Mogwai Young Team
by Mogwai

A very strong first half but the second half does lack the punch of the opening tracks. There is a lot of great material on here and while it can get confused amongst the weaker stuff it still shines through on tracks like Tracy. You can picture the vibe and atmosphere they are going for pretty well and they do pull it off to a reasonable extent which creates a very nice album to chill to. That would be the main reason for coming back to this record as it is just so relaxing and easy to listen to that it would be perfect for unwinding. However, it does struggle in terms of quality and depth to keep me engaged for the full run time which does run a little too long as well. Overall, a good post rock album with some great cuts on here but there are better albums in the genre to explore before this one.

From TimothyTurner 02/21/2018 08:22 | #209064

Generally a really pleasant listen. Sadly I see tons and tons of unused potential in some of these songs (especially on some on the material in the Deluxe Edition, which I purchased).

While there are a few really amazing gems on here, (mainly "R U Still In 2 It?" and "Tracy", but I also enjoy "Like Herod" and "Mogwai Fear Satan" a lot) many songs aren't developed enough to stand on their own.
While enjoyable, they like to linger too long on one part, without offering much of a pay-off or a development of those musical ideas.

One of the best examples for this is "Young Face Gone Wrong", the first song from the second disk of the Deluxe Version.
It sports a truly amazing melody, which doesn't go anywhere. It just hurts seeing the potential for something I could LOVE, but it going to waste...

...so that song is basically this record in a nutshell.

also: I noticed that the remastered version, which I bought was mixed with EXTREME overbearing low-end. Had to manually adjust the levels on all of those tracks down by about 4dB I'm guessing from top of the head, to get into managable territorys.

I haven't listened to this album in years, I almost forgot how wonderful it is, sometimes it's so beautiful it makes me want to cry. Fav tracks: Tracy, R u Still in 2 it.

their best!

From HoldenM 11/06/2014 08:57 | #126299

Post rock classic, for sure.

From Anti 10/13/2014 00:38 | #124267

Wow. Just wow. Mogwai's debut is a post-rock masterpiece. Godspeed You! Black Emperor delivers a more transcending sound, this one is more descending feel. What I mean by that is that it brings you more centered and feel like one with everything around you. Powerful album.

From MLou 08/27/2014 21:29 | #120545

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From Gooz 04/04/2014 18:57 | #108493

Very good. Between the post-rock masterpieces indeed

Amazing debut that took post rock to new levels that the likes of Slint and Tortoise had only previously hinted at. Bought this along with several other albums around Christmas 97 after it had charted quite highly in NME's end of year chart. I hadn't heard a single note before buying it and it blew me away, the other CD's I'd bought never got a look in. Every song hits the mark but it's the songs that bookend the album that really hit me. Mogwai Fear Satan is a 3 chord song that lasts 17 minutes but when it finishes you just want to listen to it again. Genius.

From lancashirearab 05/07/2012 07:32 | #41700

Don't let them being Celtic fans put you off. Go and see them live, but take ear protectors. They mage the windows rattle in the Liverpool venue where I saw them.