Play

Artist: Moby
Type: Album
Release date: 1999
Run time: 63:12
My Rating: 9

1. Honey (3:28)
2. Find my baby (3:59)
3. Porcelain (4:01)
4. Why does my heart feel so bad? (4:24)
5. South side (3:49)
6. Rushing (3:00)
7. Bodyrock (3:36)
8. Natural blues (4:13)
9. Machete (3:37)
10. 7 (1:02)
11. Run on (3:45)
12. Down slow (1:35)
13. If things were perfect (4:18)
14. Everloving (3:25)
15. Inside (4:48)
16. Guitar flute & string (2:09)
17. The sky is broken (4:18)
18. My weakness (3:37)

Comments

After releasing this album, Moby took the step of licensing the songs, enabling advertisers to use such tracks as the achingly beautiful "Porcelain" and the upbeat "Bodyrock" on movie trailers, adverts, even in one case as the theme tune to a comedy show. Previously obscure Moby rapidly gained a sizable measure of fame and Play became hugely successful.

Moby here made extensive use of sample from old blues recordings, remixing them with his own music to create tracks with a wide variety of moods and genres. Though the album is fairly mellow, there's still the occasional punk ("Machete") or dance ("Bodyrock") track. Play seems to lose momentum towards the end, but finishes with the wonderful and ethereally-spooky "My Weakness", which even appeared on an X Files episode once...