Broken, The
18. My Weakness

Review

There must be few albums where almost all the songs are so instantly recognisable. In the transition from the 90s to the noughties Moby was a pervasive presence not only in clubs, but also in adverts, films, TV series etc. You could not spend a day without being hit with something from Play.

Now that a decade has passed one can look at the album a bit more removed from its constant presence. It is easy to understand why the album was so popular, never before had pop and electronica been so successfully integrated. The appeal of the album is massive, it is hard to dislike it...

That being said if there is an album which has been overplayed this is definitely it. Even a decade is not enough space to be able to listen to it with no flashbacks. Still it is a very smart work, the use of samples, mostly from old Blues recordings, is quite brilliant, the production is perfect and the songs are short and easily digestible avoiding the fatigue that often comes with 7 minute long electronica songs. These have a definite beginning, middle and end, working more as pop or for those not really committed to their electronica.

Track Highlights

1. Honey
2. Bodyrock
3. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
4. Run On

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Play was the first album ever to have all of its tracks licensed for use in movies, television shows, or commercials. One of the more notable commercials featured golfer Tiger Woods playing a round of golf around New York City to the tune of "Find My Baby", but countless other uses of the album's songs are documented. Moby did not individually approve each commercial use, but it is unknown what sort of financial arrangement, if any, was reached. According to Wired magazine, the songs on Play "have been sold hundreds of times... a licensing venture so staggeringly lucrative that the album was a financial success months before it reached its multi-platinum sales total."

Honey:

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