Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Perhaps I'm a little too biased to write a subjective review.... Mogwai's Mr Beast and The Hawk Is Howling are two of my all-time favorite post-rock albums. (I love Explosions in the Sky too.) Mogwai's earlier stuff meanders, almost to a point where you're thinking, "Is this song ever gonna take off?" "Mr. Beast" and "The Hawk is Howling" seem to have less meandering and more structure -- and more melody. Or, in other words, each track has a definite beginning, a middle, and an ending. Mogwai's "Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will" is comparable to the aforementioned albums -- which, for me, is great! The songs are more like jams than anything. Each song builds and soars higher than anything you've heard on the radio (and that's ironic because many of the tracks' melodies are infectiously catchy, much like the bull---- you'd hear on the radio). My favorite track from "The Hawk is Howling" is "The Sun Smells Too Loud" and many of the tracks on "Hardcore..." have a similar, upbeat melody. (Their early stuff isn't characteristically "upbeat," and personally, I prefer the newer, "positive" sound.) "White Noise," "Mexican Grand Prix," "Rano Pano," and "Death Ray" are all triumphant jams. The magic continues with "San Pedro," "Letters to the Metro," and "George Square Thatcher Death Party." (These Scots always give us great titles.) "How to be a Werewolf" and "Too Raging to Cheer" offer plenty of variety and "You're Lionel Richie" is a powerful conclusion (a la "We're No Here" on "Mr. Beast"). This album is amazing. The melodies are timeless and the guitars and drums are beautiful (and savage). THIS is rock music. This album is well-crafted...but as the mix reviews might suggest, it's not for everyone.

This is a band that I have been curious about for a while now, but this is the first album I have checked out by them. Mogwai is considered a post rock band by most, but to my ears much of what these guys do could be appealing to progressive rock fans as well. They remind me a lot of prog acts like Guapo, who build layer upon layer of sound often into a shattering climax. This mostly instrumental album (there are vocals on one track) is a feast for the ears covering a lot of musical territory over the course of it's length. Standout tracks include, "Mexican Grand Prix", "San Pedro" and the album closer, "You're Lionel Richie". Really there is not a weak cut on the album. This is really good stuff. I look forward to exploring more of this band's back catalogue.

This Mogwai album is either a departure from their norm, or an amalgamation of everything they've done to this point. If you are new to Mogwai, this should probably not be your first listening experience. When I first discovered Mogwai in the early 00's, they were known to me and my friends as the "soundtrack band" This record has many good examples of their lulling lyric-less tracks as are predominantly featured on EP+6 or Hawk is Howling. But the other half is a mixture of their weird ass samples from random TV shows, etc and repetitive guitar rock riffs. Having said that, this album feels detached and not a concept album as I feel a majority of their work is. I hate to say it feels "lazily" put together, but right now (on second listen) it does feel that way. Half the tracks I enjoy, the other half I feel will be often skipped. Rano Pano, their free track available on Amazon.com is not necessarily a very good representation of this record, either. I will say it is one of the better tracks, albeit not their best. I feel that the shiner of this record is actually on disc 2, a 23 minute ballad that is soothing to the soul in their masterful "grandiose magnificence" style and probably worth a purchase for that plus the few existing "singles" on the record. Mogwai definitely still passes the test for me, they probably always will... but given that their catalogue is already quite diverse in style this will likely be a decent addition to a fan's collection. As for the packaging, it is a hardcover "mini book" with a few nice Antony Crook photographs on heavy stock cardboard pages and discs in two respective sleeves. It is nicely put together, and just something a little different than the typical boring jewel case.

