In the summer of 1997, I joined three friends for the Riverside 104 Fest, an all-day show sponsored by a Connecticut radio station. Riverside was what is now known as Six Flags in Agawam, MA. The show was great, featuring Our Lady Peace, Better Than Ezra, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and even Blondie.

One of the acts that I had not yet heard of was Moby. My friends and I were very impressed with his blend of techno and hard rock and especially impressed with the song That’s When I Reach For My Revolver. A few days later, we all went out and bought the album that he was touring in support of and that he had played from the most at this concert. The album was Animal Rights. The heavy tunes were right up the alleys of my friends and me, and the instrumentals were surprisingly enjoyable.

We soon learned that this was not Moby’s usual style. One of my friends dared to get another album and was disappointed when it was techno instead of the hard stuff we had been rocking out to for the past week. While we stayed away from most of Moby’s other stuff (at least I did until 18), we still spent the rest of that summer enjoying Moby’s break from the norm. The album turned out to be a commercial flop, but at least there were four youngsters who were thankful for Moby’s experimentation.

The Essay

Like all Moby albums, he writes an essay for the inside cover. This one is separated into a few parts. First, he discusses animal rights (go figure). He mentions how gradually, throughout history, basic rights continue to be granted to more and more groups of living things. He says that animals are one of the only groups left that has not gotten the rights it deserves. He then talks about the far right Christian Coalition and how evil it is. He calls them shortsighted, judgmental, and hateful. Moby closes the essay with a group of brief views on all kinds of things. Whether you agree with him or not, this is worth a read because he makes some very good points.

The Instrumentals

Animal Rights is book ended with soft instrumentals with keyboards and violins and whatnot, and there are several mixed in throughout the album. They are a perfect way to lull the listeners before blasting their eardrums out. No, I don’t think Moby was trying to mess with our heads here. These instrumentals are really beautiful. If you’re only in the mood for the hard stuff, you can skip over them, but you really should give them all a try because they are excellent pieces of music.

My favorite is Alone, which starts off slow and builds into a ten-minute piece with some soft drum beats added in, making the sound more intense. I like to put this one on repeat while I am reading because it’s enjoyable to hear but not distracting. Another great tune is Love Song For My Mom. Moby wrote this song for his mother shortly before she was diagnosed with cancer. It’s a very nice piece that hits close to home for me, as I’m sure it would for others.

The Loud Stuff

After soothing us with Dead Sun, Moby wakes us the F up with Someone to Love. Before he became well-known, Moby was in a punk band, so I'm guessing this is what his very old stuff sounds like. Since this album was my intro to Moby, I thought nothing of it, but a more familiar fan will be blown away with the way that skinny little vegan screams “someone to LOOOOVE!” These angry vocals continue to be scattered throughout the album. The only place where you will find electronic sounds is on Come On Baby, which, as Moby put so eloquently at the 104 Fest, is “a song about f*cking.” It’s not much of a dance hit, but it’s heavy enough to stay consistent with the album and electronic enough to appease traditional Moby fans, even though they might not want to pick up this album anyway.

In the middle of the album are my two favorites. The first is Say It’s All Mine, which starts off slow and eerie and builds into loudness, oscillating between angry screams and distraught moans. The second is That’s When I Reach For My Revolver. This is the most distinctive on the album because it is heavy but not quite as loud and punkish as the others. I guess you’d say it’s more “modern rock” than anything. Moby starts by singing at a medium speed and tone before launching into the chorus with heavy guitars and more of his screaming: “That’s when I reach for my revolver/ That’s when it all gets blown away.” This is a great song, which still gets stuck in my head frequently five years later.

Overall, Animal Rights is not for the fans of Moby’s usual style. To buy this album, it helps to like loud, angry rock. I think just about anyone can appreciate the beauty of the instrumentals, however, so some people might want to buy it for those and skip over the rock. I can see how this departure from his normal style led to such a commercial failure, but I know there are some people out there like me who would enjoy Animal Rights.


More on Moby:
That’s When I Reach For My Revolver (single)
18


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying