Pros: 2 music-packed discs, Great original music, fun
Cons: One quasi-weak track on the first album
The Bottom Line: Moby continues his synthesizers laden, vocally dissonant album "Play" with just shy of a dozen truly original, equally classic tracks.
It's a pretty rare thing when NPR (National Public Radio) plays an artist who currently has a Top 40 hit. Yet, last year, as I was driving home from Cleveland, I heard a hypnotic tune late at night on NPR outside Rochester, NY and I thought "That sounds like Moby." The d.j. that night came on when the songs were done and gave their title and album. One of them was the one I had heard and it was identified as "Whispering Wind" by Moby. "It's off 'Play The B-Sides.'" And then my quest began.
"Play - The B-Sides" is a two disc set of Moby's finest music. The first disc, "Play" (reviewed by me at: http://www.epinions.com/content_38006656644 ) is a modern classic. That's a term I don't throw around often. In the truest sense, Moby is making classical music, innovating in a way that Mozart or Chopin once did.
For the purposes of this review, it makes sense to focus on the exclusive album. "Play: The B Sides" is a collection of eleven songs that Moby has included on the c.d. singles for various tracks from "Play" and apparently some unreleased tracks. According to the liner notes, these are SOME of the additional tracks on the c.d. singles. Bummer. If these are evidence of the quality of his back up material, then I'd love to hear the whole lot of them.
So, what is the point of "Play The B Sides?" It's a chance for those people who where blown away by "Play" to get some more. That's not to say that this companion album is simply a rehashing of the first. Far from it. In fact, "Plat The B Sides" works best when listened to immediately after "Play." Why? "Play The B Sides" has much the same flavor and style as the first album, but it progresses them beyond where "Play" ended. Allow me to explain.
"Flower," the first track on "Play The B Sides" is a repetitive-lyricked ditty much the same way that "Honey" or "Find My Baby" were. But, it's not the same. There's more of a flow to it, there's more of a progress to its sound. It's like the beginning tracks of "Play" were warm ups, while the first track of "Play The B Sides" is ready already and it's off and going.
The whole album is like that. Fans of "Play" will find the same diverse instrumentals, the continuation of wonderful looping and the eerie produced vocals Moby did on "Play." But here, there's a sense of evolution. So while Moby's other albums might go in different directions, "Play The B Sides" is further down the tangent that "Play" began.
In fact, if anything, this second album is better arranged. Track to track, the flow is often more developed. On "Play," I found the dance-track, techno mix "Machete" out of place. "The B Sides" has "Running" and it fits both its title and its place in the album. Coming over the melancholy instrumental "Flying Over the Dateline," "Running" resumes out auditory interest and wears the listener out, tiring them for the final track, "The Sun Never Stops Setting."
That last track is a gem that reminds me of the film "Legend." I'm not sure why yet, it just evokes images in my mind like pegasi and fantasy adventures. Go figure.
Say nothing else about Moby, but one must acknowledge that he has the very best titles for his songs. And they all fit. "Memory Gospel," for example, is a track that, like "My Weakness," seems to have words in the instrumentals. And it's appropriate. Perhaps "The B Sides" is about what you hear in it, what you bring to it.
Simply put, "Play The B Sides" solves even the problems of "Play;" it lacks a distracting obvious techno song like "Machete" and focuses on doing what Moby does best. "Whispering Wind" remains an enigmatic anthem of haunting longing that rivals Moby's great songs "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" and "Everloving."
And thankfully, this is a two album set. It deserves to be listened to as such. With that in mind, the extra tracks pull up the deficiency on "Play," making this set a perfect album. And the perfect Moby experience.
In closing, some reviewers don't like "Play The B Sides" because it doesn't do what Moby did on "Play," which most of those critics adored universally. I say that it's better this way; these tracks progress beyond "Play," illustrating growth and movement. After all, we listened to Moby in the first place to get away from what was everywhere else, the "common," overdone, "thing" on the airwaves. Thank Moby for this continued gift.
And oh, no matter how highly I recommend "Play The B Sides," and I do ("Memory Gospel" alone is worth the price of admission, though I'm so glad to be able to hear "Whispering Wind" when I'm fully awake and "The Sun Never Stops Setting" every night before bed!), good luck finding this album. After I had enjoyed a friend's copy of "Play" long enough to realize I wanted "Play The B Sides" in my permanent collection, it took six months before I could track down a mint copy of this gem. My recommendation: get "Play The B Sides" any way you can find it. It's that good.
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