MGMT released their first album “Oracular Spectacular” in 2007 to slow but great success with hits records like “Electric Feel”, “Time to Pretend and “Kids”. I feel like I could probably name about five different movies where one of these songs was in the movie. If you’re a true MGMT fan you probably already laughed at me for bringing up the Electric Feel song but I assure you I am a true fan. If you are a true fan, you must know about the music they made before their first album. Songs like “Indie Rokkers” and “Metanoia” which also happens to be my favorite song from those guys. Most importantly you should know what most of the songs from “Oracular Spectacular” originally sounded like before they were perfected to be put on the album. It was that perfection of already good songs that made the first album so great. That brings us to “Congratulations”, which I have almost no complaints about.
The first thing you notice about this album soon as it starts, is that it’s more of a progressive rock type of sound and doesn’t really have that synthpop type of feel that the first one had. It starts off with the song “It’s Working”, a song that gives me the feel of what it’s like to go surfing which is different from other MGMT songs that made me feel like I was…….”under the influence”. I always enjoyed researching Andrew’s lyrics and being amazed at his unique style of poetry in songs.
“Song for Dan Treacy” is also a cool song. If you’re confused about who Dan Treacy is he is a singer/songwriter for Television Personalities which is a post punk / punk / Indie Pop band. The title of the song describes the song perfectly and MGMT is obviously a fan of their music based on the production. To me this is a song sad lyrics but a feel good beat that gives you that mixed emotions type of feeling. They also made a song for Brian Eno(musical genius).
This entire album includes songs that sound like “album only” material. At the beginning of this album review I brought up how the first album had a lot of smash hits that slowly carried the album to platinum status. I think this is because they perfected songs they had on their EP Time to Pretend and put it on the album. At the same time “Congratulations” has certain aspects and sounds that the first album didnt have.
When you first hear the song “I Found A Whistle” it sounds like a very romantic song but with Andrew, there’s always more to it than that he doesn’t just simply tell you something on a song, he expresses it through poetical personifications and metaphors that amplify how he feels while showing you how important his messages are. This song is a perfect example of that and a great song.
“Siberian Breaks” is my favorite song on the album and is also the longest at a time of 12:09. This song makes me feel like I’m traveling through a wave and gives me the feel of movement when it switches from one part of the song to another. It takes you on a journey to different places that all sound different. It has a beginning, a climax and an ending all in one song. This song as a whole is the climax of the album and it is truly amazing.
These songs are my favorite songs from the album which overall is good but It’s still missing that one hit record to push it over the top. If you’re like me though you don’t care about no dang hit record, you just wanna hear some good music and this album gives you just that.