HOTEL (2005)
!NTRO 2005 (Germany)
Es ist immer dasselbe: Ein neues Album des vielleicht dezentesten Popstars der Welt, gemeint ist Moby, ist irgendwann einfach da. Liegt auf dem Schreibtisch, steht in den Läden, läuft in Radio und Fernsehen. Das ist auch jetzt wieder so. Denn das Werk itself war hier zumindest in jüngerer Zeit genauso dezent wie der Künstler in seiner (durchaus auch mal langweiligen) Selbstdarstellung. Spätestens seit dem letzten Longplayer scheint sich Moby mit sich selbst auf ein musikalisches Konzept geeinigt zu haben, das auch in Zukunft Bestand haben dürfte, zumindest aber auf ›Hotel‹ noch hat: unaufgeregte, im aufgeregtesten Fall leicht pushende Mid-Tempo-Emo-Endlosschleifen über Synthie, Klavier und Gitarre. Aber das kann er eben nach wie vor in einer Weise, die Millionen verkaufte Alben rechtfertigen. Das ist diesmal vielleicht weniger ablesbar an der ersten retrobehafteten Single ›Lift Me Up‹, die zumindest Deutsche an die besten Euro-Trash-Zeiten und im Speziellen an ›Coco Jambo‹ erinnern dürfte. Wirklich spürbar wird Mobys Klasse hingegen bei ›Raining Again‹, in der der Wahl-New-Yorker paradoxerweise mal wieder unter Beweis stellt, dass er gerade unter Mithilfe einer Gitarre die größten Hits schreibt: So wunderschön, wie sich hier eine Slide-Gitarre in den Vordergrund dudelt, war es das letzte Mal bei ›We Are All Made Of Stars‹. Ansonsten: Sehr viel ruhige, aber durchaus schöne Stücke (z. B. ›Slipping Away‹) und viele Vocals von Moby himself. Dass übrigens, wie die Info kolportiert, überhaupt keine Samples auf dem Album zu hören sind, ändert am Gesamtgestus oder gar den Songstrukturen nichts. Sampling war bei Moby schon immer weniger das musikhistorische Apropos, das zwinkernde Zitat oder gar der politische Subtext als vielmehr Mittel zum Zweck auf dem Weg zum Hit. Und die kann er wahrlich auch selbst einspielen.
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18 (2003)
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Play (1999)
!NTRO 1999 (German)
Was für andere Leute das Rauchen, ist für Großstadt-Eremit Moby das Politisieren: eine schlechte Angewohnheit, die man in kalten Silvesternächten abzulegen verspricht. Während der New Yorker auf dem Cover seines ersten Albums noch seitenweise Pamphlete und Statistiken über den miserablen Zustand der Erde abdruckte und sich auf Platte Nummer Zwo für die "Animal Rights" einsetzte, nahm er sich für das jetzt erscheinende dritte Werk mal Persönliches zu verarbeiten vor. Dabei heraus kommt, was Songtitel wie "Honey", "Find My Baby", "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" trägt und allein ja noch keinen Anlaß zum Tränenverguß darstellt, aber die neuerliche Stilwandlung, die Moby nach einem Techno- und einer Punk/Industrial-Album vollzogen hat, hinterläßt doch ausreichend Fragezeichen. Zwischen Lounge-Blues und Ambient-Sounds, zwischen leichtem Digital-Funk und (ja, man muß es so hart sagen) Pop hat Moby (wieder einmal im Alleingang) ein Album geschrieben, mit dem er einsam der Welt gegenübersteht. Und die Welt denkt: "Ist ja ganz nett." Aber auch: "Verdammt noch mal, wir wollen doch von Moby keine Nettigkeiten in die Ohren kriegen!" Sicher, auch mit "Play" wird er neue Hörer dazugewinnen, der Meister der Polarisation, und es sich mit Liebhabern seiner alten Werke gehörig zu vergraulen wissen. Wer bisher mit dem Herzen bei Moby und seinen Statements war, wird mit Sicherheit auf eine deutlich entschiedenere Platte gehofft haben.
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almostcool.org (written in 2003)
After hearing this newest release from Moby, I'm convinced that he really enjoys throwing people for a loop. After being on the scene for quite some time, he released the critically acclaimed Everything Is Wrong, but followed it up with the bipolar Animal Rights. Even though it contained some nice moments (and even some nice ambience of old), it garnered a fairly weak response from people in general and faded away fast. Over the course of the next couple years, he seemed to lay a little bit lower, working on music for films (including a re-working of the James Bond theme) and released the related disc called, I Like To Score.
Fast forward to last year when the first single, "Honey" from his new album dropped and people were again confused. Instead of reverting back to the dancefloor beats and things that he was known for, it seemed that he threw another monkey in the wrench. The song revolved around a repetitive old-time sample and sounded like an electronic swamp-boogie with a bit of scratching and guitar picking for good measure. I have to admit that when I first heard it, I really didn't care for it a whole lot. It sounded a lot more simplistic than his previous work and I was hoping that it was more of an experiment before he released his full-length mastermind disc.
After finally listening to Play, I'll say that it's both his most varied, yet most accesible release to date. The reason it's so varied is for many different reasons. The disc starts off with the above-mentioned track "Honey," and goes all over the map for the next 17 tracks. The third track "Porcelain" sounds a lot more like Moby of old with its synth string flourishes and light beat, but like a couple other tracks on the disc, he also sings. While there is a strange vocodored-sounding effect on the track, it's a nice added element and it shows that he can do other things than just yell in his songs. The fifth track "South Side" is one that could be a verified hit if it catches on just right. It's a funky little electronic-pop jam that again features him on vocals and has one of the catchiest choruses I've heard in some time.
After "Rushing" (a track that sounds vaguely like "One Cool Hive" from Everything Is Wrong), the disc goes right into the third single from the album "Bodyrock." It samples a line from "Love Rap" by Spoony G And The Treacherous 3 and even though it has its cheesy moments, it's another catchy number. Things get harder in a hurry on the track "Machete" with the hardest and fastest beat on the disc. Clocking in at about 120 BPM, it's still not quite as fast as his dance tracks of old, but it works.
From there out, he does a blues/electronic/hip-hop hybrid ("Run On"), little bits of ambient filler ("7", "Guitar, Flute & String"), slow-beat spoken word ("If Things Were Perfect", "The Sky Is Broken"), and others. The disc closes out with what sounds like a vintage Moby ambient track in "My Weakness." All of the favorite elements are there, including the synth strings, the slow, simple piano part and a backing sample layed down behind it all. This time, it's of what sounds like a childrens choir, and it provides a nice wind-down until the disc stops spinning.
As I mention above, I think that the music on the disc is the most varied in sound from all his releases. Besides the one track, none of the beats are as cranked-up as usual and it seems he's instead chosen to make a more laid-back playful disc (hence the title?). The reason I say that it's also his most accesible album is both because of the length of the songs and the sounds that he encorporates. There are 18 tracks on the disc, but none of them fall prey to being overly long (a scourge that plagues quite a bit of electronic music). Instead, all the songs seem to be just the right length and some of them even leave you asking for a bit more. As also mentioned above, Moby wears almost all his influences on his sleeve on this one and there are bits of hip-hip (quite a bit), blues, rock, pop, techno, ambient, and even a touch of aggro on one track. It's a fun, varied excursion and one that shows he still isn't following the trends in electronic music, and instead trying to make some of his own. The little bald guy is back, and I for one am really glad.
