Hotel is Moby's 6th official studio album and was released at the end of 2005. It had passed me by until I bought the album in France back in April mainly as it was cheap at 8 Euros (about £5) and I hadn't seen it in the shops back home. Another reason for buying this album was that I had been ... Read review
Hotel - Moby
Once aroving maverick who skipped from euphoric rave to speed-metal to ambient ... more
soundscaping as if just to prove he could, recent years have seen Richard Melville Hall relax into a comfortable and yes, lucrative niche. On the surface,Hotelfollows a si...
Hotel [VINYL] - Moby
Once a roving maverick who skipped from euphoric rave to speed-metal to ambient ... more
soundscaping as if just to prove he could, recent years have seen Richard Melville Hall relax into a comfortable and yes, lucrative niche. On the surface, Hotel follows a...
Hotel [VINYL] - Moby
Once a roving maverick who skipped from euphoric rave to speed-metal to ambient ... more
soundscaping as if just to prove he could, recent years have seen Richard Melville Hall relax into a comfortable and yes, lucrative niche. On the surface,Hotelfollows a s...
Hotel [2-disc] - Moby
This 2-disc Limited Edition version includes a bonus 'ambient music' CD. Once a roving ... more
maverick who skipped from euphoric rave to speed-metal to ambient soundscaping as if just to prove he could, recent years have seen Richard Melville Hall relax into a comfortable and yes, lucrative niche. On the surface, Hotel follows a similarly laid-back trajectory to his last two albums, Play and 18: a collection of melancholic torch-songs indebted to electro-pop, gospel, and David Bowie's "Heroes", it's typified by the rousing, keyboard-drenched likes of "Beautiful" and the twinkling, optimistic "Spiders". But that's not to say Moby is stagnating, exactly: for one, he's bravely jettisoned the vocal samples that powered the likes of "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?", relying instead on his own understated, faintly awestruck vocals and, indeed, those of guest vocalist Laura Brown, whose sparse, synth-and-drum-machine cover of New Order's "Temptation" is a low-key highlight. But there's also a return to his raving roots on the pulsing, diva-led "Very", and a touch of politics on "Lift Me Up" a song that hides its contempt for the Bush Administration amid a dark carnival of sweeping strings and disco-noir rhythms. --Louis Pattison
Hotel [2-disc] - Moby
This 2-disc Limited Edition version includes a bonus 'ambient music' CD.Once a roving ... more
maverick who skipped from euphoric rave to speed-metal to ambient soundscaping as if just to prove he could, recent years have seen Richard Melville Hall relax into a comfortable and yes, lucrative niche. On the surface,Hotelfollows a similarly laid-back trajectory to his last two albums,Playand18: a collection of melancholic torch-songs indebted to electro-pop, gospel, and David Bowie's "Heroes", it's typified by the rousing, keyboard-drenched likes of "Beautiful" and the twinkling, optimistic "Spiders". But that's not to say Moby is stagnating, exactly: for one, he's bravely jettisoned the vocal samples that powered the likes of "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?", relying instead on his own understated, faintly awestruck vocals and, indeed, those of guest vocalist Laura Brown, whose sparse, synth-and-drum-machine cover of New Order's "Temptation" is a low-key highlight. But there's also a return to his raving roots on the pulsing, diva-led "Very", and a touch of politics on "Lift Me Up" a song that hides its contempt for the Bush Administration amid a dark carnival of sweeping strings and disco-noir rhythms.--Louis Pattison
A review by buzzard_cad on Hotel - Moby May 11th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Originality
Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics
Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks
Flawless
How does it rate alongside the competition
Good
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Fifteen good tracks from Moby
Disadvantages:
Tracks have strong similarities with the last two albums
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Hotel is Moby's 6th official studio album and was released at the end of 2005. It had passed me by until I bought the album in France back in April mainly as it was cheap at 8 Euros (about £5) and I hadn't seen it in the shops back home. Another reason for buying this album was that I had been a passenger in an MPV for two days with nothing to listen to but old 1980's tracks, obscure French pop groups or French men discussing the production of wine. So when it was my turn to drive I put this CD into the car audio system.
So who is the man behind the music? Well to my knowledge Moby is a 30 something, balding, vegan living in New York. He has been on the ambient music scene for many years, but before that had stints in a punk band and produced some underground ambient/techno tunes. He came to my attention in late 1997 when he re-mixed the 'James Bond' theme for the movie 'Tomorrow Never Dies' on his 4th studio album 'I Like to Score'. Although this bought him a wider audience the album was not a commercial success and he parted ways with the record company. The next album Moby made was 'Play' released in 1999 and to his credit was a commercial success with every track on the album being hawked by advertising executives the world over. Next was '18' in 2002, which was much of the same music as 'Play', but with a more techno flavouring. Following this recent trend Moby has adopted another one word album with this his latest release 'Hotel'.
