Mr Beast is the fifth studio album by the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai, released on March 6, 2006 on Play It Again Sam and Matador Records. Produced by Tony Doogan and the band itself, the album was recorded between April and October 2005 at the band's newly built home studio, Castle of Doom, in Glasgow.
Released to widespread critical acclaim, the album reached number 31 on the UK Albums Chart, number 17 on the Scottish Albums Chart and number 128 on the US Billboard 200.
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
referring to the influential 1991 album by My Bloody Valentine. Drummer Martin Bulloch describes it as
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".
The cover artwork for Mr Beast is a painting by Amanda Church entitled "Milkbar", 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.
All songs were written by Stuart Braithwaite, Dominic Aitchison, Martin Bulloch, John Cummings, and Barry Burns. Lyrics on "I Chose Horses" written by Envy vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa.
Mogwai
Additional personnel