Ambient (album)

1993 studio album by Moby

Ambient

Studio album by

Moby

Released| August 17, 1993 (1993-08-17)
Genre| Ambient techno[1]
Length| 51:49
Label| Instinct
Producer| Moby
Moby chronology
| Early Underground
(1993)  | Ambient
(1993)  | Move
(1993)

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Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide| [2]
Music Week| [3]
NME| 6/10[4]
Q| [5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide| [6]
Select| 4/5[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide| 7/10[8]
Tom Hull – on the Web| B+[9]

Ambient is the second studio album by American electronica musician Moby, released in August 1993 by record label Instinct.

## Composition

[edit]

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The album is composed of electronic ambient pieces, similar to Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works releases. Like the Aphex Twin releases, the work is mainly instrumental (although there are samples of the sound of a choir vocalizing on "Tongues", and a woman saying "bad days" in the background of "Bad Days"). Many of the tracks are beat-driven, except "J Breas" and "Piano and String", which both use pianos and synthesizers. "Bad Days" uses a 'sweeping' synth effect, and "Sound" is a high-pitched loop playing and fading out and in. "80" uses synths mimicking an acoustic guitar.

The album has an experimental, moody style. Many of the tracks (including "Bad Days" and "Lean on Me") are dark and unearthly. There are also some more uplifting numbers, like "Heaven", "Tongues" and "Dog", which are more beat-driven, danceable numbers. The track "Myopia" uses a bubbling synth-bass style. "House of Blue Leaves" and "My Beautiful Blue Sky" are more experimental beat songs ("House of Blue Leaves" is a simple beat and some keyboards, and "My Beautiful Blue Sky" is a tribal rhythm, synths, and a piano).

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Moby

No.| Title| Length

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1.| "My Beautiful Blue Sky"| 5:19
2.| "Heaven"| 8:16
3.| "Tongues"| 5:37
4.| "J Breas"| 2:47
5.| "Myopia"| 4:46
6.| "House of Blue Leaves"| 6:20
7.| "Bad Days"| 2:27
8.| "Piano & String"| 1:35
9.| "Sound"| 1:11
10.| "Dog"| 7:35
11.| "80"| 2:05
12.| "Lean on Me"| 3:51
Total length:| 51:49

## Personnel

[edit]

Credits for Ambient adapted from album liner notes.[10]

* Moby – production, writing
* Bob Ward – digital editing

Artwork and design

* Jill Greenberg – photography
* Wendi Horowitz – design

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "Ambient – Moby". AllMusic. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
2. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Moby: Ambient". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
3. ^ Beevers, Andy (October 23, 1993). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 12. Retrieved February 1, 2023 - via World Radio History.
4. ^ "Moby: Ambient". NME: 32. October 30, 1993.
5. ^ "Moby: Ambient". Q (166): 137. July 2000.
6. ^ Berger, Arion (2004). "Moby". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 548–49. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
7. ^ Howe, Rupert (December 1993). "Moby: Ambient". Select (42): 87–88.
8. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
9. ^ Hull, Tom. "Grade List: Moby". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
10. ^ Ambient (liner notes). Moby. Instinct Records. 1993. EX 253.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

## External links

[edit]

* Ambient at Discogs (list of releases)
* Ambient at MusicBrainz (list of releases)

* v
* t
* e

Moby

* Discography

Studio albums|

* Moby
* Ambient
* Everything Is Wrong
* Animal Rights
* Play
* 18
* Hotel
* Last Night
* Wait for Me
* Destroyed
* Innocents
* Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.
* These Systems Are Failing
* More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse
* Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt
* Long Ambients 2
* All Visible Objects
* Live Ambients – Improvised Recordings Vol. 1
* Reprise
* Resound NYC
* Always Centered at Night

EPs|

* Move – The E.P.

Compilations|

* Instinct Dance
* Early Underground
* I Like to Score
* MobySongs 1993–1998
* Play: The B Sides
* 18 B Sides + DVD
* Go – The Very Best of Moby
* Last Night Remixed
* Wait for Me: Ambient
* Wait for Me. Remixes!

Singles|

* "Mobility"
* "Go"
* "Drop a Beat"
* "Next Is the E"
* "I Feel It"/"Thousand"
* "Move (You Make Me Feel So Good)"
* "All That I Need Is to Be Loved"
* "Hymn"
* "Feeling So Real"
* "Everytime You Touch Me"
* "Into the Blue"
* "Bring Back My Happiness"
* "That's When I Reach for My Revolver"
* "James Bond Theme (Moby's Re-Version)"
* "Honey"
* "Run On"
* "Bodyrock"
* "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?"
* "Natural Blues"
* "Porcelain"
* "South Side"
* "Find My Baby"
* "We Are All Made of Stars"
* "Extreme Ways"
* "In This World"
* "Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)"
* "In My Heart"
* "Jam for the Ladies"
* "Make Love Fuck War"
* "Lift Me Up"
* "Raining Again"
* "Spiders"
* "Dream About Me"
* "Beautiful"
* "Slipping Away"
* "New York, New York"
* "Extreme Ways (Bourne's Ultimatum)"
* "Disco Lies"
* "Alice"
* "I Love to Move in Here"
* "Ooh Yeah"
* "Shot in the Back of the Head"
* "Pale Horses"
* "Mistake"
* "Be the One"
* "The Day"
* "Lie Down in Darkness"
* "Extreme Ways (Bourne's Legacy)"
* "A Case for Shame"
* "Extreme Ways (Jason Bourne)"
* "ASAP Forever"

as Voodoo Child|

* The End of Everything
* Baby Monkey

Books|

* Porcelain: A Memoir
* Then It Fell Apart

Related articles|

* Little Pine
* Teany
* Vatican Commandos
* Moby Presents: Alien Sex Party
* Moby Doc

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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