Does anyone else find Moby's music to be highly over-rated

[ghettosynth]

I don't know WTF some of you are goin on about, but, my brain-cells channeled me from across the rainbow bridge and reminded me of how much this rocked at just the right time of the day, night, morning, whatever.

[Tracewidth]

I always fully forget that Moby exists until the next time someone mentions him.

[audionewsroom]

In one word, yes.
I would love to have his bank account though.

[badpioneer]

Thanks Danno. That's correct. I gave the wrong song title from the show. This is the one:


I hadn't listened to Go for many years and just gave it another listen. To its credit, there is a lot more going on aside from main Laura's Theme sample, not that any of what's added is particularly good or interesting. The original is much better musically though admittedly not the same genre at all.

Still, I'm left with the same feeling...why, Moby? You couldn't be bothered to play two chords on your synth or sampler? I get fun samples as references to pop culture, but this just feels boring and lazy, and certainly not a standout of many, many similar songs from that early 90s era.

[Gamma-UT]

Still, I'm left with the same feeling...why, Moby?

It was like that in that bit of the 90s. Sampling already had something of a punk aesthetic from the likes of PWEI ("Steal some words, steal some tune/Don't be shy, hit the hi-tech groove"), the JAMMs/KLF (remember The Manual?) and Sheep on Drugs, mixed in with ideas from musique concréte for the likes of Meat Beat, Coldcut and FSOL.

Plus with Moby etc, these were tunes designed for clubs and raves, where you had a lot of white labels that never saw a proper release. This one did.

A few years later and people were getting sued left, right and centre and put an end to it all, so things like the Freak Like Me mashup did get re-recorded instead of sampled.

[badpioneer]

Indeed. I actually like that early sample culture. To me, Go is just a boring example, unlike the artists you mention.

I don't think I'd have the same level of criticism if the song, and Moby generally, weren't hugely successful. That and I'm a huge fan of Angelo Badalamenti, so the source material is vastly superior to the throwaway cheese Moby put together.

[Gamma-UT]

Indeed. I actually like that early sample culture. To me, Go is just a boring example, unlike the artists you mention.

I don't think I'd have the same level of criticism if the song, and Moby generally, weren't hugely successful.

I think Moby lucked out on a bunch of things. The beat itself just happens to work, which is all that really mattered when it first got spun. It was easy to mix when the DJ needed a tempo change as you can easily slide the chords from the intro and breakdown into the previous disc. And to some extent it also rips off elements from Derrick May's Strings of Life with the rocking (as in hand movement) piano solo. That probably didn't hurt.

Plus people could easily ask for it in record shops because, er, "it's the one that sounds like that bit from Twin Peaks..."

Or put another, it succeeded because it was a bit mediocre for the most part. But it did at least have some decent rhythm programming, which Moby was quite skilled at. If you listen to the first, eponymous album, he had a good approach to things like snare fills, though it probably now seems a bit busy and dated.

[kritikon]

I don't think I'd have the same level of criticism if the song, and Moby generally, weren't hugely successful.

So, tall poppy syndrome. I never really understood that. It's not uncommon, certainly a British thing and here in NZ but just because someone has success doesn't mean it actually is crap. In the same way it can be applied to every band with commercial success and they definitely DON'T all make shit music. The unsuccessful trendy underdog bands most definitely DO want commercial success, so do they automatically become crap when they succeed? Probably Moby was trendy and an underdog before he got success...in fact I vaguely remember he was pretty unsuccessful until he got management that had the genius to push his music for film scores. And TBH some of his tunes are superb for films. TBH his Bourne series music is likely one of the best ever film backing tracks, yet it could be said to be simple. So were the Beatles in many of their songs

[DrGonzo]

Never managed to get past Go.

[VariKusBrainZ]

Hes in the same territory as Coldplay for me, I understand people like them but personally find them bland

[Bunny_boy]

Never managed to get past Go.

[EyeCloud]

I never personally found his music that interesting.

Years ago he played a stage at a festival I was at with a full band (himself on guitar). I have rarely seen a festival crowd so lethargic, and it made me wonder how he managed to push the tempo of his music up yet keep the audience so static. I think most of the audience were there waiting for the Chemical Brothers, and the difference in reaction was night and day.

[kritikon]

I found Chemical Brothers to be similarly uninspiring. They always seem to me to make music that is only any good when you're off your nut on drugs. In sober daylight they're mostly tuneless and bland, all about fancy noises but no hook. Kinda fits with a festival crowd. Moby probably never aimed at that crowd, so doesn't connect, and from what I heard is mostly off the pills nowadays.

[Constructed Identity]

I found Chemical Brothers to be similarly uninspiring. They always seem to me to make music that is only any good when you're off your nut on drugs. In sober daylight they're mostly tuneless and bland, all about fancy noises but no hook. Kinda fits with a festival crowd. Moby probably never aimed at that crowd, so doesn't connect, and from what I heard is mostly off the pills nowadays.

If you’ve never seen them live you have no clue. Great concerts, albums are so so.
And Moby is classic right up to Everything is Wrong - I actually bought that album twice since I lost the case. I even had his signature on a poster once. Anyway neither have progressed since 20 years so they fade away.

[aciddose]

Swing never buzzed off if you know yer beeswax.