Illinois

This is not really my kind of music, but I appreciate that it is rather pretty listening for people into this genre.

This is the first thing I've (knowingly) listened to by Sufjan Stevens, although I'm familiar with the name. Obviously a talented guy, and it's an ambitious project, which is simultaneously lo-fi but full of complexity and texture. I can't say the music connected with any of the stories offered up here though - for all the complexity, the actual musical vocabulary is very samey and a little dull to be completely honest. Everything is very dry, particularly the vocals which have a very "telephone EQ" feel to them throughout. I'm not sure if that is Sufjan's trademark "thing" but it doesn't really appeal to me. As a whole, it plays out as a collection of song sketches which rarely go anywhere that approaches being a complete package for me. He obviously did a lot of research and got into the concept, but the lyrics seem very "I am X, I am doing Y&Z" first-person structure, I might have engaged if the narratives were a little less explicit and more abstract maybe. Disappointed given the numerous positive reviews, I might warm to it on repeat listens maybe, but, sadly, I've got 746 more albums to listen to first...

One star is real harsh but I must keep to my tradition of rating things such a way if I can't make myself sit through the album and LADS...SAMEY SAMEY stuff so only made it halfway. Chicago is good and there was another okay one in there somewhere but WHO the fuck knows which one it was at this point.

Again wasnt a fan

Started off sweet and engaging but it's too much far too long. Plenty other similar stuff

1.5 - Couldn't finish.

Johnny music

First album on my list that I didn't finish. Aimless meanderings with insipid music and uninspiring vocals. Not for me.

this album is loaded, in the way a question can be rather than with lots of good stuff. i do not know why this gripped the imaginations of all my peers in 2005. one time someone turned hot fuss off and put this shit on, saying "he's gonna write one about every state!" no he isn't grow up

I spent a lot of my formative years in Illinois, and I made the mistake of spending a few of them dating a sadboy "indie music" (men playing acoustic guitar, usually distributed by major record companies and supported with world tours but also played on NPR) fan who went to the University of Illinois and thought that he was right about everything, including my own personal preferences, which means that I've heard countless defenses of this album and Sufjan Stevens as a whole, many of which will detail how much work went into it, how many references are in it, how he read books about history to write it, and none of which address the way that this album is so FUCKING boring and confuses "writing multiple references into a verse" with writing something that evokes an emotion. I'm willing to acknowledge that this album was a large project and required skill and thought, but I'm not willing to agree that just because a lot of work goes into something means that the something that came out of it is good. I am absolutely willing to bet on myself that if I could spent months sitting around reading and plucking at guitars that I, too, could make an hour-long album full of dense references. It's like putting an overly long comment on a reddit post soon after it's posted: a bunch of people who think More Words Mean Smart Writer upvote it and no one cares that your replies are all correcting you. On that note, I think that if anyone else who wasn't This Fucking Guy claimed he was going to undertake a fifty state album theme and then abandoned it after two and said it was just a marketing gag, Pitchfork et al would write a hand-wringing critical piece about how sales forecasting and marketing gags are ruining the music industry, but Stevens is a Quirky Smart Guy who is beloved by dudes who will bum rides from you every day because they've gotta get to work and then turn around and spend all of their money on American Spirits and none of it paying you for gas and then get mad when you start telling them no*, so I guess we all just let him get away with it. I recognize that a lot of this review isn't even about the album, and I'm a little sorry, but mostly that's because every song bleeds into another and they're all sung in the soft vocals that we, again, complain about female pop singers when they do it and accuse them of not actually being skilled at their work and, again, I guess it's cute here because he's writing about John Wayne Gacy so it's subversive UwU;; The punctuations of jingle bells and horns are insufficient to yank this out of being a one-hour Try Not to Sleep So It's Over Faster challenge. I've been to Chicago, I've been to Metropolis, and I've listened to actually countercultural music. I look forward to never having to listen to this again after the 74-minute disappointment of having to hear it for the first time in years today. *Believe it or not, this is not an anecdote about the guy I dated and mentioned up top, just another Sufjan fan archetype. (That guy didn't need to bum a ride because he just wouldn't get a job for most of our relationship.)

22 tracks. I gave it one star for every song that didn't have any obnoxiously overwrought title.

Longest 1:14 hours in my life

Thats an hour and fourteen minutes of my life I will never get back. If I wanted to listen to listen to show tunes I would go to a show, a good one. Not this one.

Meh

Sucked

This is #day404 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... 1 h and 14 min of dreary '00s indie folk, aka a concept album about Illinois (?!), I mean... For fuck's sake. The average rating for this record makes me worried about humankind again. This is a 1 out of 5. Looking forward to #day405.

I think I would have liked this more if it was a purely instrumental album. There was some really nice instrumentation and some interesting things going on. However, the lyrics were so incredibly twee and pretentious and just really annoyed me. I'm sorry, Sufjan, I know a lot of people like you, but I didn't enjoy this. It was like listening to a Wes Anderson film.

Album 7/1001 Favourite (and only enjoyable) song: Chicago 🌃 1½ / 5

Tedious, pretentious, indie BS. Further evidence that the naughties were the worst decade of music

Omg this album was so boring

This thing drifts along like a paper sailboat on the ocean at low tide, with monotonous, sing-songy lullabies stretched into an entirely too long album. What some hail as intricate storytelling instead feels like endless musical notes ebbing and flowing with no payoff, tiresome in their own self-importance.

I’ve never heard of this person so I read the wiki and a few reviews before I played a few tracks. It was better than what the reviews led me to believe, but yes, as some other reviewer said, this music is for people who buy activated almonds and Gwyneth paltow’s gunk.

W.T.F?

Det går 14 på dussinet av såna här. Om du ska vara nånting att ha måste du antingen vara en vansinnigt bra låtskrivare eller ha produktion/sound/uttryck som är helt unikt (tänk t.ex. Bon Ivers andra platta). Sufjan är varken det ena eller har det andra. Det blir sålunda svintråkigt. Det kanske är kompetent, ja t.o.m. intelligent men jag har inte roligare för det och absolut inte över 22 spår. I stunder får det mig att tänka på Paul Simon (solo) och jag avskyr Paul Simon, ur all tänkbara aspekter. Det här är aptrist och således underkänt, simpel as that Lyssna hellre pá Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Bright Eyes - Lifted, or the story is in the soil, keep your ear to yhe ground, Nicolai Dunger - Play

Två okej låtar: Chicago och Casimir Pulaski day. Resten borde ha stannat på idéstadiet.

Jag fattar inte grejen med det här överhuvudtaget. Det låter som någon släppt in kulturskolan i studion. Alla instrument ska med! En gäng amatörer som anstränger sig till det yttersta för att låta proffsiga. Resultatet blir så fruktansvärt stelt och ointressant. Är det meningen att texterna ska vara roliga? De är de inte. När Sufjan istället försöker vara historieberättare, blir det bara pinsamt. Sufjan själv verkar skämmas för sina texter, som han sjunger så försiktigt och utan inlevelse, så att ingen ska råka höra honom.

Not my style.

I liked maybe 2 out of the 22 songs on the album, but then again I stopped listening at song number 10. It was just SO boring.

Demonic stuff. And not even entertaining.

Nope. I do not like this guy’s reedy voice nor his xtian nonsense. Just not for me.

This is the type of album sites like Pitchfork love. All introspective with swirling strings and sensitive vocals that are meshed into a weird concept album. Not me. This is drivel disguised as ambitious indie faux rock/pop. Don't get it. Don't understand it. Pass.

Mom always said, "If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all".

Did not like it specially

Upbeat and skilled musician but not my cup of tea.

Boy, I hated this a lot.

This is the most theatre kid music I've been exposed to outside an actual theatre production. I kinda hate it. It's not bad, but I detest twee-ass shit. Weirdly, there was a mildly sympathetic song using John Wayne Gacy as a Christian analogy? (Jesus Fucking Christ...I'm no prude but JWG's last words on this Earth before a botched lethal injection were "Kiss my ass." Not exactly contrite. Or Christian.) And the album was an egregious 1 hour, 13 minutes long. Kill, Pogo, kill!

no dude, never

Some Uni kids got together and decided that working wasn't for them, had a great idea that every single musical instrument will go together if you try hard enough. .. didn't try hard enough but all their friends said it was deep and meaningful, they felt proud and so did all of their support workers.

Didn't really make me feel inspired or jazzy

It’s rare that an artist can lose me with the first song of an album but here we are. The Blackhawk War continued that trend briefly but we may be on a different course now. Let’s dig deeper… Ahh it was instrumental…figures Back to the shitty music again I thought this guy was a political hippy. Isn’t that why he changed his name? Ok so Jacksonville started off pretty good as well but then the vocals and lyrics killed it. It’s just the same formula from start to finish. Light almost choir boy singing, good guitar playing but weak everything else. Cat, as I choose to cal him, flutters in a sound that would appease the wussy side of the alt music crowd. But that wouldn’t get him anywhere. Much like this album and my approval.

pre·ten·tious /prēˈten(t)SHəs/ adjective attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed. Boring, annoying, and unquestionably overlong. Even the track titles disrespectfully demand too much energy to fully read them.

