Electric music giant Moby (aka Richard Hall) is widely known for his importance in the dance/electric music scene. Hailing from New York, Moby has infatuated audiences with his unique use of techno and back beat since the 1990’s.
His first studio album "Everything is Wrong," incorporated strictly instrumental music and critiques didn’t know quite how to interpret it. Afterwards, the artist went on to release a punk-rock album entitled "Animal Rights." After the success of this album, Moby reverted back to his electric roots because other bands such as ”The Chemical Brothers” were gaining popularity.
Following the release of single’s “Like a Motherless Child” and “Mere Anarchy”, his newest album "Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt" blends different orchestral instruments with trip-hop and adds a pinch of gospel influences. This is Moby’s fifteenth studio album, and at 57 minutes long it’s a pretty quick listen.
iTunes listed the first three tracks, “Mere Anarchy”, “The Waste of Suns”, and “Like A Motherless Child” as the top tracks for the album and I agree with that statement. “Mere Anarchy” is super cinematic, and it is a great introduction for what this album brings to the table.
“The Waste of Suns” is an easy-flowing beat, which makes the track relaxing to listen to. Track three, “Like A Motherless Child” is one of my favorite tracks on this album. This is due to the song’s funky bassline introduction, catchy ABAB format lyrics, and the easy formatted drumbeat that flows through the song.
Moby uses gospel music influences in most of the songs on this album, however they are the most present in “This Wild Darkness”. The chorus, “In this darkness please light my way” is very catchy and the song becomes cinematic at about three minutes in.
"Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt" is signed under the Mute Records label, and the album title could come from a quote in the book “Slaughterhouse Five”. This science fiction novel written by Kurt Vonnegut involves ideals of what the human condition could look like if it was observed by an Absurdist.
This perspective represents a belief that any effort of human understanding is limited due to the capacity in which we think. The quote, “Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt” can be found on page 122.
This entire album is formatted perfectly because each part of the album presents new material and ideas. However, some of these songs can get repetitive at times, such as the glass-tinging noise that is far too present in track two.
Overall this album receives a solid seven out of ten and I would buy this album on vinyl in order to bring variety to my collection. The double LP vinyl pressing of this album can be found on Moby’s website and is advertised as being black, and in a gate-fold jacket.