I'm a long time Mogwai devotee -- I've seen them at least fifteen times, own everything they've ever released (a lot of it on vinyl), and have turned many people on to the band. They seemed to have fallen into a bit of a rut lately, with Mr. Beast and The Hawk Is Howling having 5 or 6 standouts and the rest kind of...filler. Which is still wonderful -- Mogwai doing "filler" is way better than most other bands' best songs. So imagine my surprise when this turned out to become my favorite Mogwai record overall. It's got more uptempo rockers than I ever thought I'd hear on a Mogwai record, and bleeds inspiration from the first needle drop. The songs translate amazingly live. How To Be A Werewolf is a true stunner, deep and uplifting and heavy and oh-so-rocking. It's not only the best album title they've had, but the best collection of songs as well. So good. And the 180 gram virgin vinyl is well worth the splurge.

great cd I like how they are incorporating drum machines and different vocals. they seem to have abandoned the slow burn build up they are classically known for but I have more respect for bands who venture out of their comfort zones to explore new roads

アルバムEPが動とするなら、このアルバムは静。ボーナストラックはかっこよすぎ！！！ タイトルのアル中は死ずともおまえは死すは、まあイギリス流のジョークでしょう。 ボーナスＣＤはゾクッとする緊迫感。心臓の鼓動が止まりそう。しかしこの落ち着きはハンパない！！！

Doble vinilo, discazo y gran precio. Es una edición chulísima de esas por las que merece pagar un poco más por tenerla en vez del CD. Cada vinilo viene con su funda con una gran imagen en cada uno de sus lados. Todo ello en la carpeta con un diseño muy bien cuidado. El disco y la calidad de Mogwai ya hablan por si solas. Muy recomendado.

Fast 15 Jahre gibt es schon diese Band? War ich denn die ganze Zeit taub und blind oder warum bin ich nie darauf aufmerksam geworden? Das Album ist einfach nur Wahnsinn, vorausgesetzt vielleicht man gehört nicht zur Gattung der musikalischen Mainstream-Amöben. Gänsehaut bei fast jedem Track, das ist mir das letzte mal bei John Frusciantes "The Empyrean" passiert. Ich wüsste jetzt ad hoc nicht, wie ich die Musik beschreiben soll....sphärisch, packend und wie ein Vor-Rezendent schon festgestellt hatte: Sogartig. So, das muss an Worten reichen, die anderen Mogwai Alben müssen jetzt sofort geordert werden!

Album umpteen for the Scottish art noise terrorists, and the once again, impeccably titled "Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will", proves - if nothing else - Mogwai write the best titles in the business. Any album with a song entitled `George Square Thatcher Death Party' makes quite clear what side of the political fence they straddle. For such an inventive linguistic approach, Mogwai are, aside from that, a curiously silent group in many ways : cover art is never iconic, merely a wrapper in which the music is delivered. For this album, the cover is a blue cityscape, lyrics are quietly excised from most if not all songs, and the shimmering, barely-detectable musical glide that forms a core of their work is dispensed in favour of an altogether more muscular musical language. Possibly taking a cue from last years excellent "Special Moves / Burning" live set, the glacial ice of restraint - for Mogwai standards - has been removed. We're hardly talking Slayer here : but songs constructed of relatively recognisable elements such as verse, chorus, bridge, refrain, and rhythms that move forward from the opening bars of "White Noise" to the final, more atypical "Music From A Forgotten Future", it's clear there's a journey here : Mogwai never content to rest on their laurels, repeat themselves, going to some new destination. Whilst some of the songs see them fall into their trademarks ound of ascending/descending chords and cacophonous drums - "Rano Pano" - others, such as "Letters To The Metro" and "Mexican Grand Prix"for example, are the nearest Mogwai will probably ever come to a hit, with conventional 4/4 time scales, that - almost - but not quite resemble conventional rock. All is not lost : by the time of the grand finale - the 23 minute soundtrack to an art piece by the sound of it - Mogwai are back in familiar, meditative territory. Few bands - only Sigur Ros and early Pink Floyd - create a similar atmosphere for me, where the mind wanders, and I become lost in an otherworld environment of thought and idea, where time itself travels at a different speed, my muse is exploring a world that never exists except in my imagination. Maybe that is what Mogwai are best at : soundtracks to the imagination.

Pour moi, l'album de référence de Mogwai reste "Come on, die young !" Ceci dit, cet album est très bon avec des alternances de rythmes superbes. Je recommende particulièrement le titre Rano Pano avec ses envolées de guitare absolument prodigieuses à vous donner le frisson. 15,9 / 20