MOBY
"In This World" [UK #1 and #2]
Mute Records (UK #1: CD MUTE276 072435515182; UK #2: LCDMUTE276 0724354684029)
Release Date: November 4, 2002

"In This World" is the third single from Moby's album, 18. The first CD of this set opens with the album version of "In This World," which features vocals by Jennifer Price. Stylistically, this song sounds a lot like it could have been on the Play album (in some ways, this song kind of reminds me of "Natural Blues"). "In This World" has an almost "gospel" feel to it, with an instrumentation featuring strings, keyboards, and percussion (during an instrumental break, the strings suddenly soar to life, which adds character to the song).

The second song on the first disc is an instrumental called "Piano & Strings"; however, this title is a little misleading, since there is also some percussion on the track. An interesting thing that I noticed was that never once did the piano and strings appear at the same time on the track (you either hear piano and percussion, or strings and percussion). Throughout the background of the song, you can hear a "record hiss," which is supposed to make the song sound like it's being played off of a vinyl record.

The final song on the first disc is titled, "Downhill," which also sounds like it could have been released from the Play album. This song features a repetitive drum beat, with one line of vocal being sung by a female vocalist being repeated throughout the track (the one line of vocal is the word "downhill"); however, at about two minutes into the song, strings suddenly appear. This is definitely the weakest song on the first disc, and is not one of Moby's better B-sides.

The second disc contains three remixes of "In This World." The first mix is the "T&F vs. Moltosugo Club Mix Edit." While the mix itself was done well, I feel that the sound of the mix just isn't appropriate for a song like "In This World." The mix made the song sound "too happy"; I think that the style of this mix would have worked better for a song that was originally more upbeat in tone. The best thing about this mix is the fact that it clocks in at around three minutes in length.

The next mix, "ATFC's Southern Fried Vocal," is very redundant musically, and runs much too long. The most annoying part of this mix is that there are two spots where the vocalist's note is extended (while extended notes in and of themselves aren't necessarily bad, these extended notes lasted for at least forty-five seconds to a minute, if not longer). I would have preferred it if this mix hadn't been included; but, if it had to be, I wish an edit of it had been included instead.

The last mix on the disc is the "Push Vocal Club Mix." This was another mix that was redundant musically and ran too long. I also didn't like the fact that not many of the vocals were used on this mix (and the vocals that are used constantly have an echo on them). Again, I wish this mix hadn't been included; but, if it had to be included, I wish an edit had been used instead.

When it comes to this single, I would recommend both discs to the die-hard Moby collectors (those collectors who feel they must own either all the tracks Moby has released or to those collectors who feel they must own every pressing of every Moby item in existence). However, for a casual Moby collector, I can only truly recommend the first disc (for the B-side "Piano & Strings").

(reviewed by Lesley Muir on December 3, 2002)