Sign In to rate and review
CRITIC REVIEWS
100
Brooklyn duo deliver shock psychedelic masterpiece.
Print Only
1mo
91
It offers one sonic reward after another, and the band remains as inviting as ever.
11y
90
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.
11y
90
The new nine-song album blends psychedelia with elements of post-punk, surf rock and even folk.
80
This is a wilful and lovably eccentric second album from a band who've had a sniff of being pop stars and decided they'd much rather be weird and esoteric, thanks all the same.
Print Only
1mo
80
The album evokes not claustrophobia but space and freedom: an exhilarating screw-the-consequences leap into the bizarre.
80
MGMT's Congratulations makes me want to say this to the band: Congratulations.
80
MGMT may be dazed, but they’re not tweaked out yet.
11y
80
MGMT plots a strange course for their listeners with Congratulations, but the material here often exceeds that of the band’s initial full-length.
80
They never fully reconcile this conundrum, but have nonetheless created a fine record, which, while distantly removed stylistically from their first, doesn't lose grasp of their innate pop instincts, channeling them in a more elliptical, silvery manner.
78
While MGMT may no longer peddle the kind of instant-pleasure-point melodic textures that propelled the band's most well-known songs into so many playlists, they're up to something far more interesting: releasing a major, mainstream objet d'art without for a minute fooling themselves that it "matters."
75
Undoubtedly, some fans will be left feeling deflated, but this odd little sonic onion ultimately rewards those patient enough to peel the layers.
70
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.
11y
68
Every track here has successful passages, but frustratingly, they too often turn out to be detours or trap doors. In general, the less cluttered and more focused their tracks are, the better they turn out.
11y
60
It's a brave, sometimes successful, but ultimately flawed attempt to evolve and grow the band's sound. The one crime is a distinct lack of any memorable tunes, but it will certainly stand as one of 2010's more interesting releases.
11y
60
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.
11y
60
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.
11y
60
None of the songs hit as hard as Kids or Electric Feel, but there's also no filler (which is more than we can say for OS). Instead, the band delivers a consistent if self-indulgent offering of oddball prog-pop.
60
Their mainstream audience should flee now, but Congratulations is more than mere commercial suicide. Their perversity has produced a sonic adventure, with lovely moments.
60
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.
50
MGMT have (purposely?) lost that instant magic that they effortlessly whipped up with those debut singles, and in trying to re-establish themselves as artists that don't need the commercial mainstream to survive, they've created a record that lacks any defining characteristics to call its own.
50
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.
11y
50
In striving rather openly to set their sophomore effort apart from what they view as the critically acclaimed trappings of their debut, MGMT offers what is, essentially, an album of B-sides--a few bright spots strung together with half-baked concepts and monotony, in need of a lot less knob-tweaking and a whole lot more rewrites.
45
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.
40
None of the songs are good enough as growers or deep tracks to hold up the album.
11y
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.
Contributions By
patton, royalflush, thisisabtlgrnd, philthy, Alejandro González, Alex69, erik, MarkC, OPENblinds, mz, AlexLW_08, Troll FaceBecome a Donor
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Advertisement
Track List
| 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 |
Total Length: 43 minutes
Year End Lists
| #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 |
More Lists
Sign in to comment
Advertisement