today some kid at best buy today came up to the register w/ a copy of 'play.' total blast from the past and also shocking that any teenagers have even thought about that guy since almost a whole decade ago. they must still play "south side" on q101.

did everybody give up on him with that 'hotel' album that had the abysmal cover of new order's "temptation"? or did ppl just not want to associate with the guy when they knew he had the voice of such a christian vegan wiener?

imho the appeal of the late '90s-'00s work is veeeeeeeeeeeeery limited whereas 'everything is wrong' is becoming sort of underrated because ppl these days think it's just a joyless bald man. been playing that record to bits lately and it is really insane, just all over the place. "feeling so real" has a hook thats bigger than life, "god moving over the face of the waters" always gets the tears flowing, and "what love" might as well be a big black song. classic album full of diverse styles and moods. earlier than that he had some quality straight up rave techno but 'EIW' is the career centrepiece.

any thoughts on this man's legacy?

My goodness, Everything is Wrong was glorious. As was the remix album. I played those to death in 95-96.

I've never heard this, but people keep mentioning it around me. It must be a sign.

Weird: I was thinking about Everything Is Wrong and how massively underrated it is now just the other week. It's a great album-- a really great mid-90s electronic artist album first and foremost, but just a great album altogether-- and it first got buried by Play and then really buried by Moby becoming unfashionable in many circles.

Absolutely.

Two years ago, Nickelback had FIVE hit singles off that record. So, it can be done.

WE ARE ALL MADE OF STARS

"Everytime you touch me I feel like I'm being born."

what was the hot single off 'everything'??

either of these?

What was the reason? For cashing each song on Play for commercials? Or his weird politico-philsophical musings?

HAHA! This post made me laugh harder than it should have. I'm not sure why it amused me so damn much (aside from the song just not being very good) but when that song came out, I used any possible opportunity to answer questions with "'CAUSE WE ARE ALL MADE OF STAAAHS" in a Moby voice.

loved "everything is wrong" in high school and used to pimp moby to my friends at the time, heh. still like the record. "feeling so real" is the hot single dj is probably thinking of. also those closing tracks are beautiful.

I remember the Pete Heller mix of Southside was awesome.

I think it all started with Animal Rights. Hugely disappointing album album, and the choice of the Mission of Burma cover as the first single was disastrous.

that one was a misstep, indeed. 'play' isn't BAD, but i dont think it was the direction most people impressed with 'everything is wrong' wanted to see him take.

doesnt help that he became so publicly visible either. the "every song as commercial jingle" aspect isnt a big deal, i suppose. the songs just werent as exciting.

his personality didnt fit w/ critics' ideas of "most important figures in music," maybe because of those "politico-philosophical musings"? the man had a prodigal disposition, but the experimental leanings ended up very tamed and his attempts to write and sing "normal" pop music... obviously those didnt go over too well.

Each time I listen to Everything is Wrong, it's such a bubbly high that I have to put away for at least a year before coming back to it.

I think I was dimly aware of this album just as it was coming out, later read some reviews of it and held it in my hand at the mall around 1996 or so. It supposedly was connected to "alternative" music but I couldn't imagine that it had come from the same place that Bush or Better Than Ezra did. Held the most amazing place in my imagination until I finally heard it years later in 2000 or so. Was still pretty mindblowing then as it is now, for different reasons than we'd expected it to be.

"Everytime You Touch Me" is the god damn JAM

Haha good call. Although that song may be pretty corny and nothing exceptional, I still consider it to be a terrific opener. That song, followed by "In This World" and "In My Heart" (my two favorite Moby songs back-to-back), makes for a great beginning to a rather brilliant album. I liked his work on the Southland Tales soundtrack, but his most recent album was pretty weak. I look forward to hearing something great from him in the near future.

With all of this being said about when Moby "went downhill", the bashing for "Hotel" was ridiculously unfair.

i think it's sad james iha is working at best buy these days

i actually busted out animal rights the other day prior to seeing this thread. i'm a big fan of almost everything he's done, and everything is wrong is my favorite album all-time...there are obviously many songs where i can remember the exact moment i heard them for the first time. "go" and "feeling so real" are two of such songs