History Music / Moby

Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), better known as Moby[[note]]Derived from ''Literature/MobyDick'', as he has claimed to be the great-great-great-nephew of the novel's author Creator/HermanMelville. Moby was also reportedly a nickname given to him by his father three days after he was born, as his parents believed Richard was too long a name to call a newborn[[/note]], is an American musician, producer, and singer-songwriter. One of the most influential artists of modern {{electronic music}}, he's known for his [[GenreRoulette strikingly diverse]] body of work, often [[SignatureStyle characterized by]] touching synth orchestrations and heavy sampling of vintage folk, blues and gospel music.

* Reprise (2021)[[note]]This album consists of orchestral and acoustic re-recordings of his work by the Budapest Art Orchestra.[[/note]]

Prior to ''Play'', Moby had previously broken a Guinness World Record for the fastest tempo in beats-per-minute of any released single with his 1993 song "Thousand" (which tops out at 1,015 BPM). Other notable songs of his include "Extreme Ways," the (un)official theme song to Film/TheBourneSeries, and his only US hit, "South Side," a duet with Music/GwenStefani[[note]]The version of the song included on ''Play'' has Stefani removed since Moby couldn't produce an adequate mix with her vocals; she was restored for the song's single release[[/note]].

Prior to ''Play'', Moby's music had previously broken a Guinness World Record for fastest recording ever with "Thousand" (take a wild guess what its peak BPM is). Other notable songs of his include "Extreme Ways," the (un)official theme song to Film/TheBourneSeries, and his only US hit, "South Side," a duet with Music/GwenStefani[[note]]The version of the song included on ''Play'' has Stefani removed since Moby couldn't produce an adequate mix with her vocals; she was restored for the song's single release[[/note]].

Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), better known as Moby, is an American musician, producer, and singer-songwriter. One of the most influential artists of modern {{electronic music}}, he's known for his [[GenreRoulette strikingly diverse]] body of work, often [[SignatureStyle characterized by]] touching synth orchestrations and heavy sampling of vintage folk, blues and gospel music.

Prior to ''Play'', Moby's music had previously broken a Guinness World Record for fastest recording ever with "Thousand" (take a wild guess what its peak BPM is). Other notable songs of his include "Extreme Ways," the (un)official theme song to Film/TheBourneSeries, and his only US hit, "South Side," a duet with Music/GwenStefani.

A year later, due to his frustration with the dying rave scene, [[ViewersAreMorons the general public's dismissal of techno]], and life in general, Moby attempted to [[GenreShift return to his punk roots and tailor himself to the then-thriving alt-rock scene]] with the album ''Animal Rights''. It was a massive critical and commercial disappointment, heavily alienating his accumulated fanbase, turning him into a music media laughingstock, and pretty much single-handedly undoing all of the success he'd earned up to that point. (Ironically, this was right around the time other electronic acts like Music/TheProdigy and Music/TheChemicalBrothers were achieving more mainstream success themselves. Meanwhile, the album's reputation would [[VindicatedByHistory slowly improve in the ensuing decades]].)

Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), better known as Moby, is an American musician, producer, and singer-songwriter. One of the most respected ElectronicMusic artists in his field, he's known for his [[GenreRoulette strikingly diverse]] body of work, often [[SignatureStyle characterized by]] touching synth orchestrations and heavy sampling of vintage folk, blues and gospel music.

While he began as a PunkRock musician in the early '80s, Moby transitioned to electronic music in the latter half of the decade. He carved out a niche for himself in the techno scene of the early '90s (mainly off the success of his hit single "Go") before his first widespread breakthrough came in 1995 with his third album ''Everything Is Wrong'', earning him acclaim and spots on big American tours like Lollapalooza while also exhibiting an impressive scope of genre influences that proved there was more to his musical identity than a four-on-the-floor beat.

After a three-year downward spiral of alcoholism, he released what he assumed would be his last album, ''Music/{{Play}}'', a record based around the then-novel idea of building breakbeat and downtempo songs around samples of field recordings of blues, folk and roots songs (similar to contemporaries Music/DJShadow and Thievery Corporation). Though critics and audiences were still too busy laughing at him for ''Animal Rights'' to take notice at the time, the album eventually became a massive success, making history for being the first (and possibly only) album to have every single song be licensed for use in television, films and commercials, with some songs being licensed multiple times outside of America, and eventually becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. What everyone had assumed would be Moby's SwanSong (including Moby himself) ended up propelling him to rockstar status.

Moby's follow-up album, 2002's ''18'', was the beginning of the second phase of his career. Eschewing the genre-defiant eclecticism of his previous body of work, he began focusing almost entirely on making downtempo/chillout music based around samples of existing guitar-based recordings. While ''18'' was mainly a retread of ''Play'', other albums saw experimentation with guitars and pop songcraft (''Hotel''), dance music (''Last Night'') and ambient music (''Long Ambients'').

That same year, he published his first memoir, ''Porcelain'', which covered his early life up to just before the release of ''Play''. A second memoir, ''Then It Fell Apart'', covering the post-''Play'' years, was released in 2019.

