Track Listing

1. Hotel Intro
2. Raining Again
3. Beautiful
4. Lift Me Up
5. Where You End
6. Temptation
7. Spiders
8. Dream About Me
9. Very
10. I Like It
11. Love Should
12. Slipping Away
13. Forever
14. Homeward Angel

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7797 in Music
• Released on: 2005-03-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Album Description

The new album, "Hotel", continues in Moby's tradition of making beautifully eclectic records. It runs the gamut from quintessential ("Hotel intro", "Homeward Angel") to big-chorus stadium anthems ("Spiders", "Lift Me Up") to straight-forward electro-disco ("Very") to ballads ("Forever") to new-wave ("Where You End"), and everything in between.

Amazon.com
Once a roving maverick who skipped from euphoric rave to speed-metal to ambient soundscaping as if just to prove he could, recent years have seen Richard Melville Hall relax into a comfortable--and yes, lucrative--niche. On the surface, Hotel follows a similarly laid-back trajectory to his last two albums, Play and 18; melancholic torch-songs indebted to electro-pop, gospel, and David Bowie's "Heroes." That vibe is typified on Hotel by the rousing, keyboard-drenched likes of "Beautiful" and the twinkling, optimistic "Spiders," but that's not to say Moby is stagnating, exactly. For one, he's bravely jettisoned the vocal samples that powered the likes of "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" and relies instead on his own understated, faintly awestruck vocals--and, indeed, those of guest vocalist Laura Dawn, whose sparse, synth-and-drum-machine cover of New Order's "Temptation" is a low-key highlight. But there's also a return to his raving roots on the pulsing, diva-led "Very," and a touch of politics on "Lift Me Up"--a song that hides its contempt for the Bush Administration amid a dark carnival of sweeping strings and disco-noir rhythms. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Were it not copy-protected, I'd give it 5 stars...
... But Amazon.com has AGAIN chosen to mislabel a copy-controlled "CD" (Philips and Apple have declared that "copy-controlled" discs are NOT CDs, either in a technical or a legal sense and therefore cannot be labelled as Compact Disc Digital Audio; check for yourselves). Anyway, it's one more great release by Moby, who has proven time and again that he's the master of both understanding - as if by some uncany magic skill - what the listener NEEDS to hear and how to keep the listener's interest. The arrangements are very interesting (I particularly loved the slide guitar on "Raining Again"), the songs well thought-out... It's what Mike Oldfield could have been now IF he had finally learned to avoid those horrid-sounding digital distortion boxes for his guitars and IF he still could stay on the cutting edge.

Moby is a true successor to the throne of Mike Oldfield, The Art Of Noise and other such great ambient acts. And he can rock out too!

Now, let me explain the "1 star" rating. PLEASE, all you accountants, ditch this "copy protection" stuff. All you do is pay - without any reason whatsoever - tons of money to Macrovision, annoy thousands of consumers who simply cannot play the discs they bought, because the transports of so many CD and DVD players today (and especially car CD players) will NOT (and don't have to, anyway) recognize this unauthorized "variation" of the CD Digital Audio format... So, they often go out looking for equipment that will tolerate this useless gimmick or just rip the discs and copy them, as Macrovision's "copy protection" (which was developed with the blessings of IFPI) DOES NOT prevent the ripping of the "protected" discs! Why bother then?

And, please, Amazon.com guys, when you see the "Copy Control" sign, label it accordingly - it's NOT ENHANCED, it's "COPY CONTROLLED" (or, better yet, "playback controlled").

******This is NOT the DOUBLE DISC!--Don't be duped!!!
This product offered by amazon does NOT include the second cd, Hotel: Ambient, that is included in most editions of this release. Many of the review consider disc 2 of hotel, Hotel: Ambient, to be the better of the two. Imagine my disappointment when my amazon order did not include it. If you want the complete alblum, be careful what you order. Don't be a stooge like I was. I ran down to my local record store and got the double disc for what I paid for this incomplete edition. The alblum art is the exact same, the Amazon reviews mention the second disc. Amazon, please take action on this.

Masterful Moby
I stand with those who love this masterful release by Moby; and
I love both CDs. Normally, I've only appreciated Moby's
great instrumentals, so when I saw that Hotel comes with
a 2nd CD called Hotel-Ambient, I pre-ordered it instantly.
Now: anyone who criticizes the Ambient CD for being "boring"
has limited understanding as to what Ambient music is all about.
Speaking as a lover of non-verbal music, I find the Ambient
disc to be brilliant & deep & intriguing---an ideal
CD to play while engaged in creative pursuits. If you have
a multi-CD player, I recommend programming the first track
from the Hotel CD (which is an instrumental) to lead into the
entire Ambient CD. This music shows a level of musical maturity
that is astounding and nearly flawless. Now: the big surprise.
I love the vocal tracks on CD one! I've listened to this CD
about 6 times now, and each time I found myself off my chair and
dancing around the room. Don't let the apparent lyrical simplicity fool you.
When you write at a higher level, sometimes
the meaning comes out in simple language; but wow these songs
are moving. Track 2 really gets you going...and the
rest of the CD is loaded with greatness. A few of the tracks with
female vocals are plenty sexy...and I stand with those who appreciate
Moby's vocals...frankly, I like the vocal tracks on Hotel better than the vocal
tracks on Play. The music really Lifts You Up...and to quote another track,
I like it. I like it a lot. Way to go Moby!