All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

musicOMH.com

A superb album.

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100

Alternative Press

While Mogwai once seemed too ambitious for their own good, Mr. Beast perfectly distills the essence of the band's raison d'etre. [Apr 2006, p.214]

Prefix Magazine

Unlike previous releases, when we were taken on several rides within a solitary track, the thrills and tempo changes have been stretched out to album length, making this offering essentially a forty-three-minute song, with each track becoming a spike or dip along the way.

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Playlouder

Ten years after they first assaulted us, Mogwai remain as vital as ever.

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No Ripcord

Compelling and emotionally charged.

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New Musical Express

A monster of a record. [4 Mar 2006, p.31]

Entertainment Weekly

Proof that smart music can be fierce, too. [10 Mar 2006, p.68]

Q Magazine

While the sense of danger that characterised 1997's Mogwai Young Team or 2001's Rock Action might have abated, Mr Beast shows a band who have lost none of their bark or their bite. [Mar 2006, p.108]

The Guardian

It's all a lesson in taking the rough with the smooth, from the best teachers around.

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All Music Guide

Immediate without sounding dumbed-down, Mr. Beast shows the band at the peak of their powers.

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Filter

Sure it's louder, but it's too self-disciplined and too well-arranged. [#19, p.96]

Drawer B

Mr. Beast isn’t Mogwai’s most challenging or daring record, but it might be its most beautiful or powerful.

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Mojo

Delivers on the melodic promise of 2001's Rock Action, teetering between art-bruised fragility during its slower, gentler moments and flashes of stereo-buckling metal. [Mar 2006, p.93]

Dot Music

There are no huge surprises on this album - it sounds and feels exactly how you'd expect - but somehow "Mr Beast" still seems vital and forward thinking.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

Far from a drop off in coherence, Mr. Beast is just another stop on a long, strange, satisfying trip.

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Neumu.net

It is hard to say which side of Mogwai is more moving, the quietly beautiful or the transcendently loud, but the great thing about Mr. Beast is that you don't have to decide.

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Under The Radar

The revelation of Mr. Beast is that it's the closest Mogwai have come to capturing the raw intensity of their live power. [#13, p.93]

PopMatters

At this point, Mogwai have learned enough from their mistakes and built enough on their strengths that Mr. Beast could be considered by all means a flawless record.

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cokemachineglow

The result is that we have a transitory album, but also a typically beautiful and subtle one.

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Delusions of Adequacy

A solid – albeit unadventurous - long-player, which refines instead of redefines and consolidates more than it innovates.

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NOW Magazine

A beautifully tense and thoughtful record.

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Lost At Sea

Mr. Beast is by far Mogwai’s most accessible album to date, teetering between epic hard rock and a melodic, driven vocal delivery.

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Rolling Stone

With its plodding tempo, slow-woven guitars, melancholy piano chords and moments of crushing loudness, "Friend of the Night" is representative of much of the album, but Mr. Beast's best bits are those that dare to be different.

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Billboard

For the most part, "Mr. Beast" finds Mogwai quite comfortable in a genre they've helped define.

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Pitchfork

Mr. Beast's shortcomings lie not with what's present, but with what's missing. Mogwai are capable of tremendous beauty, poignant gloom, and ear-splitting sonic pyrotechnics, but only transcend when they combine each of these elements. Here, they rarely give themselves enough building room to conjoin these moods and styles.

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BBC collective

A more straightforward affair than previous works, and as such suffers from predictability.

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Drowned In Sound

If you like Mogwai for the sounds they make, for their instrumental dynamic and ebbing/flowing moodiness, you'll probably like Mr Beast - there's certainly little to object to. But if you love Mogwai... perhaps Mr Beast isn't for you.

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Uncut

Mr Beast, by Mogwai's normally formidable standards, underwhelms. [Apr 2006, p.96]

Spin

They vacillate between flotational devices and skull-crushers. [Apr 2006, p.91]

Stylus Magazine

There’s little to differentiate Mr. Beast from Happy Songs, and less to recommend it in the face of Mogwai’s potent catalog.

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Paste Magazine

A premature nostalgia trip: a journey back to college radio at the end of the '90s. [Apr/May 2006, p.106]

Urb

Too often Mr. Beast is dire sounding and dull, and nearing deadweight. [May 2006, p.86]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Beast lumbers instead of flows.

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Austin Chronicle

While Mr. Beast may not sound as fine Happy Songs... or Rock Action, it no doubt kicks ass live.

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Slant Magazine

Simplicity doesn't make Mr. Beast unpleasant, just dumb.

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Dusted Magazine

Their efforts at stretching boundaries falter because they have inscribed themselves within such narrow aesthetic parameters, hitting a fourth chord feels like a massive achievement.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 28 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Carl S gave it a10:
all you folks who are disappointed in this album and don't think it lives up to their other stuff are wrong, completely and utterly wrong. This album is damn near perfect, and contains some of Mogwai's finest work. I mean how the hell can you not get amped up by Glasgow Mega-Snake? and how can Friend of the Night not give you shivers during the piano parts? Travel is Dangerous? Folk Death 95? both awesome tracks. Those of you who didn't like this album are seriously missing out.

Otto Z gave it a9:
Hypnotic and interesting, artful and always cool.

Mick H gave it a10:
2006 is probably the year with the best CD releases for a long time! Mr. Beast is probably the best of the best!

Ben T gave it a7:
mogwai is starting to become the most overrated band that all of my friends like but actually really isn't that bad, but definitely very overrated. nothing beats young team.

Jason K gave it a7:
Mogwai has hit most of the right notes with the release of Mr. Beast. It is interesting to see how the difference in opinion fluctuates so much among fans and the press, but one thing is clear. Mr. Beast has cut down the length of the songs and moved on to shorter and bolder image with louder sound to create the same epic Mogwai members have been pursuing. Though, the album still is lacking when it comes to effectively creating the modd for the listeners.

Simon gave it a9:
Mogwai have ditched those build-ups that we're all used to hearing from them, for a more straigh-up-no-noise type noise that works a treat. Songs like 'Auto Rock' and 'Friend of the Night' are Mogwai at their best. There's still that viscereal sound that attacks your ears, it's just hits you quicker than expected, because of the shortness of the songs. Amazing album. Album of the year thus far.

mads l gave it a2:
Young Team and Rock action are fairly ok, if rather mediocre, records. This one is just crap all the way! Once Mogwai wore t-shirts saying "Blur:are shite", which is funny cos I'm wearing one now saying "Mogwai: are shite". Compared to this horrible album even the much-dreaded "country house" is a timeless pop masterpiece..

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