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.
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AllMusic Review by John Bush
Track Listing
| Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:27 | Spotify | |||||
| 2 | 3:58 | Spotify | |||||
| 3 | 4:01 | Spotify | |||||
| 4 | 4:23 | Spotify | |||||
| 5 | 3:48 | Spotify | |||||
| 6 | 2:58 | Spotify | |||||
| 7 | 3:34 | Spotify | |||||
| 8 | 4:12 | Spotify | |||||
| 9 | 3:36 | Spotify | |||||
| 10 | 1:00 | Spotify | |||||
| 11 | 3:43 | Spotify | |||||
| 12 | 1:34 | Spotify | |||||
| 13 | 4:17 | Spotify | |||||
| 14 | 3:24 | Spotify | |||||
| 15 | 4:47 | Spotify | |||||
| 16 | 2:07 | Spotify | |||||
| 17 | 4:17 | Spotify | |||||
| 18 | 3:37 | Spotify |