Spoken strange music on a weak melody.

про серийника Джона Гейси хороший трек👍 дальше можно не слушать

Weird unfun arrhythmic. Not Steve Goodman.

summer jobs oh my gOeoeod

simply not my type of music wasnt tryna listen to ts.

This was a good album. I can definitely see where it had some influence on things to come. The vocals reminded me of Motley Crue, and the overall sound kind of gave a harder rock vibe that was more edgy than the standard blues rock of the time. Nothing was particularly mind blowing but there were a lot of tracks that I liked and overall I enjoyed it.

Tried. I really tried. Just confirms the truth for me that I simply don’t like anything after about 1995. He wrote a song about a serial killer that killed over 30 boys from 14-21 years old. And it wasn’t even that good. The songs all sound the same. For me, the epitome of musicians after about 2000 that I can’t enjoy. At all. I’m sorry,. It’s not personal. I’m sure it’s me, not you. Just not an enjoyable listen at all to me…. Oh wait! I’m really glad I listened even though I hated it. That’s why I’m doing this list!!

Boring

Chicago doesn’t deserve this

This album sucks.

Strange--not enjoying this concept

👎🏻

terrible, as if beck got soft and joined a singalong cult

Not my bag

Didn’t care for it

Ill = sick nois = noise aka garbage

Hylkimisreaktio hänen treenattuun hempeyteensä on välitön. Tunnistan hänen melodisen, no, osaamisensa, mutta kuunnellakseni tätä levyä minun pitäisi olla eri ihminen. Miinusta pituudesta ja hipsterimäisestä hupsuttelusta biisien nimissä. 1,5

Ma siši ga, Stjepane. Niti mi ovo ima smisla, niti dobro zvuči. Ovo mi je kao da nisu znali više šta bi stavili na listu da dođu do 1001. Neću trošiti ni riječi. 1/5,1/10.

Baš volim ovakve albume. Pogotovo kad slušam zajedno s Miom, pa se bondamo u hejtanju. Pa fino poseremo uzduž i poprijeko rad u koji je netko stavio dušu i tijelo Prije nego je album krenuo, par minusa 1. Album od preko sat vremena 2. Konceptualni album 3. Kršćanska konotacija u opisu albuma Kad je album krenuo, na prve dvije minute sam znao da ovaj album nije za mene Singer songwriter spike stvarno nisu za mene. Zadnja misao, ljudima koji nemaju problema s autodestruktivnim ponašanjem ili povijesti istoga nije mjesto u glazbi. Možda da se okrenu bankama, politici ili nekim drugim poslovima gdje ne treba imati dušu.

So. boring.

Boring stuff

Fucking sucked!!!

wow, this certainly was one of the albums of all time. it had some tracks with great instrumentation and overall i thought the production was well done. despite that, i found myself counting down the seconds with over half an hour left in the runtime. the extended length makes the album feel like incredibly bloated mess full of half baked ideas. the genre feels like arcade fire covering bob dylan, which is another way to say that this may be the least listenable genres around. the thought of having to ever hear another song by Sufjan makes me physically ill and i pray that no more of his albums are on the list so i dont have to hear anymore of this hipster garbage.

Not my type of music

I just couldn’t this morning… It’s not bad, but it’s too much for me.

No, sorry. I'm not going to listen to this one. I'm not a fan of what I've heard from Sufjan, so I’m going to pass.

Ele-fuckin'-vator music (so far). Great musicianship from everybody so far and I know people are really into Sufjan Stevens. Maybe I just need to give it a few listens. After listening to the whole album there are a few bright spots that had me slightly more interested in the album overall but not enough to make me want to listen to any more from Sufjan.

This album makes me hate Chicago. You know this was background music for mid college bros trying to get laid and probably succeeding. This album is an affront to every instrument used in its creation.

What a load of self-indulgent bollox. Utter trash.

Utter misery and dross, this is completely unlistenable, the worst thing I’ve heard in a long time. There’s no folk vibe, no soul, no feeling, it’s just coffee shop easy listening without a heart. Awful.

Church Music Chamber Music Circus Music Broadway Play (which it HAS turned into) Something for everyone... except me. That one song I heard a LOT in 2005-2007 is pretty good (Chicago) but the rest of this album is dismissible

Oh my gosh now THIS made me annoyed. This was like theatre music that lasted a week long and I was taped to a chair and forced to listen to it. This album made me lose respect for this list (not really) but it just kept going and I was dying of boredom yet pain.