While he began as a PunkRock musician in the early '80s, Moby transitioned to electronic music in the latter half of the decade. He carved out a niche for himself in the techno scene of the early '90s (mainly off of his hit song "Go") before his first widespread success came in 1995 with his third album ''Everything Is Wrong'', earning him acclaim and spots on big American tours like Lollapalooza while also exhibiting an impressive scope of genre influences that proved there was more to his musical identity than a four-on-the-floor beat.

* TheAlcoholic: Moby's relationship with alcohol is well-documented. The last third of his memoir details how he went OffTheWagon in the mid-90s following a lifetime of sobriety (alcoholism had killed his father, which turned him off to drinking up to that point) and eventually became an outright [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl hard drinking party guy]] who'd have upwards of ''fifteen'' drinks per night, though he was always careful to call himself an "alcohol enthusiast" and not an alcoholic. He would eventually return to sobriety in the mid-2000s once he realized that a). he was incapable of drinking in moderation and b). it was negatively affecting his music.

Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), better known as Moby, is an American musician, producer, and singer-songwriter. One of the most respected ElectronicMusic artists in his field, he's known for his [[GenreRoulette strikingly diverse]] body of work, often [[SignatureStyle characterized by]] touching synth orchestrations and heavy sampling of vintage folk, blues and gospel music, with the occasional AlternativeRock song.

Moby's follow-up album, 2002's ''18'', was the beginning of the second phase of his career. Eschewing the genre-defiant eclecticism of his previous body of work, Moby began focusing almost entirely on making downtempo/chillout music based around samples of existing guitar-based recordings. While ''18'' was mainly a retread of ''Play'', other albums saw experimentation with guitars and pop songcraft (''Hotel''), dance music (''Last Night'') and ambient music (''Long Ambients'').

In 2016, Moby briefly changed direction again with a pair of energetic electronic rock albums, ''These Systems are Failing'' and ''More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse'', largely informed by the cultural and political climate of America at the time. The albums were surprisingly well-received -- two decades after ''Animal Rights,'' Moby finally got some decent reviews for dabbling in rock music.

Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), better known as Moby, is one of the most respected ElectronicMusic artists in his field. He's known for his [[GenreRoulette strikingly diverse]] body of work, often [[SignatureStyle characterized by]] touching synth orchestrations and heavy sampling of vintage folk, blues and gospel music, with the occasional AlternativeRock song.

While he began as a PunkRock musician in the early 80s, he transitioned to electronics in the later half of the decade, carving out a niche for himself in the techno scene of the early 90s (mainly off of his hit song "Go") before his first widespread success came in 1995 with the GenreBusting ''Everything Is Wrong'', earning him acclaim and spots on big American tours like Lollapalooza while also proving there was more to his musical identity than a four-on-the-floor beat.

A year later, due to his frustration with the dying rave scene, [[ViewersAreMorons the general public's dismissal of techno]], and life in general, he attempted to [[GenreShift return to his punk roots and tailor himself to the then-thriving alt-rock scene]] with the album ''Animal Rights''. It was a massive critical and commercial disappointment, heavily alienating his accumulated fanbase, turning him into a music media laughingstock, and pretty much single-handedly undoing all of the success he'd earned up to that point. (Ironically, this was right around the time other electronic acts like Music/TheProdigy and Music/TheChemicalBrothers were achieving more mainstream success themselves. Meanwhile, the album's reputation would [[VindicatedByHistory slowly improve in the ensuing decades]].)

After a three-year downward spiral of alcoholism, he released what he assumed would be his last album, ''Music/{{Play}}'', a record based around the then-novel idea of building breakbeat and downtempo songs around field recordings of blues, folk and roots songs (similar to contemporaries Music/DJShadow and Thievery Corporation). Though critics and audiences were still too busy laughing at him for ''Animal Rights'' to take notice at the time, the album eventually became a massive success, making history for being the first (and possibly only) album to have every single song be licensed for use in television, films and commercials, with some songs being licensed multiple times outside of America, and eventually becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. What everyone had assumed would be Moby's SwanSong (including Moby himself) ended up propelling him to rockstar status.

Nowadays, Moby is more of a cult figure than the major player he once was, but his legacy as an innovator in electronic music and respect as a songwriter has earned him the license to [[AuteurLicense more or less do whatever he wants]].

Prior to ''Play'', Moby's music had previously broken a Guinness World Record for fastest recording ever with "Thousand" (take a wild guess how many BPM it is). Other notable songs of his include "Extreme Ways," the official unofficial theme song to Film/TheBourneSeries, and his only US hit, "South Side," a duet with Music/GwenStefani.

Moby's early 2000s criticisms of a controversial hip-hop artist led to him making a few memorable appearances in Music/{{Eminem}}'s Slim Shady mythology. Tropes about getting stomped, hitting a man with glasses and the number of people listen to techno belong on Characters/EminemBeefs.

Moby's early 2000s criticisms of a controversial hip-hop artist led to him making a few memorable appearances in {{Eminem}}'s Slim Shady mythology; tropes about his character under his foe's pen can be read about on Characters/EminemBeefs.