Come On Die Young - Mogwai

After being blown away by Mercury Rev at Glastonbury I thought that was the highlight of the weekend, with only Mogwai left within walking distance. What came next was a stunning, mainly instrumental set accompanied with a Pink Floyd-esque light show. The show was so good I now cannot listen to Mercury Rev properly without thinking about Mogwai...When I arrived home I felt a CD was needed, but still had doubts that the intensity of their live performance would not be translated onto CD, but once again, I was wrong...Opening with an Iggy Pop narrative, Come on die young is a masterpiece. All the raw power and angelic melodies fuse well, serving up a plate of ear candy to ...  Read the complete review

After the cult success of Mogwai's debut 'Young Team', the band returned with their Dave (Mercury Rev) Fridmann produced 'Come On Die Young' - which astonishingly made the top 40 album chart (though quickly dissapeared, grr!) without much publicity! The album however is a tiny bit ooh-er, as for a start a few of the songs sound samey, but that isn't much of a gripe really, as everything else on this album is a classic, but not quite as much as their debut. The album opens with 'Punk Rock:', which is a speech by Iggy Pop about...punk rock (seriously! =)), followed by the beautiful soothing country classic 'CODY' which features ...  Read the complete review

How I'd looked forward to listening to anything by Mogwai after an explosive live performance they gave recently in Dublin. Their exciting stage presence allied with the quiet/loud moments they produce gel to create an unforgettable experience. Mogwai also have an aura and mystique about them that is not too dissimilar to their countrymen Belle and Sebastian. It's like you have to search long and hard to find the oasis that is their music because it frankly frightens the life out of daytime radio schedulers. That's why 'Come On Die Young' is such a let down. It’s incredibly quiet, mostly, and struggles to make an impression ...  Read the complete review

Have you ever felt the need to listen to some powerful music - scary at times - but you can't be arsed to sit and work out the lyrics/ read the little leaflet to find out?? Then here's your answer!! Mogwai largely perform instrumental (with the emphasis on the MENTAL) music for the underground alternative scene. They're frantic, yet at times fragile. Big on build ups and drumming solo's, small on music scene in general. It's a shame hardly anyone has heard of them as they are truely awesome (crap word) and really deserves a listen to. This isn't the kind of music that can handle just a couple of minutes light listening, it ...  Read the complete review

Now this will be a somewhat of a short opinion being that I haven't listened to this album in sometime and don't own it. I had the superb good fortune to borrow this album off a friend for six weeks. Now in that time I didn't once listen to it all the way through, or feel tempted to tape a copy of it. The fundamental problem with it is that is dull. Whilst it seems to consist predominantly of the same kind of material as 'Young Team' with its sweeping instrumentals, it lacks the subtles and contrast of the previous album. I suggest you look at a different opinion in this section for a more complete description of the music. Personally I'd ...  Read the complete review