History Trivia / Moby

* CreatorBacklash [=/=] OldShame:

* ArtistDisillusionment: Part of what inspired Moby to shift from rave music to punk rock with ''Animal Rights'' was his distaste in where rave music and culture were headed by the mid-90s. In 1990, he played upbeat R&B and jungle beats to joyful, free-spirited, multicultural youths dancing in celebration; by 1996, the popular music had shifted to gloomy industrial and most of his sets were for white, middle-class junkies slumped against the walls of night clubs because they were too high to dance.
* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: When "Go" was was getting big in England, the DJ's weren't aware that "Go" was the name of the song and not the second word of the artist's name, resulting in several promoters introducing/billing him as "Moby Go."

** His first self-titled album as well; it was rushed to to release [[ExecutiveMeddling without Moby's knowledge, and mostly consisted of old work]]. He refused to acknowledge it for a while, but since then he's lightened up and sometimes still plays tracks from it live.
* CreatorBreakdown: Just before ''Everything Is Wrong'' was released and after the last in a string of failed relationships, he [[OffTheWagon gave into alcoholism]]. Then when ''Animal Rights'' flopped, he became an outright [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl hard drinking party guy]], having anywhere between seven and fifteen drinks a night and sleeping with any woman who'd say yes. And in the midst of ''that'', his mother died from lung cancer, which obviously took an even greater emotional toll on him, all while his professional career crumbled around him. Even after ''Play'' saved his career, his out-of-control lifestyle persisted until 2008, when he became sober again.
* DoingItForTheArt: Currently lives a very modest lifestyle, recording all of his music in his house, rarely touring and donating most of the profits he makes from his music to various charities he supports. ''Long Ambients 1'' was created entirely for his own listening before he made it available to download and stream at absolutely no cost.
* MagnumOpusDissonance

* SleeperHit: Coming off of the massive flop of ''Animal Rights'' and dealing with personal issues, Moby assumed that ''Music/{{Play}}'' was going to be his SwanSong. Instead, it became the first pop album ever to have every single track licensed for use in other media and propelled him to a superstar status, enough that [[Music/{{Eminem}} famous rappers]] were making fun of him a few years later.

* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: When asked by Noisey to [[https://www.vice.com/en/article/6azbb8/rank-your-records-moby rank all of his records]] for a recurring feature in 2016, Moby put ''Animal Rights'' in first place, ahead of better regarded albums like ''Everything is Wrong'' and ''Play''. He said it was the album he was proudest of even though it was a commercial failure that nearly derailed his career.

* BigNameFan
** Music/{{Adele}} is among the famous fans of ''Music/{{Play}}''.
-->"There's something that I find really holy about that ''Play'' album... The way it makes me feel. Even though there's nothing holy or preachy about it. There's just something about it — maybe the gospel samples. But it makes me feel alive, that album, still. And I remember my mum having that record."
** While it didn't do much to help it's critical or commercial status upon release, ''Animal Rights'' got glowing endorsements from [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]] and [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] (though considering that both men are controversial in their own right, it's no surprise that their praise wasn't much help). Terence Trent D'Arby was also a fan.
-->"I got one piece of fan mail from Terence Trent D'Arby and I got a phone call from [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]] saying he was listening to ''Animal Rights'' on repeat. [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] told me he loved ''Animal Rights''. So if you're gonna have three pieces of fan mail, that's the fan mail to get."

** While it didn't do much to help it's critical or commercial status upon release, ''Animal Rights'' got glowing endorsements from [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]] and [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] (thought considering that both men are controversial in their own right, it's no surprise that their praise wasn't much help). Terence Trent D'Arby was also a fan.

* SleeperHit: Coming off of the massive flop of ''Animal Rights'' and dealing with personal issues, Moby assumed that ''Play'' was going to be his SwanSong. Instead, it became the first pop album ever to have every single track licensed for use in other media and propelled him to a superstar status, enough that [[Music/{{Eminem}} famous rappers]] were making fun of him a few years later.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Had ''Play'' not been successful, Moby would have quit music altogether and become a college professor.

* ArtistDisillusionment: Part of what inspired Moby to shift from rave music to punk rock with ''Animal Rights'' was his distaste in where rave music and culture were headed by the mid-90s and it's shift from . In 1990, he played upbeat R&B and jungle beats to joyful, free-spirited, multicultural youths dancing in celebration; by 1996, the popular music had shifted to gloomy industrial and most of his sets were for white, middle-class junkies slumped against the walls of night clubs because they were too high to dance.

