Moby
Animal Rights

THE REVIEW

1996, a particularly unfortunate period for the New York DJ/musician.
After the success achieved with Everything is Wrong, which some claimed would be the dance record of the year (it was 1995), Moby went through a dark phase, suffering from panic attacks and being perpetually pissed off with the world and what he didn’t like about his country. So, he comes out with Animal Rights, an album that fuses various styles, from Metal to Ambient. Moby plays the guitar and does so very well; he sings in nine songs and showcases his vocal talents with a voice that is sometimes warm and calm and rises to be cold and screaming at the chorus.

When I bought this album, as soon as I pressed the Play button on the CD player, I was stunned. The first song, entitled Now I Let It Go, is a mix of genres, a calm, relaxing, and melancholic piece, with a violin sound that caresses your heart. Barely recovering from such sweetness, you move to the second song, with the tone now darker. After ten seconds of animations, the real music starts: an electronic beat, an insistent guitar, and a Moby never so determined, angry.

The album proceeds with another ten dark and emotion-laden songs, like Say It's All Mine or That's When I Reach For My Revolver, truly splendid. Moby on the guitar is fantastic, his voice reaches your heart because it’s so full of sincerity and pain.
This CD should be listened to multiple times, all in one breath, from start to finish, and among a ballad, a love song for his late mother, and rhythms made of rough guitars and sweet sentiments, you will realize how much of a genius Moby is.
Fantastic.