MR. BEAST

There has been alot of mixed feelings with the new Mogwai album, Mr. Beast. Alot of fans where shocked by the direction they've taken on this album. Many of them say they've sold out or that they'll never be as good as in the 90's while others try to defend them. So what's happening really?

Well, they did changed their sound to a more "normal" sounding band. All the sonic landscapes they had on Happy Songs For Happy People aren't here. They've cut down the use of drones also so you won't hear songs like Boring Machine Disturbs Sleep on this album. Many of you who haven't gotten into the music of Mogwai because of this will be pleased to know that they've stopped the excesive noddling to some extent. There are still songs in wich they dabble and drift away, but know they're made with soft drumming, mellow piano and guitar work instead of electronics. Because of this they now have a certain "Alternative" sound to them.

The start of this album is really pleasing starting with the slow builder Auto Rock with it's repetetive piano work and its increasingly loud drumming that almost reaches to a climax, but suddenly stops before you get a taste of anything. The good news is that after that comes the one of the two hard rocking songs of the album, Glasgow Mega Snake, wich is basically a barrage of distortion guitar and sheer power that leaves you headbanging from start to finish. I will also note that it's one of the heaviest momments Mogwais has ever made. Another highly of the albums is Travel Is Dangerous (my favourite of the album) that has an ear shattering explosion of emotions in a very short amount of time. It's perfect for introducing friends into post-rock. Friend of the Night is also a song that stands from the crowd with some really great and very emotional melodies played by the piano specially on the second half of the song. The other songs are average, but not in a bad way. All of them help keep the atmosphere of the album going.

The more I listen to this album the more I draw comparisons with their previous one, Happy songs for happy people. It has mostly short songs, the running time of the album is about the same, The flow of the album is quite similar too. It's like the other side of the coin, but this one is more normal sounding while Happy Songs... sounds more rich and full of sound and with a certain dreamy sound thanks to the drones and electric noddling.

In conclusion, you can start listening to Mogwai with this album if you're new to the genre since it's very accesible and has a certain "alternative" sound to it, but it doesn't represent their sound as good as other albums. It isn't their best album either so don't bother yourself trying to get this album quickly. There are better albums to be played. :)

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