Moby is an artist that's come a long way over the years, but has remained in the same place in some ways. He was already a cult hero by the mid-90s with such groundbreaking albums as Everything Is Wrong (not to mention his self-titled debut album), and seemed to have carved a niche for himself in the music world. However, all that changed in 1999 with the now-infamous release of Play, undoubtedly his greatest commercial success. It sold millions of copies around the globe, and established him as a permanent fixture in the music industry. He followed up that album with the release of 18 in 2002. Expectations were high, but only listeners could truly decide if this new album was worth the wait.

In typical Moby fashion, he's kept his reputation as a packrat---that is, he's amassed a gigantic library of b-sides (or leftover songs that didn't make it onto any studio albums). Luckily, the packrat is willing to share. Moby fans were already blessed with a special DVD release of Play with tons of behind-the-scenes tour stuff, live footage, and unreleased songs. Also released separately was a Play b-sides album, with almost as many tracks as the proper album itself. This year, Moby fans have another collection of leftovers from 18, but you don't have to buy everything separately…it's (quite literally) all right here. His newest release is the subject of today's review: Moby: 18 B Sides, which also includes a bonus DVD. Everything on here will be a real treat for any Moby fan, so let's get right to the long list of what's on here. There's much more than you think!

The CD features 13 tracks of new music, with a respectable running time of nearly 70 minutes. There's a nice mix of sounds here…while you're not likely to hear any major experimental tracks, it's a solid dose of Moby-ness for your listening pleasure. The tracklist is as follows:

1. Landing
2. Love Of Strings
3. Nearer
4. Afterlife
5. String Electro
6. Downhill
7. Soul To Love
8. Bed
9. Piano & Strings
10. Horse & Carrot
11. Life's So Sweet
12. Iss
13. Stay

No real need to comment on the sound quality here…these were studio-mixed tracks, and sound as good as any CD release. As far as the tracks themselves, there were some real keepers in the bunch. Seeing as how the proper album had 18 tracks on it already, there obviously had to be quite a bit of cutting and re-arranging, but I could have seen a few of these on 18. It's a shame Moby couldn't really break any new ground and try out some new styles, but this will still be a solid buy for fans of Moby's recent efforts. It's safe to say if you liked either Play or 18, you'll enjoy what's offered here. But wait, there's more…and we're just getting started on the content, believe me!

After viewing the DVD, I can think of a new title for this release: Moby: 18 DVD (with Bonus B-sides CD). There's an absolutely staggering amount of stuff to go through here…well over 2 hours of more music, and another 2+ hours of footage and other stuff. It got to the point where I wondered how they fit everything on there! Due to the different nature of this review (since it's technically listed as an audio CD release), there's no rating template for the video portion or menu design and presentation. I'll cover those anyway, but I'll list the complete contents for the DVD first:

Moby TV:
A 50-minute movie shot by Moby. Similar to Give An Idiot A Camera (from the Play DVD).

Outtakes and Bonus Songs (Audio):
Song We Made Together in 30 Minutes
Great Escape (Original Demo)
We Are All Made Of Stars (Original Slow Version)
E2D (Outtake from Play)
Guitar and Flute (Original Demo)
18 (Original Demo)
Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? (Original Demo)
We Are All Made Of Stars (Slow Synth Mix)
KR (Outtake from Play)
Flatlands (B-Side Outtake from 18)
I Love To Watch You Sing (B-Side Outtake from 18)
American Dry (B-Side Outtake from 18)
Cunning (B-Side Outtake from 18)
Waiting (Outtake from 18)
641 (B-Side Outtake from 18)
Extreme Ways (Live - Rough Bootleg Mix)
Say My Name (Recorded in my Bathroom with One Mic)
So Far Gone (Outtake from 18)
Tower (B-Side Outtake from 18)
Girl Bed (B-Side Outtake from 18)
Offland (B-Side Outtake from 18)

