Moby
Play
Rare & Collectible Vinyl Records

Sealed 2022 2LP 140gm Reissue. "Following A Notorious Flirtation With Alternative Rock, Moby Returned To The Electronic Dance Mainstream On The 1997 Album I Like To Score. With 1999's Play, He Made Yet Another Leap Back Toward The Electronica Base That Had Passed Him By During The Mid-'90s. The First Two Tracks, "Honey" And "Find My Baby," Weave Short Blues Or Gospel Vocal Samples Around Rather Disinterested Breakbeat Techno. This Version Of Blues-Meets-Electronica Is Undoubtedly Intriguing To The All-important NPR Crowd, But It Is More Than Just A Bit Gimmicky To Any Techno Fans Who Know Their Carl Craig From Carl Cox. Fortunately, Moby Redeems Himself In A Big Way Over The Rest Of The Album With A Spate Of Tracks That Return Him To The Evocative, Melancholy Techno That's Been A Specialty Since His Early Days. The Tinkly Piano Line And Warped String Samples On "Porcelain" Frame A Meaningful, Devastatingly Understated Vocal From The Man Himself, While "South Side" Is Just Another Pop Song By Someone Who Shouldn't Be Singing -- That Is, Until The Transcendent Chorus Redeems Everything. Surprisingly, Many Of Moby's Vocal Tracks Are Highlights; He Has An Unerring Sense Of How To Frame His Fragile Vocals With Sympathetic Productions. Occasionally, The Similarities To Contemporary Dance Superstars Like Fatboy Slim And Chemical Brothers Are Just A Bit Too Close For Comfort, As On The Stale Big-Beat Anthem "Bodyrock." Still, Moby Shows Himself Back In The Groove After A Long Hiatus, Balancing His Sublime Early Sound With The Breakbeat Techno Evolution Of The '90s." AMG Review By John Bush.