Customer Reviews

Young Team

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

What a great cd. Very mellow, very hard, very sweet, very angry. This cd has it all. In buying this cd, I had hoped that it would compare to GBYE! of which I am a big fan. I must say that this gave me tons more than I had even hoped for. I bought this and "Come On Die Young" at the same time and I believe this is the better of the two. While "Come On Die Young" is an incredible album, this just seems to be more touching and melodic with less slow drum beats. I love the song entitled "Tracy". There are no drums in this song and I just love the way Mogwai uses Television and Phone Conversations as background filler for their songs. It adds an element of life that no other group can match. In the song "R U Still In 2 It", you get to hear Aidan Moffat test his vocal skills. Not an incredible singer by any means, but who cares with the instruments to back him up. You won't even care about the fact that his voice is very somber. My favorite song on the album has to be "Yes! I am a long way from home". It's got a kicked back, sweet beat and a very mellow flowing bass line and is slowly lifted by beautiful guitars towards the end. The melodies on this song were just meant to be. Simply put.

Also, the production of this album is just phenomonal. I feel like the bass is sitting in my lap on this whole album. The clarity of the songs is just great. For most of the album, nothing is overdone. Everything is just so subtle it makes you wonder why all music isn't this good. This music makes you happy that they play the crap they do on the radio because it just confirms that you have great taste in "REAL MUSIC".

Buy this album today, or tomorrow I guess. The longer you put it off the more upset you'll be with yourself for putting it off. You can download .mp3's of this album but I guarantee you'll just delete them in a few days when you go to buy the album. In other words, don't waste your time with the computer, just buy it and enjoy. I can't wait for you to hear the song "Like Herod" Hold on, folks. Keep all arms and legs inside the roller-coaster for the remainder of the ride. Thank you, and we'll see you on the other side.

If you are already into Mogwai, I needn't tell you how amazing this album is by itself. When it was first released in October of 1997, it hit me with such impact, that it forever changed how I listen to music and what I feel about it. It still blows me away even today. Mogwai heralded something challenging and different to what I previously knew about music. In that respect, it is worth every penny. However, this is a remastered/expanded version.

Typically, I am skeptical about the whole 'remastered' thing. It seems that the results are mixed--and sometimes not even discernible from the original. Had it not been for impulsive behaviour in action, I might have given this a miss when I came across it the other day. Thankfully, I didn't. 'Young Team' given the remastering treatment is truly revealing.

The album always rocked, but now the guitars threaten global meltdown, the bass conspires to raze every building to the ground, the drums pound crisper and more ferocious than before, but that is just the half of it. On the softer pieces, each instrument is somehow showcased individually in the mix rather than being heard within the whole composition. The amazing clarity with which that comes through astounds me. I have to say this is impressive and makes it worth owning this version compared to the original.

The second CD 'Young Team Appendix' is equally brilliant. Featuring outtakes, rarities, and some live tracks from the same time, it builds on the music of the original album and keeps the experience of the album burning longer. Like the first CD, the clarity is fantastic. The listening experience equally satisfying.

With anticipation building for the release of 'The Hawk is Howling' this month, it has been refreshing to revisit 'Young Team' again and to hear it in a new way. The romance began here, so it has been appropriate!! For newbies, this is a great place to begin with Mogwai. For those in the know, it is worth buying again!! I only hope 'CODY' gets the same treatment in the future from Chemical Underground. Nice one!

I like Mogwai as much as the next person, but I'll be the first to admit that their records can be pretty spotty and inconsistant. The reason Mogwai are rightfully held in such high regard is that when they're good, they're really, really, really f'ing good. There are many moments on Young Team where Mogwai are mind-blowing, but there are also instances of filler that disrupt the flow of the record. The strengths are hard to ignore: "Yes, I Am A Long Way From Home," "Like Herod," the gorgeous "Tracy," and the earth-shattering "Mogwai Fear Satan." But "Radar Maker" and "With Portfolio"? Needless interludes. The latter is especially obnoxious as the noise in the end becomes louder and louder to the point of being unbearable. And considering the CD is mixed very low in terms of volume, the noise is a very unwelcome guest. Otherwise, Young Team is a pretty great record. It's pretty much an essential for Mogwai fans and perhaps a good starting point, but I honestly think that Happy Songs For Happy People is their most consistant album.