Moby: Live At Glastonbury (6-29-03):
Natural Blues
Go
Porcelain
Another Woman
Find My Baby
In This World
In My Heart
Bring Back My Happiness
We Are All Made Of Stars
Whey Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
Jam For The Ladies
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Iggy and The Stooges cover)
Bodyrock
Honey
Feeling So Real
Creep (Radiohead cover)

Megamix (Audio):
In This World (Push Vocal Club Mix)
Extreme Ways (DJ Tiesto's Instrumental Remix)
Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday) (West London Deep Club)
In This World (Slackerms Rain Before Carnival Mix)
We Are All Made Of Stars (DJ Tiesto's Full Vocal Remix)
In My Heart (Ferry Corsten Remix)
Jam For The Ladies (Nevin's Reggae Dub Banger)
Extreme Ways (John Creamer + Stephane K Remix)
In This World (ATFC's Southern Fried Vocal)
We Are All Made Of Stars (Timo Maas Dub Mix)
Jam For The Ladies (Voodoo Child Remix)
In My Heart (Sean Tyas Misses Twilo Mix)

Music Videos:
We Are All Made Of Stars
Jam For The Ladies (with Princess Superstar)
In This World
Extreme Ways Video
Jam For The Ladies (contest winner)
Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)

Also included here are highlights from Moby TV (selected scenes from the earlier feature), as well as a nice collection of Moby's personal photographs. Overall, this is quite a massive bonus DVD, making me wonder which disc is the real main attraction. I'm sorry, but this is a really great value for the asking price, and Moby fans would have to be pretty stupid not to pick this one up.

Video:
The video is well-done here, though it technically only applies to a portion of this audio-heavy release. The Glastonbury concert (which runs about 75 minutes) is filmed in 1.85:1 widescreen, and looks good. Pretty typical for a concert captured on film…it's not demo material, but still well presented. Also, the widescreen was a nice touch, of course. The music videos also look good (a mix of widescreen and full-screen here), even better than their original broadcast quality. Moby TV has primarily shot on hand-held, and won't knock your socks off. That being said, it looks good and doesn't exhibit any problems to speak of. Overall, a solid presentation in the video department.

Audio:
Obviously, the audio is the star of the show here. Thankfully, there's two options to choose from: Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 Surround. While I didn't detect a night-and-day difference between the two, everything sounded clean and clear. Bass response was good, and I was especially impressed with the majority of the sound during the concert itself (something that sometimes doesn't translate well to the home format). While a DTS track might have been an interesting inclusion here, the massive amount of material found on the DVD more than makes up for it. Moby fans will have very happy ears upon listening to this great compilation.

Extras:
See above. Technically, the DVD serves as the extras here, in which case this one wins by a landslide. It's probably the most content-heavy bonus DVD I've seen yet.

Menu Design and Presentation:
The menus were nice to look at. They're very simple, featuring the blue landscapes of the 18 CD cover, with some nice text effects during menu transitions. As you progress from page to page on the menu, it's sort of laid out like a cube (you'll know what I mean when you see it). Navigation is simple and well-planned, offering "Play All" for nearly every audio option. One nitpick was the lack of a chapter listing for the concert on the DVD itself…there's a setlist in the CD booklet (which is also listed above), so at least the information exists somewhere. Speaking of which, the packaging is a slim-double jewel case, with a "night-time" version of the 18 CD cover art. An insert booklet is also included, and serves as a basic index of the contents for both discs.

Should anything else have been included?
Moby's kitchen sink? Honestly, the bases seem covered on all counts here.

Two discs. Well over five hours of solid Moby goodness, including a massive amount of new music and an entire concert. All for around fifteen bucks! Needless to say, this is quite a generous package, and will really be an easy recommendation for any and all Moby fans. Overall, this one is Highly Recommended, as you're not likely to find a better music value this year. No longer can you complain that CD releases cost too much, as this awesome compilation will satisfy even the most budget-conscious music fan. In my opinion, the bonus DVD way overshadows the CD itself, which is the main selling point of this release. If that isn't two thumbs-up, I don't know what is.