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I like to score (1997)
!NTRO 1997 (Germany)
Man mag MOBY mögen oder nicht, der Mann ist auf jeden Fall ein hörenswertes Phänomen: Einen ähnlich weitgereisten Werdegang - vom Hippie-Kind über Punk, Speedmetal, den eigensinnigen FLIPPER, den sphärischen ULTRA VIVID SCENE bis hin zu lupenreinem Techno- und Dancefloor-Stuff und zurück zu Punk - macht dem Walfisch-Typen so leicht keiner nach. Analog zu diesen extremen Vor- und Zurück-Entwicklungen kommt er hier mit einer Art "Best Of"-Album, das viele seiner unendlich scheinenden Facetten widerspiegelt. Das reicht dann von seinem alten Dancefloor-Knaller "Go" über Piano-Geklimper-Ambient mit Kirchen-Chören und Kitsch-Flächen bis zum JOY DIVISION-Cover als Gruftie-EBM-Gestampfe mit Schrapel-Gitarre ("New Dawn Fades"). Außerdem bietet "I Like To Score" noch uralte Rave-Hektik-Musik mit Mickey Mouse-Vocals und Moll-Akkorden ("Ah-Ah"), funky WahWah-Gitarren (Titelstück), spanischen Flamenco-Flavour sowie ein "Ride Like The Wind"-Gitarren-Hippie-Instrumental. Daneben gibt's noch ein lustiges Re-Work des "James Bond"-Themas, bei dem die klassische "DängDäDäDäDängDäng"-Linie munter mit modernen Acid-303-Klängen tanzt, sowie den grottengruseligen Titel "God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters" - MOBY tendiert zum liberalen Christentum. Eine wilde Stil-Balgerei, hörenswert für aufgeschlossene und offenherzige Menschen und hervorragend geeignet als Studienobjekt für Schul-Grundkurse Musik sowie Uni-Seminare über "Musikstile im Wandel der Jahre unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Mixbarkeit".
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Animal Rights (1996)
!NTRO 1996 (Germany)
Gesagt, getan: wie im vergangenen Jahr bereits angekündigt und als Support der RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS ausprobiert, fällt uns Techno-/Dancefloor-King MOBY ('Feeling So Real') heuer mit einer Punkrock-Platte ins Haus, die sich nicht gewaschen hat - kein Designer-Punkrock also, aber designter Punkrock dennoch. Hardcore, Pogo, Industrial, SST, Homestead, Speedmetal, mittsiebziger Hardrock - wirkliche Innovation sucht man hier vergeblich, findet dafür reichlich Stil und Eigensinn, und das Ganze knallt doch ziemlich. Ausgestattet mit der produktionstechnischen Klarheit und Kühle seiner Techno-Tracks, kommt das dann oft wie MINISTRY und BUTTHOLE SURFERS ohne Drogen. 'Someone To Love' ist flehendes Brüllen, 'That's When I Reach For My Revolver' ein Fake in Soft-Psychedelia à la ULTRA VIVID SCENE, 'Soft' lügt im Titel und bietet etwa soviel Behaglichkeit wie ein Schuh voller Nägel, während 'Face It' nahezu beiläufig auf überraschenderweise vorhandene Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen DEVO und den BUTTHOLE SURFERS aufmerksam macht, und in der Pause gibt's ein bißchen verträumte Klaviermusik. Wer in all dem eine Prise MELVINS wahrnimmt, liegt - wenn auch umgekehrt proportional - durchaus richtig: MOBY spielte in der Vergangenheit auch mal bei den veritablen FLIPPER, die wiederum von den MELVINS als kaum zu unterschätzender Einfluß bezeichnet werden. MOBY kniet sich auch als Sänger gut 'rein, das Instumentarium steht wie eine Eins, wobei dem Vorab-Tape leider keinerlei Angaben beigefügt sind, ob der Mann alles selbst bedient bzw. wer hier was spielt. Konsequenter als erwartet - Respekt! Ganz anders VOODOO CHILD, ein Alter ego von MOBY. Ein furchtbares Teil, langweilig und uninteressant für Hörer und Tänzer gleichermaßen, altmodisch (was ja schon in Ordnung sein könnte), altbacken (was ja stets ein Greuel ist). Bimmelnde Keyboards, Synthie-Teppiche, weder Retro noch Kraut, aber alles Marke Kaufhof. Durchsetzt und vernetzt mit der emotionalen, einfühlsamen Tiefe der alten Oberflächen-Surfer OMD aus den güldenen Achtzigern (falls sich noch jemand an die erinnern möchte), ist hier ein ziemliches Gedöns entstanden, das sich meinem Verstehen (im Sinne von Verstehen) ebenso vollständig entzieht wie meinem Verständnis (im Sinne von Langmut). Stop.