~The Album~ The CD comes in a standard size case with a cover picture of the camera shy Moby looking out of a glazed window admiring a view over a city. As Moby is a 'Big Apple' resident I will assume that the photo call was in New York. Inside are more pictures of the ambient master in various poses around the room with the panoramic view. Also there are some words written by Moby about this album and what it means to him. Having got his previous albums I know that his ramblings bore me I read them all the same, but only after I've listened to the album.
The album starts with the track 'Hotel Intro' it is a slow and gentle start with synthesisers, violins and a light drum beat. It lasts less than two minutes but Moby is still on good form producing a nice little music only track that brings you into the album without rattling your senses. 'Raining Again' ups the beat and tempo with a good sounding rock style track that starts with piano and drums before moving onto the guitars. Lyrics are sung by Moby with some female backing vocals in a warbling style. I like the lyrics in this track particularly the line, '..loud on your car like bullets on tin.' The song is probably one of the strongest on the album and is definitely one of my favourites. The album continues with another guitar based track called 'Beautiful'. It is slower than the previous track, but I still like this one. The lyrics are sung by Moby in a crisp and clear voice with little distortion. Track four has a gentle start with a soft drum beat and soft lyrics, then it slowly winds up the volume and tempo. It leaves the listener in no doubt that this track is called 'Lift Me Up'. This a synthesiser based track and is in a similar vein to the tracks from the 'Play' album. In saying this the track is still a good one and I like it. 'Where You End' is another slow starter with a light gentle guitar and drum beat. On the whole it is much quieter than the previous four tracks, the lyrics are good, but they seem to be more reflecting a period of disquiet.
The album is now slowing down generally with another gentle quiet track called 'Temptation'. The vocals are sung by a female singer and the music is in a more classical vein with violins and a light ticking beat. I feel that this track is much more relaxed, as it definitely lets you unwind and think of a bright summers day. Moby is back on singing duties with 'Spiders', which continues with the lower tempo and beat of the album. It is a drum and guitar based track with good lyrics and a nice chorus. This another one of the tracks that I like, but for different reasons to say 'Raining Again'. The track is set about right for a good sit down and listen to after a long hard day. 'Dream About Me' starts with soft female vocals and brings in Moby's lyrics as they sing a duet. A nice sweet loveable song, all together now, ahhhh. Musically the track has a drum back beat with a guitar sound that is pitched about right so it doesn't drown out the lyrics. One for the bedroom maybe?
Next up is track 9 it is called 'Very' and is sung by a female singer, it picks up the tempo with a synthesiser driven beat. The lyrics are a bit of a standard fare with lines such as '..it's cold outside, so come inside'. If you gloss over that and forget about it you will enjoy this track as I did. 'I Like it' is a slower track with lyrics from both Moby and a female singer. Musically it is very soft on the ears with a slow tempo and wispy haunting vocals. This is a track to fall asleep to or relax after busy day. We are now onto one of the standard tracks of the album called 'Love Should', a piano based track with light vocals and guitar sounds drifting around in the background. It is the vocals from Moby that come to the fore with soft lyrics that drift around lightly in the head. A light drum beat and guitar sound introduces 'Slipping Away' which has more lyrics sung by Moby. The lyrics on this track are good with a nice upbeat feeling to them. For instance the line 'Seeing the good when it's all going bad' reminds me that I should not be so pessimistic. We slip into a slower gear with track 13 called 'Forever'. The track starts with a drum beat and then adds haunting violins. In the background there is the gentle sound of a guitar, but once more it is Moby's lyrics that are the loudest part of the track. The lyrics aren't really that profound, talk of love and things, but they are okay. A light synthesised drum beat starts the next slow and gentle track. Called 'Homeward Angel' it is a musical based track with no lyrics at all. This is another one of Moby's trademark slow mellow tracks that will send you to the land of nod. All good in my book. The album finishes where it begun with a slow music only track called 'Untitled'. It is in similar vein to the previous track with light synthesisers introducing gentle violin sounds into the ears and brain. Excuse me for a moment whilst I have a little snooze, zzzZZZZZzzzz.
Overall 'Hotel' is an excellent album from Moby, I personally like his recent albums and have yet to find anyone who really hates his music. The proof of this statement comes from the reality of having this CD in an MPV with 6 people for about four hours worth of driving. Not one person said 'This is rubbish, put something else on' and there were no grumbles about any of the fifteen tracks. Another plus point for my passengers was the epic sounding nature of some of the musical tracks, as it gave a good audio background when driving through the countryside. On the downside the tracks on the album have a strong similarity to the tracks from the previous two albums, but if you like them you will like this one. This 'Hotel' is definitely a place you'll like staying in.
~MP3 Playlist~ This is a difficult one as I like all the tracks on this album and I would be hard pushed delete any from my MP3 player. After some hard thinking I have come up with this list of 9 recommended tracks, as I said it was difficult to delete even those six that didn't make this list!
