Moby - Hotel

Disc 1 is decent enough, but not something you need to hear.

Disc 2, however, is an ambient masterpiece.
The atmosphere of this album is so calming and beautiful, it will give you goosebumps.
Aural pleasure.

Hotel Disc 2 is 5/5, must-hear for any ambient listener.
Disc 1 I'll give a 3/5.
But I'm rating this set a 5/5 just for Disc 2.

Obviously the person above doesnt listen to much Electronic Music.

I would say this is Mobys weakest album, it signified a different direction, this being his only album with no samples taken from other artists. It was very much a 'band' record, and you either liked it or not. In the case of myself, i felt a bit of both but still consider having this record worthwhile since i consider myself a Moby fan.

If you have the special edition, then the nice surprise is Disk 2, which is an entire album of Ambient works by Moby. Moby has always dabbled in this style and put a few Ambient tracks on his albums so it was a nice surprise. That for me is the highlight.

Both albums that are included overall as i said are worthwhile having, it represents a different direction but something at the same time only Moby could create.

This is the first moby cd i have bought since his Voodoo Child project released 'The End of Everything'in 1996 and i have to say i am very impressed. Of course let me first say that i do not rate cd 1 of this 2xcd deluxe edition... not that it is bad, the general public will actually quite dig cd 1 and i am sure with remixes, the 12" singles will perform very well.

But what really does it for me is the special edition 'Hotel:Ambient' or disc 2. Now although i really love this cd and rate it as some of the best electronica i have in my collection (by Moby)i have to be completely fair and say that this is not a ground breaking release... In fact many 90's electronic artists (many of which would be friends and acquaintences of Moby) who have worked in the ambient genres have successfully tread many of these paths and themes before... (years ago!)

However, i would call this a first for MOBY and also add that this special ambient release is possibly one of his best offerings since his production of the mid 90's. Of course that was before he became the american god of commercial rock / dance. But for those who fanatically collected and enjoyed his early works (including his previous forays into ambient and his original Voodoo Child output) this pre-destined return to his unmodified early genius should be a treat. (even if it has been a long 10 year hiatus.)

a few points: yes, the 'Moby' strings are still there... and at first i thought they were a bit old hat, but now into my third week of owning this cd, i can definitely say that i love every single track. It is almost as if through this ambient release we are finally seeing the bright spark of Moby's quiet inner worlds that he has eluded to several times in his melodies but never for very long or very clearly.

If you dig early 90's ambient releases by artists such as Aphex Twin, Terre Thaemlitz, Ken Ishii, Sine, Omicron and Human Mesh Dance, than this should sit well in your chilled collections. i give it a 5 out of 5. thank you moby!

I wouldn't say it's the best Moby album ever or anything - it's just him travelling further down the pop avenue. I think this album is just NICE. It's warm and a bit personal. It's basically a POP album and even pop rock in places (e.g. "Raining Again", "Beautiful", "Spiders"), but it's not cheesy mainstream pop. Whereas I quite like this album, there are some things I wasn't too happy about:
1) Seems like Moby is not really able to stop using his string synths - he was using them since "Play", I believe (or even before that?) and continues using them today. Not really a big deal, but I think they start sound a bit dated.
2) Melodies sound quite unoriginal if you ask me... They are catchy, good... but quite unoriginal and straightforward.
3) Lyrics... Usually I didn't mind Moby's lyrics on "Play" or "18", but "Hotel" sees Moby singing lovesongs... Not really what I'd like to hear him doing.
But anyway - as I said, this album is worth checking out. It's really well-produced and well-balanced.

As for the 2nd CD, I think it's really great ambient! Very deep and atmospheric, perfect for chilling out and also works perfectly as background music.

Wow! One of the best Moby's albums ever! It's a new part in history of electronic music. Same old moby, same old sound, but the coolest thing that this is what we've been waiting for. everyone. "Lift Me Up" & "Very" sounds like it's from Voodoo Child releases. TOP rated songs from album is "Lift Me Up", "Spiders" & "Where You End".

Second CD is... i don't wanna even write about it. it's a dull disc with songs that should only exsists as B-Sides.

So It should be called not a "Hotel/Ambient", i think it should be called "Hotel/Basement".

so 1st cd is 5/5
and 2nd is 1/5