Play

Spin (9/99, p.128) - Ranked #20 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Q Magazine (10/01, p.54) - Ranked #35 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime"
Q Magazine (1/00, p.84) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1999."
Mojo (1/00, p.31) - Ranked #23 in Mojo Magazine's "Best of 1999."
CMJ (1/10/00, p.3) - Ranked #4 in CMJ's "Top 30 Editorial Picks [for 1999]."
Rolling Stone (6/24/99, p.64) - 4 out of 5 - "...embraces both hip-hop syncopations and...early-twentieth-century African American folk music to create time-traveling beatbox rhythms....Moby sing-speaks, plays innumerable
instruments and crafts complex soulful harmonies..."
Spin (7/99, pp.125-6) - 9 (out of 10) - "...To hear an electronic dance album looking backward as intently as it dreams forward is a real-time jolt, and Moby rides the groove with a buzz reminiscent of his early, techno anthems....It's as real an image as rave,or alternative, culture has ever imagined."

Q (6/99, p.109) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...Moby's visceral use of early blues samples is at the heart of PLAY, creating achingly emotional pieces...before the choirs, liquid piano runs and swirling analogue synthesizers kick in..."
New Musical Express (5/15/99, p.31) - "...PLAY encompasses hip-hop beats, funky grooves, samples of old blues hollering, big house emotionalism and slow, smoldering soul....ploughing a unique furrow in pop music, he demands your enjoyment as much as your respect."
Entertainment Weekly (6/11/99, p.68) - "...techno imp's best album since 1995's EVERYTHING IS WRONG....setting snippets from old blues and gospel recordings to new rhythmic settings....PLAY is music that truly moves back to the future." - Rating: A-
Muzik (6/99, p.86) - Stars 4 (out of 5) - "...Moby operates in his own sonic vacuum, where gospel angels ride with outlaw cowboys and b-boy wannabes, just becuase they can. Idiosyncratically brilliant, as ever..."
Alternative Press (8/99, p.67) - 4 (out of 5) - "...pushing the [electronic music] genre in new directions....[PLAY] draws you in with its beautiful combinations of sound...."
CMJ (5/31/99, p.5) - "...Relying heavily on vocal samples of great Southern spiritual and blues singers, he has crafted an album of uniquely affecting soul....this onetime hardcore kid has found a way to match studio grooves with gospel harmony and deep blues..."