Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The very best from a brilliant band, December 5, 2001
Do not listen to the nay-sayers. This is the very best Mogwai album, period. It is the most varied and most focused work they have done. This allows the songs to garner an intensity that simply was not there before or was buried along with too much of the same. From the swelling "Sine Wave," to the hauntingly beautiful "Take Me Someplace Nice," the mighty Mogwai will cause the hair on your neck to stand. Plus the vocals here are so perfectly in place that you hope the band produces more vocal tracks in the future. Personally I think this is the best album of 2001...anything that contains the ominous power of "You Don't Know Jesus," has to be. Please do yourself a favor and get this masterpiece.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
thus far, the album of the year 2001, April 24, 2001
there has always been something about mogwai. i can distinctly remember the day i bought my first mogwai disc (young team), popping it into my car, and being blown away. soon after, one by one, i purchased the mogwai discography. and there hasn't been any purchases i would take back. i enjoyed all their releases and i respected that they proved with each album that they refused to stay the same. they were a great example of how a band should evolve.so you could say i had incredibly high hopes for "rock action". i wanted another great album that showed yet more progress. there hadn't been too many "great" albums released yet in 2001 so i set even higher expectations for it. and this album exceeded every single expectation. from the opening hum of "sine wave" to the final guitar strumming on "secret pint", this album is pure musical bliss. never before has there been a mogwai album that sounded so varied, yet so focused. they incorporate more electronic elements into the mix on some tracks, and the accoustic guitar line on "dial: revenge" is beautiful (as are the guest vocals from gruff rhys from the super furry animals). and speaking of vocals, there are more on this album than previous releases. this actually made it harder for me to get into at first, but now after more listens i appreciate it so much more, as they used them very tastefully and never overdo it. "rock action" has no spots that lag, and some of the songs are catchy even...but still beg you to listen to them over and over. this is an album that will stand up to repeated listening (as all mogwai albums do) and should become an important part of your music collection as there is not much that sounds like it. this album does not sound like come on die young. if you're expecting them to revert to the sound on young team, think again. but if you are expecting them to progress again and make more great music, buy this album, as you will not be disappointed in the least. and if you've never heard mogwai, this would be a great starting point, as it is probably the most accessible for untrained ears.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Relax, May 19, 2001
"Rock Action" picks up where "Come On Die Young" and "EP+2" left off. And for those of you wondering, yes there are indeed more vocals on this album than the last. But this isn't a bad thing. Repeat: this isn't bad. If anything, the largest improvement over previous efforts is the lush arrangement of the album. Gone is the sparse and sometimes dry formula of the past and thrown together are organs, strings, synthesizers, and get this, banjos. Don't panic quite yet. Rock Action arguably boasts three of the most lush, soaring, ethereal, and best Mogwai songs recorded yet. The first of these is the opening track, "Sine Wave". It's a relatively quiet number with sparse drums, hypnotizing subtle guitar lines and popcorn like synthesizer bleeps that run around and through every speaker, reminiscent of some Trent Reznor bad dream. When it's all said and done "Sine Wave" is a cautious, beautiful opener that sets the sharply defined tone for the album. Number two of the Rock Action power trilogy is "You Don't Know Jesus". I never thought I knew him, but Mogwai seems to think so. In more of a traditional sense, "You Don't Know Jesus" is the most comfortable track on the album. Long, ominous, and saddening, it's a track that reminds us who we're listening to, just in case anyone forgets. And finally, there is "2 Rights Make 1 Wrong". You'll immediately refer to this song as "the one with the banjo". Perhaps the most poignant comparison to make would be with the opening track of Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven". Both tracks are, gasp, uplifting epics that actually make the listener feel good rather than casually deliver the token post rock melancholic disposition. The other tracks on Rock Action aren't exactly weak either. Gruff Rhys, frontman of the Welsh supergroup Super Furry Animals, lends his voice to "Dial: Revenge" and the result is a particularly haunting piece, nicely equipped with a tragic acoustic guitar and vocals sung entirely in Welsh. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Rock Action is its length, a tart 38 minutes. When the album ends, unfortunately with the weakest song on the album, "Secret Pint", perhaps the most appropriate response would be a sigh of relief. They've added more instruments and they've added more voices. Nevertheless, Mogwai has done it. They've made an album that survives their own musical evolution.
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by Mogwai 