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MEINUNGSMACHER: TECHNOHEAD/SIGNS OV CHAOS - Michael Wells „Animal Rights“ - es gab eine Zeit, in der man sich wegen dieser Sache vor wütenden Christen oder gar Amerikanern gefürchtet hätte. Nun, hier haben wir MTVs Liebling, unseren lieben Mr. Richard Hall persönlich, der einen rechten Idioten aus sich macht, indem er das tote Tier namens Rock ausgräbt. Das ganze Album hat den Charme eines großen Lümmels auf Acid. Ich hoffe doch sehr, daß MOBY diese Aufgabe nicht allzu ernst angegangen ist, obwohl es nicht viel zu lachen gibt, hört man sich das Album an. Stücke wie „Heavy Flow“ - eine Hymne an Tampax? Und „Someone To Love“ kommt wie ein billige Schlafzimmerversion von MOTÖRHEAD rüber. Als Gott die Gesangsgabe verteilte, schaffte MOBY es offensichtlich nicht, bis zu ihm vorzudringen. Er hätte vielleicht doch mehr Zeit mit dem Teufel verbringen sollen.
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almostcool.org (written in 2003)
After hearing the first minutes of the opening track on Animal Rights, one gets the impression that this is the Moby that they've grown to love. "Dead Sun" drifts along in a wash of organ sounds that make the listener want to drift off into a more peaceful state of being.
Almost four minutes later, that feeling soon wears away. On "Someone To Love," the electric guitar gets cranked up, and so does Moby. A wash of metal-fuzz blares away and he screams out lyrics as if in pain. This same sound continues through 7 of the next 14 songs. Ambient washes like the first song comprise the rest of the album. Almost split directly down the middle, the album is strangely two-sided. On some songs, Moby is Dr. Jekyll, creating beautiful washes of sound of almost haunting beauty. On the other hand he is Mr. Hyde, belting out pseudo thrash-punk songs with the greatest of ease. Gone are the big dance beats and screaming divas of old, this is Richard Melville Hall at his strangest. Apparently, the punk influence of his first band (The Vatican Commandoes) has resurfaced and he is feeling the need to express himself.
The answer of whether the album works or not probably lies within each individual listener. If you liked songs like "What Love" and "All That I Need Is To Be Loved" off his last album Everything Is Wrong, then you'll probably identify with the static drum beats and hard driven guitars on the new album. If one yearns for more danceable tunes, they should probably look elsewhere. One thing nice is that the ambient is close to his old stuff. Fairly minimalistic and once again haunting and sad, it makes for an interesting they starkly contrast the voracious of the rest of the songs. Even if you don't like the speed-thrash stuff, you can program your CD player and still have almost 40 minutes of electronic washes.
With his new album, Moby definitely isn't going the easy route. While he is taking the chance of either gaining some new fans, he also risks alienating a lot of his old (or potential) ones with the new sounds. He has reached a point in his career where he can do what he wants, and this is apparently it. You simply have to be content or go elsewhere. Personally, I'm not too thrilled by the disc, but that doesn't mean I won't hang around for his next release.
