From the opening moments of the sublime “It’s Working” all the way to the titular closer, Congratulations is an incredible follow-up from a band that is still maturing into some unknown entity.
The new nine-song album blends psychedelia with elements of post-punk, surf rock and even folk.
MGMT's Congratulations makes me want to say this to the band: Congratulations.
MGMT plots a strange course for their listeners with Congratulations, but the material here often exceeds that of the band’s initial full-length.
Congratulations is no more impenetrable than the Flaming Lips at their most commericial, with Sonic Boom offering a bright, upfront mix that keeps the baffling array of omichords, guitars, sitars, synths, organs and FX percolating in dynamic, uncluttered fashion.
In the absence of Oracular’s pulsing, dance-ready synth-pop, Congratulations takes its cues from the cosmic-charged psychedelia of that album’s latter half.
Overall, MGMT's refusal to co-operate with the listener jars with the crisp and professional production – which, despite Sonic Boom's involvement, is more Van Dyke Parks than Spacemen 3 and leaves Congratulations sitting somewhere in the middle, not complex enough for the prats, but too obscure for the jerks.
Their mainstream audience should flee now, but Congratulations is more than mere commercial suicide. Their perversity has produced a sonic adventure, with lovely moments.
With Congratulations, they attempt to not just keep it weird — which they've done — but to figure out how they can be in it for the long haul. It's a solid start.
While the only ostensible reason for MGMT’s stylistic 180 is to seem less like a lightweight pop act, the songs on Oracular were far more engaging and better written than almost anything here.
Congratulations shares nary a sonic smidgen with Oracular Spectacular, instead existing in a netherworld where mod-era psychedelia meets prog-rock and where the ecstatic heights of the band's debut don't exist.
Woohoo, today was my birthday! You know what that means: special birthday review!
I decided to revisit and re-review one of my favorite albums of all-time, "Congratulations" by MGMT. This record is very important for me, as when I first heard it, it opened up a new musical world to me. Before listening to this album, I had little experience with psychedelic music, and it had yet to become a favorite genre of mine. Thanks to this record, however, I was able to change the way I viewed ... read more
Contrario a lo que muchos piensan, el fracaso inicial de Congratulations no se debe tanto en parte a lo musical, la verdad es que aun si MGMT hubiera creado el mejor álbum de la historia con su segundo disco hubiera sido un fracaso igualmente, porque el caso de Congratulations no es uno de esos casos Pinkerton comunes, es uno llevado al extremo.
Volvamos por un momento a la mitad de los años 2000, en materia Rock pues las cosas seguían muy fuertes, recientemente ... read more
This is such a fun album!!!!! I didn’t know MGMT were even capable of something like Siberian Breaks. I always just dismissed them as every other basic psychedelic band but on this album they are much more than that
I definitely prefer Oracular and LDA to this album, but this album does contain some of their most genuine artistic output. I may bump up the rating when I acquire to the sound more. I've only heard it all the way through once.
1 | It's Working 4:06 | 90 |
2 | Song for Dan Treacy 4:09 | 87 |
3 | Someone's Missing 2:29 | 80 |
4 | Flash Delirium 4:15 | 91 |
5 | I Found a Whistle 3:40 | 83 |
6 | Siberian Breaks 12:09 | 95 |
7 | Brian Eno 4:31 | 87 |
8 | Lady Dada's Nightmare 4:31 | 85 |
9 | Congratulations 3:55 | 92 |
#3 | / | MOJO |
#8 | / | Billboard |
#10 | / | Q Magazine |
#11 | / | American Songwriter |
#14 | / | Spinner |
#16 | / | The Needle Drop |
#19 | / | NME |
#20 | / | Spin |
#26 | / | Rhapsody SoundBoard |
#28 | / | DIY |