Track 1 - Hotel Intro Track 2 - Raining Again Track 3 - Beautiful Track 4 - Lift Me Up Track 5 - Where You End Track 7 - Spiders Track 9 - Very Track 12 - Slipping Away Track 14 - Homeward Angel
Advantages: Better than the 2002 record '18'. Slightly different direction here. Disadvantages: Not as good as 'Play'
I was SO disappointed with Moby's 2002 record - '18'. There was only one song on it that I liked which was 'Extreme Ways' (the closing song for The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy).
I bought this album whilst I was in Japan with a mixture of anticipation and dread. What had Moby done this time? Gotten worse or better? The answer is better. And what's more - his music has taken a slightly different direction.
The stand out track (and current ... ...thing you notice about this track (and this album) is an increased use of guitars from previous albums. This is refershing - as it gives Moby a very wide pallette of sounds to play with, and these guitars combined with his wide, lush synth pads make a very warm sound. The chorus of this song is fantastic, a real drivetime song. This is probably one of my favourite Moby songs ever - way ahead of anything on 'Play' - merely because this is such an ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...disco and rave sounds.
Hotel is worth buying to see the way that Moby has changed his style of music.
1. Hotel Intro 2. Raining Again 3. Beautiful 4. Lift Me Up 5. Where You End 6. Temptation 7. Spiders 8. Dream About Me 9. Very 10. I Like It 11. Love Should 12. Slipping Away 13. Forever 14. Homeward Angel first review so all reviews would be welcome ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Rhythmic simplicty masks symphonic depth, consistently upbeat and refreshing Disadvantages: Could use a little more variation
...During the time when Moby was a cause celebre in the world of electro music I was mostly ignorant of his musical talents. This probably had a lot to do with my being 12 at the time of albums like Play being released. When I finally discovered what I had been missing I quickly gobbled up Play and 18, his two major successes and later the fantastically original Hotel.
Clued up on Moby's later works and eager for more I was excited to hear tell of a new Moby studio album. My positive view of Moby had up till recently been relatively quelled because of his music's tendency to occasionally come across as wish washy and middle of the road. Upon hearing the upbeat, driven and sometimes chaotic stylings of 'Last Night' this all changed. This is partially because I have only recently started to appreciate dance electro, being a rocker...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Generally excellent, varied, really wide appeal, no bad tracks Disadvantages: slightly too chilled out for some
...have with it is that it's pretty repetitive, but again I haven't found myself in any way inclined to skip it.
9-Sugar Rhyme:
This is the track with the strongest bass and the most vocal input; it's a really good track although I would have liked to have seen it slightly earlier on in the album with something like Kota at number 9 instead.
10-Silver:
This was the track that got me hooked on Bonobo in the first place; to me it evokes classic surf style music to a certain extent, and is one of the most unique tracks of any album I've heard, for me this is what sets Animal Magic above Melody AM by Röyksopp, Mishaps Happening by Quantic or Hotel by Moby.
On that note, this album would, in my opinion, be loved by anyone that likes Moby, Röyksopp or any other chillout type music. Also worth looking into along the same lines as Bonobo...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
...life, but once I said Moby was Welsh and like a prayer, Madonna believed me.
What precludes is late 90s popular music, not to be confused with late (any definition, but preferrably one of the word late; the dictionary - mine at least - offers quite a few definitions I'm sure, but it would mean opening the book and stopping typing and I want to pretend to be Hunter S Thomphone, at least until I the song says at least one more time) 90s pop music, which I s like late 90s popular music, not like late 90s popeular music, and evolves Moby more than Chris Isaak, much to the chagrin of many hotels, both of the blue variety, and those of other colours, pleased that someone made it out of the ghetto and might break down a few barriers to ease their path to money and sluts. Sluts eh? Sluts eh? I said to mine, I said, I said "Slut where you go slut...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Album Notes: English version is sample free and contains a hidden bonus track. Following the runaway success of PLAY and 18, Moby takes a detour into pop/rock that leaves his signature sample-heavy electronica by the side of the road. Keyboards and drum machines are still prominent here, but they are used as background for Moby's songs, which often aim for a majestic, redemptive atmosphere. With the exception of live drums, Moby plays every instrument on the album, and sings lead on numerous tracks. Although, he's not a natural singer, Moby manages to make his half-spoken phrasing fit surprisingly well with the music, leaving the more emotive vocal tracks to Laura Dawn, as on her drowsy rendition of New Order's "Temptation." The anthemic "Lift Me Up" and "Spiders" are prime examples of Moby's pop-savvy direction, revealing what seems like a yearning to get in touch with his inner U2 and Coldplay. On HOTEL's second disc, however, Moby returns to the ambient work that garnered him attention in the early 1990s. These wonderfully quiet and dreamy instrumental tracks make for an excellent counterbalance to the songs on the first disc, proving that Moby remains an intriguing, multifaceted artist.
Album Reviews: Rolling Stone (p.77) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[HOTEL] may be [Moby's] most personal and streamlined album yet..." Mojo (p.89) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[An] ultimately rewarding collection....Impeccable of influence..."
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