Mr Beast (album)

Mr Beast is the fifth studio album by Scottish post-rock group Mogwai. It was released in 2006.

Mr Beast
Studio album by Mogwai
Released	6 March 2006 (2006-03-06)
Recorded	April–October 2005
Studio	Castle of Doom (Glasgow, Scotland)
Genre	Post-rock, noise rock, space rock[1]
Length	43:07
Language	Scottish English (all exc. track 9) Japanese (track 9)
Label	Play It Again Sam, Matador
Producer	Tony Doogan, Mogwai
Mogwai chronology
Happy Songs for Happy People (2003) Mr Beast (2006) Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (soundtrack) (2006)
Singles from Mr Beast
"Friend of the Night" Released: 30 January 2006 "Travel Is Dangerous" Released: 26 June 2006 (EP)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Guardian	[1]
Kerrang!	[4]
Mojo	[5]
musicOMH	[6]
NME	9/10[7]
Pitchfork Media	6.8/10[8]
Q	[9]
Rock Sound	8/10[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]

Overview

The album Mr Beast was released on 6 March 2006 in the UK and 7 March 2006 in the United States, in double LP vinyl format, a regular CD jewel case edition and limited deluxe edition package that comes with both the album on CD and a DVD documenting the recording process entitled The Recording of Mr Beast. The album has been described by Creation Records head Alan McGee as

...probably the best art rock album I've been involved with since Loveless. In fact, it's possibly better than Loveless.^[12]

referring to the influential 1991 album by My Bloody Valentine. Drummer Martin Bulloch describes it as

...the best record we've made since Mogwai Young Team.^[13]

The album's title stemmed from an incident where Barry Burns and Dominic Aitchison landed in Florida to start a tour with The Cure in 2005, when they saw a taxi driver standing outside the airport holding a sign that said "Mr. and Mrs. Beast" which, after a 10-hour flight, was "funnier than life itself".^[9]

Artwork

The cover artwork for Mr Beast is a painting by Amanda Church entitled "Milkbar",^[14] and the accompanying booklet contains other works from her, all of a similar style. In addition, the Mogwai Young Team logo is displayed on the spine of the deluxe edition release, with a silhouette of Jesus on the cross visible within the logo.

Track listing

All songs were written by Stuart Braithwaite, Dominic Aitchison, Martin Bulloch, John Cummings, and Barry Burns. ^{[citation needed]} Lyrics on "I Chose Horses" written by Envy vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Auto Rock"	4:18
2.	"Glasgow Mega-Snake"	3:35
3.	"Acid Food"	3:40
4.	"Travel Is Dangerous"	4:01
5.	"Team Handed"	3:58
6.	"Friend of the Night"	5:30
7.	"Emergency Trap"	3:31
8.	"Folk Death 95"	3:34
9.	"I Chose Horses"	5:13
10.	"We're No Here"	5:39
Total length:		43:07

Japanese edition bonus track (2006)

No.	Title	Length
11.	"1% Of Monster"	3:48
Total length:		46:55

Personnel

Mogwai

• Stuart Braithwaite – guitar, vocals on "Acid Food"
• Dominic Aitchison – bass guitar
• Martin Bulloch – drums
• John Cummings – guitar
• Barry Burns – piano, guitar, flute, vocals on "Travel Is Dangerous", vocoder

Additional personnel

• Craig Armstrong – keyboard on "I Chose Horses"
• Tetsuya Fukagawa – vocals on "I Chose Horses"
• Tony Doogan – producer

Charts

Chart performance for Mr Beast

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15]	95
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16]	21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17]	57
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18]	97
French Albums (SNEP)[19]	94
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20]	65
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21]	38
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22]	17
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23]	87
UK Albums (OCC)[24]	31
US Billboard 200[25]	128

References

1. Mardles, Paul (19 February 2006). "Mogwai, Mr. Beast". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
2. "Mr. Beast by Mogwai". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
3. Mr Beast at AllMusic
4. Myers, Ben. "Black Beauty". Kerrang. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
5. Allen, Matt. "Animal Magic". Mojo. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
6. "Mogwai – Mr. Beat". musicOMH.com. 6 March 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
7. Woodhouse, Alan. "Mogwai - Mr Beast". NME. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
8. "Mogwai: Mr. Beast | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchforkmedia.com. 5 March 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
9. Segal, Victoria. "Introducing Mogwai". Q. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
10. Marshall, Joe. "Mogwai - Mr Beast". Rock Sound. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
11. "Rolling Stone album review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2007.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
12. "Questions of Doom: Alan McGee". Archived from the original on 29 September 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
13. The Recording of Mr. Beast Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InCGES-5KSg
14. "Amanda Church Paintings". Archived from the original on 9 January 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
15. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 192.
16. "Ultratop.be – Mogwai – Mr Beast" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
17. "Ultratop.be – Mogwai – Mr Beast" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Mogwai – Mr Beast" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
19. "Lescharts.com – Mogwai – Mr Beast". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Mogwai – Mr Beast" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
21. "Norwegiancharts.com – Mogwai – Mr Beast". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
23. "Swisscharts.com – Mogwai – Mr Beast". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
24. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
25. "Mogwai Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2022.