Moby - Hotel (CD)

Personalized

By J.Z.  Mar 31, 2005

Pros: More upbeat this time out.

Cons: It isn't Play.

After the depressing tone of 18 which was created after 9/11 this album is much more upbeat. Hotel has little sampling and is rather pop-ish. Not bubble gum pop, but a contemporary pop that is adult and satisfying.
Perhaps Moby is getting more mainstream in reaching a larger audiance. Hard to say. But it does have a 70's retro Eno-esque feel in it's treatments. Yet Moby should take a closer listen to how Eno uses his own limited voice. Moby needs some help in that department.
However, he is accompanied by Laura Dawn who does some leads. Specifically on the song "Very" one can imagine this being something that Donna Summer might have done with Giorgio Moroder.
There is a really beautiful cover of New Orders song " Temptation". As they would say on American Idol; " He made it his own."
This is a double CD. Perhaps in popular responce to the numerous B-Side CDs that have come out over the past few years. The second side is NOT B sides nor are they remixes (With the exception of Homeward Angel). The second disc is ambient. It's great wallpaper music for playing on a sunday morning while cooking eggs while fighting a hangover. Or while reading a good book. Or coming down from some desert rave.
I have been listening to Hotel now for a couple days. And it certainly is growing on me. It has all the passionate swelling I like in his music and the scope of subject matter that I have grown to expect from him. It's a smart CD.
Still, it's not Play. But then, that is a tough act to top.
Outstanding tracks are: Raining Again, Lift Me Up, Where You End,Temptation, Very.