Play by Moby

Play, Moby's fifth album, came out on May 17, 1999, on Mute around the world and V2 in North America, and it's the sound of a dance-music producer finding the ghosts in old records. He'd strayed from electronica on Animal Rights in 1996, and when he started on Play in mid-1997 the plan was to come home, this time mixing slow, downtempo grooves with samples of old blues and roots recordings. He made it in his home studio in Manhattan and produced it himself, and at the time he figured it would be his last record.

The trick is in the contrast: dusty, crackling voices from long ago floating over soft, pulsing beats and warm synth pads, sounding ancient and brand new at once. "Natural Blues" and "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" ache, "Porcelain" is hushed and wistful, "Bodyrock" jumps and struts, and "Southside" is a glossy, easy pop song.

It sold poorly at first, then caught fire months after release, climbing to the top of charts all over the world and going platinum in more than 20 countries. Hit single after hit single kept it riding high for 2 years, and so did licensing: Moby let its songs go into films, TV shows and commercials on a scale nobody had tried before. More than 12 million copies later it stands as one of the biggest-selling electronica albums ever, and it drew a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.