Congratulations (album)
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''Congratulations'' is the second studio album by American
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band
MGMT MGMT () is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, Ben Goldwasser. Originally signed to Cantora Records by the nascent ...
. It was initially made available for free streaming through the band's website on March 20, 2010, prior to its official release on April 13 through
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
. The album marks a departure from the
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style that brought MGMT acclaim on their debut, '' Oracular Spectacular'', released three years prior, and features a more psychedelic, progressive and guitar-driven sound. Most of the songs were written by the band in early 2009. They eventually headed to a Malibu studio to work on ''Congratulations'', along with former Spacemen 3 member Peter Kember, known professionally as Sonic Boom. Vocal contributions from Royal Trux singer Jennifer Herrema were also recorded for the album. Andrew VanWyngarden has stated that the album is influenced by the band's massive rise in popularity since '' Oracular Spectacular''s release. "It's us trying to deal with all the craziness that's been going on since our last album took off. Sometimes it just doesn't feel natural". ''Congratulations'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 66,000 copies sold in its first week, marking the best sales week for the band. , it had sold 219,000 copies in the United States. The album debuted at number four on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, selling 17,000 copies in its first week.


Background

Speaking to ''
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'' magazine on January 12, 2010, VanWyngarden declared that the album was finished, saying, "It's mixed and mastered, and now we're just working on presenting it to the world". On January 18, MGMT stated that they would prefer not to release any singles from the album. In an interview with ''
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'', Goldwasser explained, "We'd rather people hear the whole album as an album and see what tracks jump out rather than the ones that get played on the radio – if anything gets played on the radio!" He also said, "There definitely isn't a ' Time to Pretend' or a ' Kids' on the album. We've been talking about ways to make sure people hear the album as an album in order and not just figure out what are the best three tracks, download those and not listen to the rest of it".


Singles

Despite the band's pledge to not release singles, the album's lead single, " Flash Delirium", was made available as a free download on their website on March 9, 2010, before being generally released on March 23. " Siberian Breaks", the second single, was released on April 17. " It's Working" was released on June 26 as the third single. The album's
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was also released as the fourth and final single from the album on November 26.


Artwork

The cover art was designed by Anthony Ausgang, known for his kitschy lowbrow art style. The artwork depicts a
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-like animal on a surfboard, surfing on a wave that is anthropomorphized as a cat about to swallow the creature. Commenting on the composition of the artwork, Ausgang stated that he tried to "use bright colors and get across ideas that are slightly dark."


Release

Following an online leak, the band offered the album for free streaming on their official website on March 20, 2010, and stated that they "wanted to offer it as a free download but that didn't make sense to anyone but
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. Prior to its general release, a countdown appeared on the band's website on February 5, 2010, alongside a webcam image of a beach. The clock would eventually count down to 12:00 AM (EST) on April 13, when the album was officially released by Columbia Records. The bonus track "Inbetween the Liners" consists of an instrumental outtake of a song called "Forest Elf" from the ''Congratulations'' sessions, with producer Peter Kember reading the album's liner notes out loud while the track plays backwards. "Forest Elf" was eventually released on the live album ''11•11•11'', 12 years after the release of ''Congratulations''.


Critical reception

''Congratulations'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album holds a score of 72 out of 100 on the review aggregator website
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
based on 39 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''
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'' critic
Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...
called it an "impressive step up" from MGMT's debut '' Oracular Spectacular'' and wrote that the album sacrifices accessibility in favor of embracing "the duo's interests in waving the Barrett-era freak flag". Gregory Heaney of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
felt that ''Congratulations'' "matches, if not triumphs over, their earlier work", concluding that while the band's "more dynamic approach to songwriting" results in a lack of obvious single choices, it nonetheless makes for "an all around better album." Celina Murphy of ''
Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...
'' felt that MGMT "have achieved what they set out to do and you have to admire them for risking their successful hides for a walk on the psychedelic side." ''
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''s Charles Aaron wrote that "despite being haunted by the group’s flip from rock-star charade to reality, ''Congratulations'' still brims with mischievous energy. And for a series of druggy
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setpieces, it feels uncommonly, emotionally honest." In ''
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'', writer Shelby Powell noted the group's homage to
British rock British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the develop ...
musicians Dan Treacy of
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and
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, complete with faux accents in MGMT's delivery on a few songs; Eno, who is the subject of one of the songs, described the work as "very flattering", and added: "I appreciate the way they managed to make the song both fond and tongue in cheek at the same time". In a mixed assessment, ''
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''s Will Hermes adjudged ''Congratulations'' to be "a hazy, hit-and-miss album that will likely alienate some fans of the debut, but one that also testifies to MGMT's restlessness as songwriters and human beings." ''
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'' critic Dave Simpson felt that much of ''Congratulations'' "isn't bad, just baffling", but that its eclectic nature "has produced a sonic adventure, with lovely moments", singling out the title track as proof that MGMT "haven't entirely forgotten how to write a killer tune." Scott Plagenhoef of ''
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'' deemed ''Congratulations'' "audacious, ambitious, and a little fried", writing that several songs contain "a surplus of ideas when a few good ones would have done... the less cluttered and more focused their tracks are, the better they turn out."
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, in
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, panned the album as "airy prog-psych self-indulgence" that elaborates on the less memorable portions of ''Oracular Spectacular'', and that "even as self-indulgent elaborations go, the follow-up's a doozy."


Track listing


Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Congratulations''.


MGMT

* Andrew VanWyngarden – vocals, guitars, percussion ; drums ; bass ; synths ;
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guitar ; piano ; fake flute ; harmonica ;
electric sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric string instrument designed to mimic the sound of the sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instru ...
* Ben Goldwasser – synths, samples ; organ ; piano ;
Omnichord The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It allows users to play distinctive harp-like arpeggios produced through an electronic strum plate, simulating the experience of ...
; numerology ; additional vocals ; percussion


Additional musicians

* James Richardson – guitars ; synths ; Casio guitar ; synth drums ; glockenspiel ; saxophone ;
panpipes A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...
; additional vocals ; percussion * Matt Asti – guitars ; bass ; piano ; additional vocals ; field recordings and treatments, percussion * Will Berman – drums ; guitars ; bass ; additional vocals, additional synths, percussion *
Sonic Boom A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to ...
– master of ceremonies ; modular synth ; harmonica and percussion treatments ; effects ;
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SX-150 * Britta Phillips – additional vocals * Jennifer Herrema – additional vocals * Gillian Rivers – strings * Dave Kadden –
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, sundries


Technical

* MGMT – production * Sonic Boom – production * Billy Bennett – engineering * Matt Boynton – additional engineering *
Dave Fridmann David Lawrence Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. Career From 1990 onwards he co-produced most releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. Other bands he has worked with include Weezer, Saxon Shore (band), Saxon Shore, Neon ...
– additional engineering, mixing * Daniel Johnson – engineering assistance *
Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...
– mastering


Artwork

* Josh Cheuse – art direction, design, photography * Anthony Ausgang – cover painting * A, B & C – collage


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Notes


References


External links


''Congratulations'' album blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Congratulations (Album) 2010 albums Columbia Records albums MGMT albums