Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will

Mogwai | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 15, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sub Pop
• ASIN: B004GHYCF2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,521 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. White Noise

2. Mexican Grad Prix

3. Rano Pano

4. Death Rays

5. San Pedro

6. Letters To the Metro

7. George Square Thatcher Death Party

8. How To Be a Werewolf

9. Too Raging To Cheers

10. You're Lionel Richie

Editorial Reviews

Mogwai was birthed in the halcyon days of the mid-'90s and helped Glasgow become one of the real bright spots in the musical universe again. Not everyone gets Mogwai, but that's what makes them great. Theirs is a majestic, powerful sound where barely a word is spoken yet it is the antithesis of background music. Album and song titles bemuse, confuse and delight in equal measure and live, they are utterly unstoppable. Recorded at Chem 19 studios with producer Paul Savage (who recorded Young Team), Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is the band's seventh album.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Soaring and Static: Mogwai's Music Will Never Die March 15, 2011

By Jeffrey A. Lunt

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good morning, it's 2011, music is alive and well February 21, 2011

By Micah Newman

Format:Audio CD

The way some people talk, Mogwai shouldn't have bothered releasing anything after 2000. These people are less fortunate than the rest of us and ought to be pitied above all else, because Mogwai have made slabs and slabs of sumptuous, majestic, jaw-dropping, and sometimes downright kickass music that are not on the albums _Mogwai Young Team_ or _Come On Die Young_. Furthermore, in my book, at least, every album Mogwai has done since 2001's _Rock Action_ has been better than the previous album. Yes, Rock Action < Happy Songs < Mr. Beast < Hawk Is Howling < ...would they keep up the streak...? yes! with this year's bracing blast of Mogwai music-love, the endearingly titled _Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will_ pretty much crowns (or, "pwns," if you like) them all.

The opener "White Noise" sets the tone immediately - "Good morning, throw back the curtains, it's 2011!" The first thing to objectively notice is that it's SO much BRIGHTER than 2008's _The Hawk Is Howling_ - which, although containing 10 tracks of glistening, stupendous quality, is a bit of a ponderous behemoth taken as a whole. The 10 tracks of _Hardcore_ all sound pulsating and coruscating with LIGHT, and the listener is immediately drawn into its soundworld. The music does not care whether you want to enjoy it or not; it all OWNS you for its length, and how quickly that length goes by before the obligatorily massive closer "You're Lionel Richie" (perhaps the only relatively predictable thing on this record) caps off the ride with a classic Mogwai build before depositing you back to Earth. Thank you, come again.

_Hawk_ was their first album to have a complete absence of vocals, so it's rather striking to hear them return. Partly for this reason, perhaps the most surprising songs are the ones with vocals: "Mexican Grand Prix" and "George Square Thatcher Death Party." The former, hot on the heels of the opener "White Noise," gets things pumping with an unrelenting kraut-beat and a guest vocalist on VOCODER! Nice to hear that back in its customary texture-enriching role; since _Hawk_ had no vocals at all, I guess I had assumed that they had dropped it. The latter, five tracks later, uses an AUTOTUNER of all things, which is a move of incredible chutzpah, but it hardly matters that its standard use has long since become a tiresome pop cliche, because in Mogwai's hands, it plays a perfect role in the song in which it appears, just like all their other instrumentation always does.

Even "Rano Pano," whose original working title "Sludger" should tell you about what it sounds like, is sprightly and propulsive, and as the layers are added, keyboards finally shine above the mix and coat the song in a lovely gossamer sheen. The out-and-out rocker "San Pedro" doesn't just do the "Glasgow Mega-Snake"/"Batcat" prog-metal thing again, but has a rich sound that only adds to its rockingness. "Death Rays" is my personal favorite here, with an utterly gorgeous and delectable keyboard sound, testament once again to Barry Burns' adeptness at finding/engineering the most delicious sounds for his keys, getting the absolute most out of the instrument and pouring it all over the music with boundless largesse. Also another compelling Dominic Aitchison bassline there. Does this album have a "Friend of the Night"? I think "Death Rays" may be it. "How to Be a Werewolf" (look for the video of the shorter cut of this song) sounds like the birth of light itself. Reminiscent partly of "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" (leadoff track of the much-celebrated first album _Mogwai Young Team_), "Werewolf" chugs along as happy as can be behind its propulsive, melodic bass line (yay Dominic Aitchison AGAIN) without any fear or shame at being thought not cool enough for school. Again, it doesn't give a rip what you may think of it. It is what it is and if you don't like it, you may as not exist as far as it's concerned. But then what's not to like anyway?

Some people are disappointed in this album, but frankly, I don't understand them. Try for yourself...

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars *** This is a WARNING about the Deluxe version's packaging only. *** January 25, 2012

By 132BPM

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is not a review of the CD but a warning to anyone considering purchasing the deluxe 2-CD version of this release.

Maybe only my copy was defective, but I felt it necessary to make people aware of a big potential problem with the deluxe version's packaging. The two CDs are housed inside open-top sleeves, one glued to the inside panel of the front cover and one glued to the inside panel of the back. (8 pages of photos and information are bound in between.) The sleeves are of a fairly thick and glossy paper, and they are far, far too tight, making it absolutely impossible to not scratch the discs all to hell while attempting to slide them out for the first time. I always treat my CDs and records with great care (handle by edges only, store cardboard digipacks in plastic retail-style jackets, CDs are never left out loose or in the open, etc.), so I tried with great patience to remove the CDs as carefully as possible, but with no luck. They were bound so tightly by their paper sleeves that simply removing them for the first became an exercise in frustration. Once they were out, they were completely covered with several dozen thin scratches, due to the paper's surface finish and unnecessarily tight fit.

Gee, nothing like ruining brand-new CDs through no fault of your own. Imagine how scratched up they'll become after removing them another two or three times...

If you must purchase this deluxe edition, be prepared to probably ruin the CDs. You may choose to slit a side edge of each sleeve open with an X-Acto to free the CDs more easily - but then you'll damage the packaging. Either way, odds are you're going to own a new - and newly ruined - copy of "Hardcore will Never Die..."