At least that's the way I see it today - tune in later in the week for my opinion then.
Disc 273 is...Play
Artist: Moby
Year of Release: 1999
What’s Up With The Cover?: It appears to be Moby captured mid-jump. Perhaps he is 'playing', as per the album title. I know one thing for certain - his shoes are really ugly, and the rest of his outfit doesn't make up for it.
How I Came To Know It: I believe everyone knew this album back in 1999, and most people had it. I think we got it comparatively late, but I'm not gonna pretend we didn't believe the hype, because obviously we did.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Moby CDs - this one and "18" (reviewed way back at Disc 82). I slightly prefer "18" so I'll put "Play" in at #2.
Rating: 3 stars.
While listening to this album for the past couple of days it felt like I hadn't heard it in years. In fact, when I sat down to do this review and realized it came out in 1999 I was surprised it wasn't even older.
It was a massive record in its day. It was constantly on the radio, on the video channel, and played at every low-key cocktail party with the sense not to put on the Verve Remixes. It was also sold out to car companies to make commercials, much like today you can't go 10 minutes without hearing Janelle Monae's "Tightrope" advertising for Ford, or Chevy, or whoever.
I don't fault Moby or Monae, though. If the Who can sell out to car commercials, then so can anyone else. (In defence of the Who, they predicted they'd sell out decades earlier, so at least they warned us). Also, we all have to make a living, and Moby had toiled many years in obscurity before "Play" and I fully expect he needed the money. Artists suffer financially for their choices. We should let it slide if once in a while we hear them singing jingles for the local grocer like Michelle Pfeiffer at the end of The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Speaking of fresh produce, let's get back to the album. "Play" lays down some competent grooves, and this album is certainly listenable. I particularly like "South Side" which features Gwen Stefani, who brings a nice air of vocal authenticity to an album that can often slide into excess artificiality.
I also like the obvious love Moby holds for many different genres of music, as he interprets each into his own electro-pop stylings. In addition to "South Side" there are jazz overtones in songs like "Porcelain", blues in "Find My Baby", hip hop in "Bodyrock", Ragtime in "Run On" and new age folk with "Guitar flute & string". I had the impression listening that Moby wasn't just lifting riffs to avoid writing his own, but rather that he was paying homage to these other musical forms.
That said, I am just not a big fan of electronica, even when it has a sugar coating of pop to make it go down easier, and so I found the album lacking emotional resonance in many places.
Also, this record has 18 tracks, which is about six too many and they aren't numbered, which makes figuring out where you are on the disc annoying.
Finally, Moby has once again filled the CD liner notes with rambling essays on his personal beliefs which come off as very self-absorbed. While this annoyed me, I will give Moby full credit for being able to poke fun at himself. In real life he is a well-known vegetarian, but in the Canadian horror cult classic "Suck" he plays a character named, Beef, lead singer of a punk band who's main claim to fame is that they throw raw meat at their audience during shows.
If you haven't seen "Suck" it is pretty fun stuff. Not exactly Oscar fare, but a pretty good comedy send-up of the Vampire story as a metaphor for a band selling out to be famous. Also the bass player makes one hot vampire...
But I digress. Back to "Play". It may not be deserving of the mountains of praise it got back at the turn of the century, but it is still a solid album, even for folks like me who have a natural aversion to electronica.
Best tracks: Honey, South Side, Bodyrock, Natural Blues, Run On
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