* ArtistDisillusionment: Part of what inspired Moby to shift from rave music to punk rock with ''Animal Rights'' was his distaste in rave music shifting away from more upbeat R&B and jungle beats to gloomy industrial, which also meant the crowds for his DJ sets devolved from joyful, free-spirited, multicultural youths dancing in celebration to uplifting music to white, middle-class junkies slumped against the walls of night clubs because they were too high to dance.

* DoingItForTheArt: Currently lives a very modest lifestyle, recording all of his music in his house, rarely touring and donating most of the profits he makes from his music to various charities he supports. He created ''Long Ambients 1'' entirely for his own listening, then made it available to download and stream at absolutely no cost.

* DoingItForTheArt: Currently lives a very modest lifestyle, recording all of his music in his house and donating most of the profits he made from albums and touring to various charities he supports. He created ''Long Ambients 1'' entirely for his own listening, then made it available to download and stream at absolutely no cost.

* CreatorBreakdown: Just before ''Everything Is Wrong'' was released and after the last in a string of failed relationships, he [[OffTheWagon gave into alcoholism]]. Then when ''Animal Rights'' flopped, he became an outright [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl hard drinking party guy]], having anywhere between seven and fifteen drinks a night and sleeping with any woman who'd say yes. And in the midst of ''that'', his mother died from lung cancer, which obviously took an even greater emotional toll on him, all while his professional career crumbled around him. Had ''Play'' not been a success, he would have given up music for good.
* DoingItForTheArt: ''Long Ambients 1'' was originally created for Moby's personal listening; he subsequently made it available to download and stream at absolutely no cost.

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: According to his memoir, when "Go" was was getting big in England, the DJ's weren't aware that "Go" was the name of the song and not the second word of the artist's name, resulting in several promoters introducing/billing him as "Moby Go."

--->"I got one piece of fan mail from Terence Trent D'Arby and I got a phone call from [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]] saying he was listening to ''Animal Rights'' on repeat. [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] told me he loved ''Animal Rights''. So if you're gonna have three pieces of fan mail, that's the fan mail to get."

** While it didn't do much to help it's critical or commercial status upon release, ''Animal Rights'' got glowing endorsements from [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]] and [[Music/U2 Bono]] (thought considering that both men are controversial in their own right, it's no surprise that their praise wasn't much help). Terence Trent D'Arby was also a fan.

* BigNameFan: Music/{{Adele}} is among the famous fans of ''Music/{{Play}}''.

*** Also a case of CriticalDissonance, as many critics going backwards through his discography have called it his best album.
** Surprisingly subverted by ''Animal Rights'', despite the fact that it nearly [[CreatorKiller killed his career]]. In [[http://noisey.vice.com/blog/rank-your-records-moby an installment]] of Noisey's Rank Your Records feature, he even went as far as naming it [[CreatorsFavoriteEpisode his personal favorite]] out of all of his albums.
* CreatorBreakdown: After the failure of ''Animal Rights'', Moby spent many sleepless drunken nights writing the songs that would appear on ''Play''.

** His first self-titled album as well; it was rushed to to release [[ExecutiveMeddling without Moby's knowledge, and mostly consisted of old work. He refused to acknowledge it for a while, but since then he's lightened up and sometimes still plays tracks from it live]].

-->"I like some of the songs, but I produce it in such a generic way, that I was really kinda disappointed with myself as a producer and as a musician."

* OneHitWonder: While having many hits overseas, "Southside" was the only track of his to ever chart in the US.

* CreatorBreakdown: After the failure of ''Animal Rights'', Moby spent many sleepless drunken nights writing the songs that would appear on ''Play''.
* DoingItForTheArt: ''Long Ambients 1'' was originally created for Moby's personal listening; he subsequently made it available to download and stream at absolutely no cost.
* OldShame: In various interviews, Moby has stated that ''Hotel'' is his least favorite work of his discography.

** His first self-titled album as well; It was rushed to to release without Moby's knowledge, and mostly consisted of old work. He refused to acknowledge it for a while, but since then he's lightened up and sometimes still plays tracks from it live.

** Surprisingly subverted by ''Animal Rights'', despite the fact that it nearly [[CreatorKiller killed his career]]. In [[http://noisey.vice.com/blog/rank-your-records-moby an installment]] of Noisey's Rank Your Records feature, he even went as far as naming it his personal favorite out of all of his albums.

-->"I like some of the songs, but I produce it in such a generic way, that I was really kinda disappointed with myself as a producer and as a musician."

* CreatorBreakdown: After the failure of ''Animal Rights'', Moby spent many sleepless drunken nights writing the songs that would appear on ''Play''.