Come On Feel the Illinoise

Sufjan Stevens is a puzzling character; sometimes naive, sometimes sophisticated, somewhat rustic and yet essentially urban in outlook. But there a few things he never seems to exhibit: crassness, boredom, or jaded irony. Instead he appears defenseless and in full flower on "Illinois", an album of remarkable breadth, depth and ambition.

It is precisely his lack of sneering superiority that makes "Illinois" such a treat. These lengthy, wordy poem/songs, these complex instrumental arrangements and daunting pop structures could all be so much ego run amok, like a bad progressive rock album. But that doesn't happen. Instead, we are treated to a song cycle so fresh and honest I hardly know where to start.

From the sweet quietness of the opening number (which turns an actual UFO sighting in 2000 into a revelatory experience) to the nearly presumptuous overture that follows, one gets a glimpse of what will follow. Imagery follows tone follows place follows events...Read more

Is Sufjan Stevens insane?

"Illinois" is only the second stop on a planned collection of 50 state-themed albums. It's the type of project whose sheer scale and mad ambition boggle the mind, calling forth a number of rhetorical questions: Is he really going to spend the bulk of his career on such a huge project? Given the fact that "Michigan" came out two years ago, shouldn't he pick up the pace a bit? Will he really make a separate album for, say, North and South Dakota?

I hope so.

Illinois is a great album, almost certainly the best of the year so far. It opens with a delicate and beautiful piano track entitled "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois." From there, Stevens criss-crosses the state, heading to Jacksonville, Decatur and Chicago, creating a musical travelogue as thorough as any Rand McNally guidebook.

Importantly, Stevens doesn't spend all his time going from point A to point B; he also stops to get to know...Read more

I'll admit it, I'm a corporate tool. I bought this album for the sole reason that Amazon named it the top album of 2005. I've been aching to find something new and interesting (my Flogging Molly and Phillip Glass albums were getting worn out). Since I hadn't seen anyone named Sufjan on American Idol, and the album wasn't getting shoved down the throats of us consumers I thought that Amazon may be trying to make a statement for the betterment of music.

Thank Goodness!!

I played it first when leaving town for a 20 hour Thankgiving round trip, I didn't know that it would be the only thing played on the radio the whole trip. While previous review rant about the first couple of tracks, I think they bouced over the truely great tracks. I found "The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!" as a beautifully contradiction on itself. I told a friend about htis track, and he was shocked I used terms like innocent & lovely on something named after a bug...Read more