 | Tracklist:
1. Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL
2. The Black Hawk War, or, How To Demolish An Entire
Civilization And Still Feel Good About Yourself In The Morning,
or, We Apologize For The Inconvenience But You're Going To
Have To Leave Now, or, I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will
Continue To Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!
3. Come On! Feel The Illinoise!
-Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition
-Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
5. Jacksonville
6. A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For
Very Good Reasons
7. Decatur, or, Round Of Applause for Your Step Mother!
8. One Last "Woo-hoo!" For The Pullman
9. Chicago
10. Casimir Pulaski Day
11. To The Workers Of The Rockford River Valley Region, I
Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament, And It involves
Shoe String, A Lavender Garland, And Twelve Strong Women
12. The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
13. Prairie Fire That Wanders About
14. A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which
Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey
Maze
15. The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They
Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhhh!
17. Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think
They Heard It All the Way Out In Bushnell
18. In This Temple, As In The Hearts Of Man, For Whom He
Saved The Earth
19. The Seer's Tower
20. The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders
-Part I: The Great Frontier
-Part II: Come to Me Only With Playthings Now
21. Riffs And Variations On A Single Note For Jelly Roll, Earl
Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, And The King Of Swing,
To Name A Few
22. Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I
Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run
| Ranking: #22 for 2005 | |
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On 198 Lists
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With Michigan in the rear-view mirror, the second edition of the now-defunct 50 States Project sees Sufjan Stevens up the ante considerably: he’s picked up a wandering choir on the side of some highway road, handkerchiefs tied in bundles on the ends of sticks slung over their shoulders, joining the modestly-sized orchestra already strewn out across the back of his rickety truck, and into Illinois they’ve come, horns blazing and choirs a-singing! No more is our hero timid in the face of grandeur – certainly not with songs like “Jacksonville” there to be buoyant and celebrated – and he’s kept his group of travelers close at his side, straddling tributes to friends and step-mothers with swirls of strings and a healthy, borderline caricature, wealth of choir chants. “The Predatory Wasp of The Palisades” twists and twinkles in a wispy orchestral swell, “Decatur..” stands steadily on the tightly-wired plucks of a banjo, and “Chicago” pushes the choir to absurd levels of weepy youthful abandon but the real trick Sufjan pulls is that, as he did so brilliantly with Michigan, this isn’t about patriotism or a guided tour as much as it’s about downsizing the spirit of regular people into sometimes quiet and sometimes overtly extravagant takes on life. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you’ll find a lot of yourself in Illinois.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 5
Nice review, nice album.
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Good review... but definitely not my thing...
Digging: Art By Numbers - Reticence: The Musical
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Good review, haven't listened to this...doesn't sound like my thing either.
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If I like Death Cab and Cursive will I enjoy this?
| | | Album Rating: 5
Quite possibly, I don't know about Cursive, but Death Cab are a little "heavier" then sufjan. Basically Death Cab is more rock and Sufjan is more pop. I highly recommend Sufjan, and there's only one way to find out if you like it.
Digging: Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself Digging: Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself | | | Album Rating: 4.5
http://www.myspace.com/sufjanstevens2012
Give 'Chicago' a chance. Be sure to pause the player in the middle of the page though, otherwise you'll get a messy song overlap.
Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music | | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
thebhoy has the most difficultly retarded ideas ever. grammatically pwnd
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
why do my negs always go without explanation? 
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sorry that was me, i didnt find the review metal 'nuff
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
this album hits the spot
| | | Album Rating: 4
I need to relisten to this.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
haven't listened to this in ages admittedly
been overlooking it for michigan lately
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Michigan can blow me
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
double post ftl
| | | Album Rating: 5 | Sound Off
gooooooooooooood shit
Digging: Hard Jams Inc. - Mars Volta False Prog Digging: Hard Jams Inc. - Mars Volta False Prog | | | Album Rating: 4.5
Wow, I'm really surprised at how much I'm liking this...I'll have to check out Michigan, but it seems like Sufjan could even give my man Andrew Bird a run for his money...
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
man i sucked 2 years ago
| | | Album Rating: 5 | Sound Off
sufjan's new song is absolutely terrible
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Illinois was, for a brief period (ie until the backlash started), the Funeral of 2005. It's not hard to see why - the blend of invention, songcraft, unusual instrumental textures, and warmth suggests that this will be a brilliant album. Yet, what feels like 3 hours later, you see Illinois for what it is - a handful of great songs, a remaining cast of fairly good songs, and a few boring songs. But above all, a LOT of songs, and there simply aren't enough ideas here to justify 22 vehicles for them. Sufjan's lack of grasp on quality control ruins what could have been a very, very good album. In about 9 attempts, I still haven't managed to listen to the whole thing without getting bored, frustrated, or irritated. Less is more, kids.
Nick Butler stares straight into my soul.
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nigs yhu crazy
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