Moby | ||||
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Studio album by Moby | ||||
Released | July 27, 1992 | |||
Recorded | 1989–1992 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 54:42 | |||
Label | Instinct | |||
Producer | Moby | |||
Moby chronology | ||||
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Singles from Moby | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | |
Entertainment Weekly | A− |
Q | |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 |
Moby is the debut studio album by American electronica musician Moby, released in July 1992 by record label Instinct.
The song "Go" samples "Laura Palmer's Theme" from Twin Peaks, as well as the titular vocal from the song "Go!" by Tones on Tail.
The album's song "Thousand" also holds the Guinness World Record for having the fastest beats-per-minute (BPM) tempo, clocking in at approximately 1,000 BPM, hence its name.
Moby was released by the New York-based independent label Instinct Records on July 27, 1992.
The album was issued without Moby's cooperation. In the book by Martin James titled Moby < Replay - The Life and Times, Moby said that he was so angry about the release of the album that he actively spoke out against it in any promotional work. It is one of the only times in the history of pop music that an artist has asked his audience to not place value on his own debut album. He went on to say that "The basic problem was that I had never wanted to put an album like this out," he told him. "It was just a compilation with a few unreleased demos. Dance albums had always failed, I thought, because they didn't work over the full length of the record. Mostly they were singles collections which was exactly what I didn't want to do. At the time, the first Prodigy album (Experience) impressed me because they'd managed to create a full listening experience which encompassed various styles. This was the kind of vision I had for my debut album. But Instinct insisted on putting Moby out. Which kind of upset me a lot."
Moby also stated in his interview with Billboard that "all the songs are at least a year old. It's not entirely reflective of where I'm coming from right now" and that "the label had the legal right to put it out, the best thing for me to do is view it as more a retrospective and get on with my life".
However, Moby would later describe the album as "an interesting artifact."