NY's Greatest DJ

Another 18 tracks put together by pop-superstar Moby in this, his newest production. This album gives the listener plenty of material to choose from. It might be questioned how original he has been this time around, when the norm of his previous works has almost always been innovation: at least I confess I had a hard time getting over my initial impression of "Oh, my God! This totally sounds like 'Play'." A lot of the tracks seem to pick up where the last album left off.

With '18' Moby has taken a two-fold approach: a good half of the album picks up where 'Play' and its B-Sides left and the other half brings a handful of new elements. Lots of gospel vocals and spiritual lyrics can be found in songs such as "In This World," "In My Heart" and "One Of These Mornings," all of which could easily have been produced back in 1999. "Another Woman," though not as gospel in tone, does have that R&B flavor to it, and "I'm Not Worried At All" reminds a lot of "Natural Blues" both due to the lead vocals and to the overall spirit of the song and the lyrics. The New Wave-y opening track, "We Are All Made of Stars" and "Extreme Ways" both have that super-hit flavor for '18' that "Porcelain" and "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" brought to 'Play' but it mixes some elements which are somewhat alien to Moby's music (except for the "element" of eclecticism). On the other hand, "Great Escape," "Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)" (consider his b-day is 9/11) and "Harbour" all have one thing in common: beautiful female vocals. Sinead O'Connor even makes a musical appearance on the song, "Harbour."

Finally, tracks such as "Signs of Love," "Fireworks," "18," "Sleep Alone" and "Look Back" bring into the mix that exquisite ambient sound that tunes such as "Down Slow," "Everloving" and "The Sky Is Broken" were so special for. The tracks I could easily live without: "Jam For The Ladies," "At Least We Tried," "The Rafters," so, as far as I'm concerned, the album could be called '15.' Overall, obviously the album doesn't break much new ground, as 'Play' did, but it still is the work of NY's greatest DJ.