review of Moby's "18 b-sides & dvd"

Greetings Epinion readers!

This is a summary of the latest release from Moby, entitled 18 B-sides & dvd. Unalike many 'bonus' dvds offered by record companies (as an enticement to purchase, as opposed to, say, download, a cd) this 2nd disc is actually part of the product itself, as it is mentioned in the listing of the product and excludes the word 'bonus'.

A b-side, for anyone who does not know, is a non-album track which appears on a single. Some artists, such as Tori Amos, Beck and Garbage, have numerous ones which are of similar quality to album material. B-sides can be recorded seperate from an 'album' itself and are not nessacarily outtakes from said sessions (although that may certainly be the case). In some cases, as with Nirvana's Incesticide and the Smashing Pumpkins' Pisces Iscarot (as well as this product) they are compiled into one album to help people from having to track down all of them. This particular reviewer enjoys b-sides and has several by a variety of artists.

For the sheer value alone (most places list it between $11 - $15), for casual fans of Moby this is a great treasure trove! In addition to the 13 b-sides on the album itself ("Ace Love", another one, is missing from this compilation), the dvd has many additional features.
There are 6 music videos, including some not ever seen in the US, from the singles of '18', as well as 21 (yes, twenty one!) unreleased songs in audio format. 8 of them are demos of songs used on Play and / or '18' and 13 are outtakes (, as opposed to released b-sides). Also present is (as seen on his stand-alone Play dvd, as well) a megamix, which blends together 12 of the mixes from the singles. One may select the songs one at a time or 'play all'.
Two samples of 'Moby TV', a stand-alone collection of footage - some funny, some serious - one with the '18' videos interspurced (which was probably, with the addition of commericals, shown on MTV at one point) and a handful ( + - 11) of shorter standalone pieces (including some oranges, as in the fruit, in a psychologist's office - and it's all a play. heh) are also included.
Finally, an entire concert for Glastonbury in June of this year (2003), for your viewing pleasure! Moby does 18 songs, appropiately, including an Iggy Pop and, for his finale, a Radiohead cover (you can watch to see which one!).
Overall a great deal for people who not only enjoy Moby's music but also wish to experience some of the many non-album tracks the man is rumored to possess. Recommended!