Now, Moby has released a new effort, 18. The album, too long at seventy minutes, is uneven, with only a few great tracks (“We Are All Made of Stars” and “Extreme Ways” are among them). This, of course, is far from surprising, since Moby isn’t exactly known as an artist that consistently puts out good releases.

Licensing doesn’t seem to be a key part of the marketing plan this time around, but the concept of guest stars—witness the “We Are All Made of Stars” video—certainly does. At least, on 18, they’re good guest stars, ranging from the spectacular Angie Stone on “Jam For The Ladies” to the controversial but brilliant Sinéad O’Connor on “Harbour.” They provide many of the musical highlights on the album, which often suffers from too sparse instrumentation (“Sleep Alone”) and some lackluster production techniques (“Great Escape”).

The biggest problem with this album, though, is how often it tries to create variations on some of Play’s hits, particularly on “In This World,” “In My Heart,” “Signs of Love” and “The Rafters.” For an artist who has often touted artistry and criticized the more business aspects of the industry, it’s quite ironic that Moby would repeat himself with those tracks, since they seem like such a commercial move.

And yet despite its disappointments, 18 is likely to be well-received by fans; it mixes techno, soul, and blues into what will most likely become the chill-out album of 2002.