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Critic Reviews
90
It's an immaculate full-length that shows growth and maturity in songwriting and sound, with adult themes cleverly masked by playful sonics that evoke the innocence of childhood.
12y
80
Although it's clear that their infectious, single-heavy debut was no accident, the more experimental aspect of MGMT seems to be their dominant side.
12y
80
In a world where bands exist merely to bag the next phone ad soundtrack, the guts and wild abandon of the pair’s singular, foolhardy vision is rare indeed.
12y
80
You might need a strong cuppa to settle your nerves afterwards.
10y
80
It may not make you get up and dance, but your brain will be spinning.
9y
80
MGMT finds VanWyngarden and Goldwasser having a great deal of fun creating exactly the kind of eclectic, weird music they want to.
12y
75
They’ve managed to step forward into focused recalibration without losing their weekend-warrior identity.
11y
70
This album is indeed an amalgam of the good times, let’s-not-upset-Columbia debut ‘Oracular Spectacular’, and their rather drained sounding, introspective but idea-filled sophomore ‘Congratulations’.
9y
70
On one hand, they seem able to produce easily digestible fuzzy pop songs slightly reminiscent of soft rock with what appears to be consummate ease; on the other, they can enter into all manner of sonic digressions with a noteworthy lightness of touch.
12y
70
These songs are certainly less paranoid, and fuse the two previous albums into some sort of workable chimera, but they still lack the confidence and self-assertion of the band’s debut album.
11y
70
MGMT keep finding new and exciting ways to mess with our heads
11y
70
Not many other bands in their position could get away with an album like this; they've reached the stage where going back to writing straightforward songs would seem like a serious retrograde step. More power to them.
12y
62
For all of their talk of going off the deep end, MGMT ultimately takes on a less flattering image, of a band wading in the indie mainstream.
12y
60
Neo-psych outfit MGMT returns with a fuzzy new album that's got plenty of odd moments, but too few memorable ones.
8y
60
American duo frustrate with follow-up to the classic ‘Congratulations’.
6y
60
It sometimes meanders like a wasted hipster at an Animal Collective after-show.
3y
60
The result, a self-titled rebirth following a hiatus, is a bit of a mess. Still, it’s a thrillingly inventive and uncompromisingly colorful mess, and isn’t that the best kind of mess?
12y
60
If the noise doesn’t scare you off, there are a lot of delicate details waiting to be discovered.
3y
50
On MGMT the band has aimed for a modern day equivalent of a cross between Revolver and Sgt. Pepper, but they’ve produced the psych-rock equivalent of Oasis’s Be Here Now – an impenetrable, overwrought, hit-and-miss product marred by ego.
12y
50
Dense, uneasy psychedelia dominates, and although this isn’t a product of wilfully inaccessible experimentation, neither does it contain much in the way of instant melodies and conventional song structures.
12y
50
The record’s thick textures feel like canvases that have been painted over too many times, and its genre excursions have had the life practiced out of them. A looser take on MGMT would likely have been a rousing success.
12y
50
What’s disheartening about MGMT is that even if they disapprove of their earlier pop songs, their structureless compositions still operate within a high level of artful accessibility.
12y
43
Though there are flashes of gratifyingly gauzy pop, their cavalcade of goopy dross and hippie-dippy navel-gazing takes a left at transcendence and eventually just lets this bloated trip sputter out altogether.
10y
40
MGMT is a case of a band that should have stuck to what they were good at, rather than diving into waters they’re left floundering in.
5y
40
Unfocused third outing from psychedelic pop stars.
6mo
40
The swampy, claustrophobic MGMT is never as interesting or smart as the crowd-pleasing sing-alongs on Oracular Spectacular.
11y
40
The good news is, MGMT is by some margin the New Yorker’s most intuitive, sincere and naturalistic record. The bad news is that it’s not at all musically interesting.
12y
40
MGMT is less a collection of worthwhile songs than a demo reel for Fridmann’s studio tricks.
12y
40
On their third and eponymously titled album, Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden don't notice a lot of things, including their lack of hooks or any sort of identity.
12y
40
Whereas Congratulations was almost impenetrably dense with melody and progression, the material on MGMT is stripped down to an absolute dearth of ideas.
12y
25
An endurance test of an album that’s seemingly unlovable by design.
12y
20
MGMT aren’t a real band, they’re a total fluke.
9y
Here's the deal(crash)
Open your eyes(crash)
This album's alright(crash)
There are some good songs(crash)
Like alien days(crash)
And Life is a lie(crash)
This album's alright
But there are some flaws(crash)
it feels underbaked(crash)
At certain times(crash)
Like introspection(crash)
Or Astro-mancy(crash)
It's really alright(crash)
This album's alright(68/100)
Ehhh... Where do I begin...
This album's biggest issue is the experimentation with the sound, and the overall production, which is extremely questionable. their self-titled sounds not only bad, but weird aswell... All the songs dragged on too long for me, even though they aren't even that long. The lyricism was the only thing that was acceptable, which in my opinion is the only good thing about this record.
There's only one track, which I think was just okay... and it's ... read more
Magical Guys Making Tunes
Okay huh. I think this one is a bit over hated. It’s definitely not their best work but I have to say I really enjoyed some moments on here. This album might be their most psychedelic to date, possibly besides Congratulations. There are some very cool atmospheres on here that really suck me in. Alien Days is a really great opener, really catchy and there’s a lot of cool effects. An Orphan of Fortune is a super weird yet captivating closer. I Love You Too, ... read more
MGMT aren’t a great Noise Pop act, simply put.
After their first 2 albums, it’s clear that the duo wanted to creatively challenge themselves on their 3rd studio LP. MGMT’s first album contained their biggest and most beloved hits such as “Kids” and “Time To Pretend”, meanwhile their sophomore record “Congratulations” proved that they had real longevity and a knack for psychedelic, other-worldly instrumentals. Their style was clearly ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | Alien Days 5:09 | 85 |
| 2 | Cool Song No. 2 4:01 | 72 |
| 3 | Mystery Disease 4:08 | 78 |
| 4 | Introspection 4:22 | 71 |
| 5 | Your Life Is a Lie 2:06 | 65 |
| 6 | A Good Sadness 4:48 | 67 |
| 7 | Astro-Mancy 5:11 | 59 |
| 8 | I Love You Too, Death 5:50 | 64 |
| 9 | Plenty of Girls In the Sea 3:04 | 65 |
| 10 | An Orphan of Fortune 5:31 | 73 |
Total Length: 44 minutes
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