10 Perfect Music Albums That Defined The 90s

Play was Moby's masterpiece of blues-inspired ambient electronica. Never has electronic music felt so emotive. With an expert use of samples, Moby injected feeling into electronic music unlike anyone else before. From the heart wrenching Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?, to the ambient blanket of Porcelain, and the shuffle inducing, Honey - this album is a display of production mastery.

Throughout the '90s, Moby had slowly gathered underground appreciation and critical acclaim as a DJ, remix artist, and producer. But his 1995 album, Animal Rights, turned a huge amount of his fan base off, when he pursued an alternative rock sound. It was met with a less than enthusiastic reception from critics, and resulted in his departure from American distributor, Elektra Records.

When Moby was ready to release Play, he struggled to get a new label to back him. His popularity had waned to the degree, that even music journalists were reluctant to review his new work. Moby turned to licensing, offering his music for use in film, TV and advertisements. Eventually every track on the album received licensing requests, and pretty soon the mass exposure, resulted in the record going platinum. The execs at Elektra must have been kicking themselves.