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Everything is wrong(1995)
!NTRO 1995 (GERMANY)
Das Multi-Talent aus New York veröffentlicht sein erstes Album, und er macht genau das, was man von ihm erwartet: Er überrascht. Daß MOBY mal in einer Punk-Band gespielt hat, ist ja hinlänglich bekannt, daß man aber Techno und Punk miteinander und nebeneinander auf ein Album preßt, ist dann doch gewöhnungsbedürftig. Damit aber keine Langeweile aufkommt, gibt es ein Stück, das jeder Beschreibung spottet, dafür aber unter Garantie hier im MARUSHA & SCOOTER geschädigten Deutschland eine Nummer Eins werden wird. DJ BOBO läßt grüssen. Aber MOBY wäre nicht MOBY, wenn er diese musikalische Verirrung nicht innerhalb des nächsten Stückes vergessen machen könnte. Wunderschöne Ambient-Dub-Tracks und ein Stück namens "Anthem", das an epischer Schönheit dem Namen alle Ehre macht. Mit Sicherheit eines der besten Alben auf dem Techno-Sektor, auch wenn MOBY sich zur Zeit ein wenig sehr dem Kommerz anlehnt. Wer aber MOBY kennt, weiß, daß dies wahrscheinlich nur ein Test ist.
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almostcool.org (written in 2003)
Before he became a household name and platinum selling artist with his 1999 album Play, Moby went through what many thought was an identity crisis on the album Animal Rights. It was half speed-thrash pseudo-punk with lyrics while the other half was soothing ambient. It was before that release, though, that he released Everything Is Wrong. Like Play, it received critical acclaim, but only sold less than one tenth of the copies.
That isn't to say that it's a worse album than Play, but like you've come to expect if you've listened to any Moby at all, it's different. It was before electronic music was being used in either film or television commercials on a regular basis and although electronic music was catching on, it still hadn't exploded in terms of mainstream popularity. Also like his other albums to date, Everything Is Wrong is quite a hodgepodge of sound. There are ambient piano tracks, full-bore dancefloor burners, and even two more punk rock infused tracks (showing the fascination as a precursor to the aforementioned Animal Rights).
In fact, the album starts out with just such a 1-2-3 punch. "Hymn" is a slight, but pretty tune fueled by piano and synth string washes while "Feeling So Real" kicks out the jams with a speedy breakbeat and screaming diva and ragga samples before "All That I Need Is To Be Loved" drops in fuzzed electric guitars and screaming vocals by the small bald one himself. Of course, the album doesn't stop there, and after the hip-hoppy filler of "Let's Go Free," the album gets cranked right back up to a fever pitch on "Everytime You Touch Me" and "Bring Back My Happiness."
After the proto-punk "What Love," and the speedy "Anthem," the album cools things down for the rest of it's duration. Piano sounds are dominant on the last few pieces as well, whether it's the short album-titled "Everything Is Wrong" or the epic, almost algorithmic progression on "God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters" (also featured in the movie Heat and on his I Like To Score release). The final piece is the rather haunting (again awash in synth sweeps) "When It's Cold I'd Like To Die," featuring vocals by Mimi Goese (who sounds somewhat like a subdued Annie Lennox).
Overall, those who like Play should also enjoy Everything Is Wrong. It's somewhat eclectic like his other work, and although it has a couple disconcerting louder tracks, it has many of the same elements that make the newer release enjoyable. The album titles may suggest they're polar opposites in tone, but they're really not.
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inmusicwetrust.com (written 1998)
by Kate Thompson
Have you ever just wanted to be in a place where you can feel at ease and calm or in a place where you can be excited? Moby's c.d. Everything Is Wrong will take you to this place. Everything Is Wrong is probably one of Moby's best albums that he has come up with. On this c.d. his music is so diverse. It's just not all techno or not all rave. It's everything and anything you can imagine. I suggest you check it out!
Everything Is Wrong is not his newest album, but it is a really great one! The lyrics to the music just seem to fit. This c.d. will send you to places in your imaginations that you would've never expected! I guess what I am getting to is that this c.d. is a must! I give it a 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10!
