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Avg: 4.5 (966 ratings)
- Date Released: July 5, 2005
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Singer-Songwriter
- Label: Asthmatic Kitty Records / SC Distribution
A resplendent showcase for a songmaker of the highest order.
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We Say...
There are songwriters and then there are songmakers — artists whose craft extends beyond lyric and melody. As the sprawling Illinoise shows, Sufjan Stevens is a songmaker of the highest order. Intricately orchestrated and handed forth with a gilded touch, songs like "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." and "Jacksonville" jostle through different parts and movements with hardly a note out of place. Whether he's picking a banjo or guiding a horn section that matches indie-rock glee with actual chops, Stevens knows exactly what he wants to hear before he hears it. Then he listens; his vocal delivery, so tender and unassuming, leaves the impression that he's just as curious about his creations as an unwitting listener left to puzzle over a concept album about the most Midwestern state in the union. The Illinois theme neatly links songs about everything from Abraham Lincoln to UFOs, but it's better to think of it as merely one element of an album guided by magic and wonder.
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They Say...
With two states down and only 48 to go, Sufjan Stevens' ambitious musical map of the Unites States of America should be completed -- if he puts out one a year -- sometime around 2053. It's a daunting task (and not an entirely original one at that), but if each subsequent record is as good as Illinois, fans who live long enough to witness the project's completion will no doubt find themselves to be scholars of both state history and its narrator's shape-shifting soul. Stevens' soulful folk epics, as played by his signature mini-orchestra, have changed little since his 2003 foray into Michigan -- a charge that may cause some grumbling among that album's detractors -- but there's a newfound optimism that runs through much of Illinois that echoes the state's "Gateway to the West" pioneering spirit. Glorious road trip-ready cuts like "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts," "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!," and "Chicago" have an expansiveness that radiates with the ballast of history and the promise of new beginnings. Stevens has done his research, with references to everyone from Abe Lincoln, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the ghost of Carl Sandburg to John Wayne Gacy -- the latter provides one the song cycle's most affecting moments. The lush (yet still distinctly lo-fi) indie pop melodies draw as much from classic rock as they do progressive folk. "Jacksonville," with its four-chord banjo lurch, mines "Old Man"-era Neil Young, disco strings dance around "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!," while the rousing pre-finale "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" is pure Peanuts-infused Vince Guaraldi as filtered through the ambiguous kaleidoscope of Danielson Famile spiritualism. There's a distinct community theater vibe to the whole affair that may or may not be the result of numerous photo shoots in which the players are dressed in adult-style Boy Scout uniforms -- it brings to mind the Blaine Players from Christopher Guest's small-town theater parody Waiting for Guffman -- but the majority of Illinois is alarmingly earnest. Stevens may be a snake-oil salesman, but he's got pretty good stuff, and like many of history's most untrustworthy wordsmiths, he somehow manages to switch the opportunist off and turn on the human being each time the listener gets suspicious of his intentions.
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| 01. |  |
Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois |
2:11 |
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| 02. | |
Black Hawk War, or, How To Demolish An Entire Civilization |
2:16 |
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| 03. | |
Come On! Feel the Illinoise! Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream |
6:47 |
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| 04. | |
John Wayne Gacy, Jr. |
3:21 |
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| 05. | |
Jacksonville |
5:26 |
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| 06. | |
A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons |
0:49 |
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| 07. | |
Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause for Your Step-Mother! |
3:05 |
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| 08. |
One Last |
0:08 |
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| 09. | |
Chicago |
6:06 |
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| 10. | |
Casimir Pulaski Day |
5:56 |
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| 11. | |
To The Workers of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament |
1:42 |
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| 12. | |
The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts |
6:19 |
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| 13. | |
Prairie Fire That Wanders About |
2:13 |
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| 14. |
A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey Maze |
0:21 |
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| 15. | |
The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us |
5:25 |
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| 16. | |
They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh! |
5:11 |
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| 17. |
Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don’t Think They Heard It All The Way Out In Bushnell |
0:42 |
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| 18. |
In This Temple As in The Hearts of Man For Whom He Saved The Earth |
0:37 |
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| 19. | |
The Seer's Tower |
3:56 |
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| 20. | |
The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders Part I: The Great Frontier Part II: Come To Me Only With Playthings Now |
7:05 |
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| 21. | |
Riffs And Variations On A Single Note For Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, To Name A Few |
0:48 |
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| 22. | |
Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run |
4:21 |
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22 Total Tracks, 74:45 Total Length
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Credits
- Rev. Dan Smith - Vocals (Background) // Rev. Dan Smith - Clapping // Alan Douches - Mastering // Sufjan Stevens - Organ // Sufjan Stevens - Guitar (Acoustic) // Sufjan Stevens - Banjo // Sufjan Stevens - Flute // Sufjan Stevens - Piano // Sufjan Stevens - Accordion // Sufjan Stevens - Arranger // Sufjan Stevens - Bass (Electric) // Sufjan Stevens - Drums // Sufjan Stevens - Glockenspiel // Sufjan Stevens - Guitar (Electric) // Sufjan Stevens - Oboe // Sufjan Stevens - Recorder // Sufjan Stevens - Sax (Alto) // Sufjan Stevens - Tambourine // Sufjan Stevens - Triangle // Sufjan Stevens - Sopranino // Sufjan Stevens - Producer // Sufjan Stevens - Engineer // Sufjan Stevens - Vibraphone // Sufjan Stevens - Shaker // Sufjan Stevens - Sleigh Bells // Sufjan Stevens - Wurlitzer // Matt Morgan - Vocals (Background) // James McAlister - Drums // Craig Montoro - Trumpet // Craig Montoro - Vocals // Craig Montoro - Trumpet (Muted) // Divya Srinivasan - Artwork // Shara Worden - Vocals (Background) // Elin K. Smith - Vocals (Background) // Elin K. Smith - Handclapping // Elin K. Smith - Clapping // Katrina Kerns - Vocals (Background) // Katrina Kerns - Choir, Chorus // Julianne Carney - Violin // Julianne Carney - String Quartet // Jennifer Hoover - Choir, Chorus // Illinoisemaker Choir - Vocals // Illinoisemaker Choir - Clapping // Illinoisemaker Choir - Hooter // Illinoisemaker Choir - Hollers // Maria Bella Jeffers - Cello // Maria Bella Jeffers - String Quartet // Beccy Lock - Choir, Chorus // Tara McDonnell - Choir, Chorus // Rob Moose - Violin // Rob Moose - String Quartet // Tom Eaton - Choir, Chorus
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