Album Rating: 2.5

Adz worked because it still had a lot of what worked well with previous symphonic-sounding stuff. the electronic aspects gave it a different general sound but it was still sufjan-y where it mattered



if he took the best 8 tracks from this album it honestly would be closer to like a 3.5 maybe for me. there are promising bits here for sure. i really like Gilgamesh for some reason and a couple others

Accurate review. This shit is tedious and decidedly non musical for sufjan. Who is the audience for this?

Guess I’m in the minority, huh

Album Rating: 4.5

Pretty much everything you said here is why I love this, although obviously I don't think it's tedious or bloated (mostly). I think he set out to make an album that was entirely supposed to feel equal parts angry and hopeless, bordering on apathetic and completely nailed it. I felt incredibly uncomfortable the whole listen. I don't quite get the "lifeless" argument - This is bloated, but feels so intentional to me. I get if people think it's synthetic so not quite as gripping, but I think that's part of the point.

I will say, I had this at a 4.5 but the outros (and "Die Happy") drive me absolutely insane. That's the point where I think the lifelessness comes in. Almost every song was 30 seconds to 2 minutes longer than it needed to be for some sort of ambient outro that seemed to only exist if people didn't get the message. That's not enough for me to still not love this though. Also don't love the repetitive lyrics, but they work a lot better in some songs than others.

With that said, still a great review. It's the first one I've read where the criticism truly makes sense. I think the Pitchfork review was too afraid to delve into the criticism and I thought it came off really not saying anything (ironically a main critique I've read of this)

This really is an incredibly well-articulated review.

Album Rating: 2.5

Thx boiz . Pulling off a middled review without sounding smart-alecky is tough - glad it came across competent

You managed to identify the differences between this and other works and why this is less satisfying. Thats no small order.

This review is amazing, mad props Tristan.

As for the record this feels like an unfocused Adz, that album was scatterbrained but at least it was enjoyable.

I feel like the length is gonna gatekeep this album's average from falling too much

Album Rating: 4.5

This review is confusing. The lyrics on this album are a lot simpler and more immediate than the content on say Carrie and Lowell or Michigan, but I don't think you can claim that his stuff is generally "silly" and people are projecting stuff that isn't there. His work is clearly considered and has a definitive point of view beyond what others might read into it. Are you talking about this record in particular?

Album Rating: 2.5

in the first paragraph I was referencing earlier stuff mostly



the “silly” bit wasn’t meant to be anything other than the fact that I find his persona irl a bit silly but it’s besides any meaningful point



also I didn’t say that he didn’t have his own pov, but rather was inadvertently complimenting how various listeners found different angles to his music that might be less obvious



also I say several times that the concepts throughout are simple enough (but elevated by his approach) so idk what the confusion is tbh

Album Rating: 4.5

Maybe I just don't get your take on his material. It's almost like you're suggesting there isn't much going on thematically, but he gets by because his compositional skill fools people into reading more into it than is there. Which I disagree with.

Album Rating: 2.5

i don't rly think that's what i was trying to get across. i think in previous works his compositional skills took ideas that were, as you put it, clearly considered and bolstered them beyond that. in this album i didnt get the same effect, and instead thought it was the reverse. the concepts themselves are fine, but get congested by what i consider some of my least favourite compositional ideas of his

My issue with this album is it goes on a bit too long and his ideas are a bit lofty at times. I really do love how spaced out and ambient some of this is though - some of his most texturally gorgeous and atmospheric music to date. 2.5 seems a bit harsh, this is probably a 4 for me. Trimming some of the fat would make it even better.

Album Rating: 3.5

I didn’t actually read the review yet I just thought it might annoy you if I called you Tristan

Album Rating: 3.5

Nice to see the transition from emeritus back to staff though

Album Rating: 4.5

Fair enough, I may have misinterpreted. I still disagree, though, that his greatest strength comes from the listener's projection. He's very good at painting a very specific, detailed moment or emotional state, and you can experience how he went through it, like on Casimir or Romulus or Fourth of July. His storytelling and ability to create empathy are as much a strength as his more abstract appeal.

while i like this, i do feel it's sort of aimless and emotionally aloof. on previous albums Sufjan had something to latch onto - grief, electronic experimentation, states, faith - and there's no overarching conceptual feint to cling to here, meaning it meanders in the pejorative sense of that word. maybe further listens will prove me errant. idk

Album Rating: 2.5

@fog - the listener-projection thing was mostly an extension of his compositional ability as I described it, but anyway fair enough. wish I liked this and saw the magic therein

Album Rating: 2.7

kind of can't believe he made Video Game and Sugar and thought "yes these are good enough to make the cut" but left off My Rajneesh. wild



title track is genuinely lovely, the opener and Death Star/Goodbye are aight, probably will never listen to the rest of this again