The classic transistor “astable multivibrator” has eight components and eighteen connections that need to be done correctly, plus a bit more if you’re adding a LED. This has three components and six connections, plus the LED. It was probably not just the circuit itself that made your build work the first time 
(Have you tried building this one?)
(multivibrator in quotes since that’s a silly name for a square wave oscillator, as noted elsewhere.)