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by Joe Silva
Don't be fooled. In that seemingly small niche of the musical spectrum where the colours of techo reside, there are more than a handful of sub-genres to contend with. Granted, most of the partitions are still established by small packs of finicky British club rats who insist that all their beats be pure and should they deviate a BPM in either direction, they'll take their devalued pound notes and spend them elsewhere. "Jungle" techno is coming, so they say, but for the moment, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. But if you need a more concrete illustration of the disparate factions, just take a juxtaposing look at the spliff toting Alex Paterson of the Orb and Moby. The former sticks to his blissful washes of sound and Pink Floydian cum spaceman extravagances which put him at the top of the ambient heap while Moby..well, Moby's a synth patch of a different colour. Anytime you take a severely pissed, militant Christian vegan and arm him with a Mac, a keyboard and major label, there's bound to conflict among the faithful. When the hordes filled Madison Square Garden (!!) for a techno fest that Moby took part in circa his last release, (1993's Move EP), they were more than a little stunned when he showed up onstage with an electric guitar and actually used it. And while he's made no secret of his past affiliations with all manner of musical styles, six-stringed and otherwise, they had yet to surface in the very up front manner that they do on Everything is Wrong . All bets are now off. Deceptively stepping off with the elegiac "Hymn," Moby lunges from the disco bent of "Feeling So Real" to a Doc Maarten-ed harcore version of his "All That I Need is to Be Loved" and back to the Erasuresque feel "Everytime You Touch Me" in under ten minutes. No, the transitions aren't necessarily smooth (sort of like a compilation tape you make ten minutes before you head out for Spring Break...), but as a portrait of someone who's making a valid attempt to display any amount of their musical depth in the space of one project, you've got to figure the options to be somewhat limited. And while most wouldn't dare turns up their trendy snouts at the Beasties for mixing in their punk heritage with the hip-hop sensibilities that they copped later in life on Ill Communication , Moby will likely be skewered by the ravin' masses who labeled him a messiah ages ago. But to hell with that. Let Moby stradle as many genres as his hard drive will store. For those who have dared to labour through a couple double CDs worth of billowing, undefined ambient landscapes peppered with the odd organic and earthy sample or two tossed in for flavouring might appreciate Moby's struggle for diversity. From the delicate structure surrounding Mimi Goese's elysian vocals on "Into the Blue" to the dance-purist smack of "Anthem" there's enough here to forever yank Moby out of the techno pigeonhole he might be lodged in.
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Starpulse
by Ned Raggett
For some it was the pinnacle of his career, for others one of a continued string of triumphs (others doubtless cared not at all, thinking somehow that synth and dancebeats equalled musical insincerity, but such is life). Regardless of how one takes it, Everything Is Wrong shows Moby at a definite high point, and if some tracks are much more memorable and involved than others, those successes alone justify the attention and hype he received in his earliest days. Even more noteworthy is that for all that the album is a definite product of time and place, namely 1994-1995, it stands up to further listens for all the further changes in dance since. Having already made his mark with tracks like "Go," "Next Is the E," and "Move," on Everything Is Wrong Moby attempted to balance out the creation of an album in a complete, single-unit sense with his knack for immediately catchy singles. On the latter point he succeeds perfectly, with the frenetic, jungle-inspired anthemic diva showcase "Feeling So Real" (punctuated just so with English-inspired MC breaks) and the giddily sweet pop-minded house of "Everytime You Touch Me" utterly irresistible. Hints of future changes crop up with the speed metal-via-Ministry reworking of Move EP's "All That I Need Is to Be Loved," but the similarly minded blues/thrash of "What Love" forecasts the ham-handed slogs of Animal Rights all too well. Meanwhile, the string-touched "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters" is a self-consciously beautiful, cinematic meditation on spiritual power that in lesser hands might be cheese but comes across here as truly affecting. If there's an ace in the hole, it's the inspired recruiting of former Hugo Largo vocalist Mimi Goese, who had spent the early '90s well out of the public eye. Her turns on "Into the Blue" and especially the haunting, evocative album-closer "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die" bring out in the best in both musicians.
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