Illinois [VINYL]

What an amazing album. I've listened with interest to Sufjan's previous albums, all of which have moments of outstanding beauty, but 'Illinoise' represents the full flowering (to date) of his musical genius. The Amazon review gives a good indication of the influences on this album but still doesn't prepare you for the sheer musical breadth and daring of this joyous work. Despite the cornucopia of musical styles from jazz to show-tunes to acoustic folk and electricified alt.country, plus dipping his toe into the serial rhythms of Reichian minimalism, the sound is extremely coherent and wholly original to Stevens.His skill as an arranger can be fully appreciated on the title track and 'Chicago' and 'They Are Night Zombies'; whilst his ability to pen beautiful ballads is in full affect on the haunting 'John Wayne Gacy Jr.' which pulls off the amazing feat of recounting the life of a serial killer while at the same time breaking your heart!Apart from the odd excursion into acoustic melancholy, the general mood of the album is up-lifting, summed up in the line, "We celebrate our sense of each other" in 'The Man Of Metropolis', which expresses nicely the positive humanism which pervades the spirit of Steven's writing.So far, each of Sufjan Steven's albums has represented a progression, a next step in the realisation of his talent. It's a daunting thought that his next album could be even better than this. Personally I can't wait to find out!

This is the second (and so far last) of the 50 state epic concept album projects that got under way with Michigan, over which this is a considerable advance. Stevens' conversational and reflective style - I always feel I'm an outsider being drawn in to an oblique conversation between his emotional and experiential consciousness - leads to beautiful expression in songs like Predatory Wasp and Casimir. Simply stunning, and though it doesn't seem likely, I would really love to see the other 48 states tackled!

I bought this album on the recommendation of a friend, having never listened to Stevens' work before, and I love it. The vinyl copy is beautifully made, with some stunning artwork on the (excellent quality) gatefold sleeve and a very clear, crisp sound. The eclectic mix of musical styles makes it a truly unique and entertaining album, which should fill a spot in every audiophile's collection.

I bought this as I heard the song Chicago as a choice from tracks of my years on radio 2. Not my usual choice but I am really enjoying this play in my car.

Sufjan Stevens is Sufjan Stevens. He writes, sings and entertains like no other. Thoroughly enjoyable and well worth listening to over and over.

Arrived safely.

When I first listened to this album I hated it. Then the more I listened to it, the more I realised what a fantastic album it was, a wonderful collage of sounds and lyrics on an epic scale. In the end I had to remove it from my car CD player, or I would never have stopped listening to it!

This was very big and positive surprise for me, when I heard a song from Sufjan for the first time in radio. Based on this experience I have ordered this album and I do not regret it. It is really good, especially if you do not prefer the typical commercial music.