Sufjan Stevens

[0evg0]

Haven't listened to Avalanches yet, but it's getting panned more or less all over. Illinoise was undoubtedly top 3 of '05 but I hope his next release isn't more of the same.

[Fedfan691]

I liked Wolf Parade and Clap your hands say yeah's albums better than I liked the Sufjan album, but it was definitely one of the best of the year. Avalanches is alright, but it's material that didn't make it onto Illinoise, so it obviously won't be nearly as good. But the three versions of "chicago" are all very diverse, and definitely good enough to merit a listen.

[0evg0]

You have good taste. I said Illinoise was top 3 because I thought WP and CYHSY were both better as well.

[Soul Daddy]

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I liked Wolf Parade and Clap your hands say yeah's albums better than I liked the Sufjan album

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Well, your rankings are a bit whacked, but you've got the right idea.

[pryor15]

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Haven't listened to Avalanches yet, but it's getting panned more or less all over.

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uh, no it isn't.

[0evg0]

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Haven't listened to Avalanches yet, but it's getting panned more or less all over.

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uh, no it isn't.

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The top scores come from E! Online and Entertainment Weekly. Yep, way to show me up.

Pitchfork - 72
Cokemachineglow - 69
Rolling Stone - 60

[kitaristi0]

Originally posted in TLR.

First Thoughts on The Avalanche by Sujfan Stevens

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.

[kitaristi0]

Now that I've had the album for a few weeks here are some extra observations:

- The line '1,2,3,4,5,6,7, all computers go to heaven' in Dear Mr. Supercomputer is pretty aweseme, but only if you know where it's ripped off from.

- The quality of the songs really seems to fade off after The Mistress Witch. TBH though, I felt the same way about the second half of Illinois initially too, and now I think the best songs on the whole album are on it. Same thing with Michigan.

- Favourite songs: The Mistress Witch, The Avalanche and The Henney Buggy Band

I think the best way to sum up The Avalanche is when I got Illinois it was literally the only record I listened to for over two weeks. When I got The Avalanche it was the only record I listened to for three days.

[pryor15]

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Haven't listened to Avalanches yet, but it's getting panned more or less all over.

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uh, no it isn't.

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The top scores come from E! Online and Entertainment Weekly. Yep, way to show me up.

Pitchfork - 72
Cokemachineglow - 69
Rolling Stone - 60

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it isn't a bad review on the Metacritic scale until it goes below 50, which is what? one? so, yeah, you're wrong.

you didn't say it's getting glowing reviews, you said it's getting panned all over. clearly, it isn't.

[quarkncover]

I was surprised at the responses to this thread considering how little content my OP had [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

I have to agree with some of the posters that his pre-illinois material is sub-par. I really hope to see more from Sufjan Stevens in the future, love his work.

On a side note I will be visiting Hedgepeth this weekend - http://www.hedgpethfest.com/ - trip report to follow [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]