Despite all comparisons to Slint, Tortise and Aerial M, Mogwai really kick-started the brand of music played by the aforementioned bands along with GSYBE!, Sigur Ros and Labradaford with this album. Right from the start they establish the buoyant, exhilarating, aggressive mood that runs throughout the record. However, darker, calmer tones emerge in tracks such as "Tracy" and the haunting "R U still in 2 it." Yet the highlights are by far "Like Herod" and "Mogwai Fear Satan." The former rumbles along for a bit, peters out, and then hits the listener on the rebound like a freight train. The first time I heard it I flinched. The last track on the album is a perfect conclusion, a gradual crescendo into all-out riffs, and then coming back down on the high, simple melody of Barry Burn's flute. This is by far the best album on my shelf, and should be prequisite listening for any true rock fan.

This cd is great. No, its excellent. It's one of those albums you can put on repeat for days, and no matter what your doing, it is enjoyable. The final track 'Mogwai Fear Satan' is probably their best song, and its just a glorious track. Other standouts are 'Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home', 'Like Herod', and 'Tracy'. Mogwai draws from bands like Black Sabbath (and I swear there is a hint of Smashing pumpkins in there at points) to make beautiful instrumental rock. My not giving it 5 stars is only because several of the tracks (more specifically 'With Portfolio' and 'R U Still In 2 It') are a little weaker than the rest and because of that, almost sound like filler, which is a shame. However, that is no reason to NOT go out and buy this record right away. It is Mogwai at its best, and one of the few reasons to be excited about rock music today.

"If the stars had a sound they would sound like this". Not sure about that, love, but this really is, to use a much abused term, an awesome album. Absolutely fantastic stuff. Although there are several obvious reference points (My Bloody Valentine, Black Sabbath, 'Siamese Dream'-era Pumpkins, even Satie), its like nothing I've ever heard before and i can't get it off my stereo. Very obviously music written by people who have studied music but no less emotionally affecting for that. Hard to pick out any best songs as they're all excellent but it's probably best not to listen to 'With Portfolio' too much as it'll make your brain bleed. Very, very good and definitley superior to the follow up 'Come on Die Young' which is also worth checking out.

Mogwai have come a long way! Their quiet loud, very dynamic rock is not the most commercially viable but spiritually it fills voids. I've never been a fan of instrumental rock, but this band is one of the best I've heard in recent years, and this record is wonderful.

Among other timeless, melancholic records that have blown me away recently I'd totally recommend Cobolt-"Spirit On Parole" (incredible melancholy slow-rock from Sweden...probably one of the best slow rock records from the past 10 years), anything by Godspeed you Black Emporer, the new Yo La Tengo, and anything by Spiritualized!

This has got to be one of the most genre-defying albums I've ever heard. Very unique. Too dynamic to be considered minimalism; too jarringly noisy and heady to be sad-core, yet the gentle soothing passages throughout are far too ambient to be considered noise-rock. This is beautiful noisy music. If you're expecting some exruciating lo-fi guitar-noise garage-bound trash, look elsewhere. Mogwai is VERY refreshing in the sense that it's arty, dissonant, ambient, tasteful AND well-produced. The sound is HUGE. The music itself requires patience, because it does take a good 4 or 5 listens to really sink in. I admit some of it does seem like overkill, but turn it up and before you know it you'll be lost in it's crushing waves of sound. "Mogwai Fear Satan" is beautiful beyond beleif. I saw them perform it live...there are no words to describe that experience. They play VERY loud. If they come near you, DEFINATLY see them. Loudest show I've ever been to, with The Damned being a close second. Buy this album!

There really aren't... With the exception of track 7, which I can't help but skip this is heaven. I want "Mogwai Fear Satan" played at my funeral!

Mogwai Fear Satan! Simply one of the best freaking albums I've heard this year. It will take you on a sonic journey that you won't want to stop. I'm always a bit sad when I come to the last sone - Mogwai Fear Satan - because I know I will be home soon. You will not be dissapointed.