2023 Charity Shop Purchases #23 - Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
I've always been slightly unsure of Sufjan Stevens thinking he was maybe too quirky for my liking. I've got a couple of his songs here and there and he has appeared here a few times primarily as part of George's epic State of the Union series when he covered all 50 of the American States.
Having said that I was happy to take a punt on Illinois a 2005 CD on Rough Trade. It is that dreaded thing a concept album. It follows on from 2003's Michigan and it features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. state of Illinois as part of a planned series covering all 50 States, Unlike George it seems that he did not have the stamina to complete the project and he has since acknowledged it was a joke and a marketing ploy.
I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised when I gave the album a listen. Not all of it works, which you might expect from a concept album, but I would say that the good easily outweighs the bad.
It seems that the critics agree with an average of 90/100 on the Metacritic scale with it coming out top or very close to the top in a number of lists of the best albums of 2005. The public also seem on board given that it the best selling of his twelve studio albums to date.
Some of the track titles are overly long and perhaps a tad pretentious. I've gone for two with a one word title proving that less is sometimes better than more.
It's an album that is best listened to in its entirety with no interruptions
ReplyDeleteIt's one of my most played.
What George said. An excellent record and quite a find. Swc.
ReplyDeleteGreat album - my fave of 2005!
ReplyDelete