First thoughts on 'The Avalanche' by Sufjan Stevens

[kitaristi0]

I just got the new record today and I can't be bothered to write out a review on only 1 or 2 listens so here are a few random thoughts:

- Coming on the heels of Michigan, Seven Swans and Illinois my expectations for this new record were obviously astronomically high, and as such it was destined to be a bit of a disappointment. It's not a bad record though, by any measure. I'm hesitant to give it a score, but if I had to I'd give it a tentative 7.5/10.

- The songs that stand out most after a few listens are 'Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught In His Hair' which is a bit reminiscent of 'The Upper Peninsula' from Michigan, and 'The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind That Knows Itself)' which is similar in mood to 'Casimir Pulaski Day' from Illinois.

- The three alternative versions of 'Chicago' are pretty good. I think the original 'Chicago' from Illinois was one of the few songs on that album that seemed to lose a bit of value with each successive listen, so having these new versions to chew should revitalise it a bit.

- I'd call The Avalanche more a collection of songs than an album, which I guess in some ways it is. To me it lacks that sense of coherency that Illinois has. Also (this may just be the lack of listening to the album enough though), I can't immediately find any reoccuring musical ideas on The Avalanche like I could in Illinois. I think this added a lot to making Illinois sound like a whole and even at the risk of sounding cliché made it better than just the sum of it's parts.

- You can kind of tell that these songs were basically Illinois rejects, because where the songs on Illinois all had that something (the famous 'it'), most of these songs don't.

- A definite positive is that it has 21 songs on it, so there's tons of hidden potential there, and having so many songs also adds a lot to the lifespan of a record. One of the best things about Illinois was that after weeks of listening to the album every day I still hadn't gotten bored with it because there was always a new song to discover.

- The lack of grandiose, magnificent, highly orchestrated songs like 'The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders' from Illinois is a bit disappointing.

- I'm a sucker for odd meters so anything in 5/4 or 7/4 or my personal favourite 9/8 is an immediate musical turn-on for me. Luckily there are a few of these gems to be found on The Avalanche as well.

[bdk3clash]

This dude layeth the smack down on poor Sufjan.

[mike l.]

"cloying"

ouch! true, but ouch.

SS is still amazing but i certainly see what the guy is saying. but what he's failing to remember is it's pop music. it gets to be cute and cloying if it wants to be. pop is pretentious by nature.

good review of the avalanche kitaristi0. not cohesive but some nice b side gems in there worth keeping in ipod rotation.

[kidcolin]

[ QUOTE ]
This dude layeth the smack down on poor Sufjan.

[/ QUOTE ]

From this article:

"His pretension -- his convoluted song titles, his cloying song about Saul Bellow, his adolescent fascination with John Wayne Gacy, Jr. -- all comes across like a precocious high school student in his senior year, where he's smug enough to want to prove that he's smarter than the rest of the school."

This is pretty much how I feel. Now I enjoy Sufjan, but I was talking to my friend one day and I said, "you know, if I were to ever meet this guy, I'd likely want to punch him in the face after 10 minutes."

[jnalpak]

i like illnoise and can listen straight through and repeat.
i can listen to avalanche sparingly.

[MarkSummers]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This dude layeth the smack down on poor Sufjan.

[/ QUOTE ]

From this article:

"His pretension -- his convoluted song titles, his cloying song about Saul Bellow, his adolescent fascination with John Wayne Gacy, Jr. -- all comes across like a precocious high school student in his senior year, where he's smug enough to want to prove that he's smarter than the rest of the school."

This is pretty much how I feel. Now I enjoy Sufjan, but I was talking to my friend one day and I said, "you know, if I were to ever meet this guy, I'd likely want to punch him in the face after 10 minutes."

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. I think his music is good (not great), but some of the stuff he does comes off as extremely lame. I was watching a video of his live performance and he and all his band members all had the "I" on their shirts and he was wearing a Cubs hat. I'm pretty sure we all get it, the album is about Illinois.

[mike l.]

but the great news is theyre touring again. it's a really good show, great sound and great instrumentation.

[livenowson]

Sufjan Stevens is a very prolific musician. Once
I turn my head, he releases another album.