I really really tried to enjoy this. I read everything I could about its concept album genius. I respect Stevens as an artist. I enjoy his music. But all I could swallow from this one was Casimir Pulaski Day, which I recorded and sang to a friend two years ago because she requested it. I just don't get it. And I don't want to get it. Which reveals my own limitations more than anything. But I think I'll put it in a little box and open it again when I'm 70, and see if it sings to me then.

Pleasant enough but not really my thing. One of the songs I thought was an Elbow tune until I heard it on this album. And having never been to Illinois, the 'concept' of this is perhaps somewhat lost on me.

C'mon man, you couldn't fit in a slide whistle?

Well isn't this album just so precious. What a sensitive and thoughtful exploration of.. the emotions of... the midwest.. I guess? This concept album is pretentious and boring as hell, emotions presented like a breadstick under a faucet, so soft & fragile they're completely unappealing as they wash away. I was always skeptical about this guy and now I know why my intuition was right. Glad I stayed away from this sad sack of shit. The pretention is laid on pretty thick, like he thinks he's being sooooo clever at every twist and turn of this album. For instance, if he wants to write a chapter of a book for every title of a song just be a novelist, then, god it's insufferable. Sonically as well, like in the "Man of Metropolis Who blah blah whatever..." where he bait & switches with a blistering fuzz pedal intro set to volume 10, just to cut it for the entire rest of the song. As if he's subverting expectations by using a "rock guitar" ironically. Not saying you can't be a brainy little art school fucker in music, but at least give some real substance here. The only time he lands is when he stays in a straightforward lane, such as the twang of "Jacksonville" or the refined groove of "They Are Night Zombies!!.... blah blah". Even then, however, this guy does not pull off "down home" or "funky" authentically whatsoever. There's nothing wrong with pondering or being sad, but what the hell are you going to do with it?

Maybe if your from Illinois this is a cool album.

Who would have thought that you could write an album about a state? While some of the lyrics and music were good, this album is not for me.

BOring AF

Not really my cup of tea, none of tracks stood out for me

Not a fan.

I didnt think it could possibly sound as pretentious as those song titles indicated. I was wrong. I've never heard so many instruments sound so misplaced at once. Every song doesnt need some quirky glockenspiel sound. Hated it lyrically as well. Glad to know ill never have to willingly listen to it again

Weepy

Couldn’t even make it two songs in without hating this

1. ufo - 0 2. black hauuk - 0 3. come on - 0 4. john uuayne - 1 5. jackzonville - 0 6. mary todd - 0 7. ztep mother - 0 8. pullman - 0 9. chicago - 0 10. cazimir - 1 11. rock river - 1 12. the man - 0 13. prairie fire - 0 14. dronez - 0 15. uuazp - 0 16. zombiez - 0 17. ztring - 0 18. temple - 0 19. touuer - 1 20. tallezt man - 21. riffz - 0 22. egypt - 0

No way

Did not enjoy

Nothing notable

Nursing home music....but not the one I might end up in.

Never heard of this singer. Listened to 2 songs then stopped. Why am I getting albums for people I never heard of or do not listen to?

Oh man, I hate this guy. The very definition of pretentious critic darling. Ok, let’s get through the slog. Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois: Oh man, starts with piano and flute. Earnest singing. Ugh. Still, 1 point for UFOs. 1/5 The Black Hawk War, or the incredibly long song name: Not a song but pretty cool, originally thought it was the end of the first song. 1/5 Come On! Feel The Illinoise! : Has a Charlie Brown beginning and then becomes a mariachi tune. Ok, whatever. Completely zoned out listening but the ending brought me back. 1/5 John Wayne Gacy Day: My wife likes true crime. Me not so much. Honestly, it’s like filth you can’t scrub off. We did watch the JWG documentary. Not the typical serial killer. Like he was a successful business guy. 1/5 Jacksonville: This is a legitimately good song. Well written. Civil rights. I’m with it. 3/5 maybe 4/5. A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons: the filler must be stopped. I keep thinking it’s the end of a song. 0/5 Decatur, or Round of Applause for Your Stepmother! : at first I hated this song, but then read the lyrics which are very inspired. My stepmom is awesome too but I didn’t realize that until I was an adult. 2/5 Something something about Pullman: really 6 second filler? This is meant to fuck with my shuffle. 0/5 Chicago: this is a good, maybe great song. I guess songs that name check a city are worth listening to. If Jacksonville song is a 3/5 this is a 4/5. Casimir Pulaski Day: I hope this isn’t about another serial killer. After listening I have no idea. Dull. 1/5 To The Workers of the Rock … : I think I’m done with these long titles. I’m doing this all on a phone, have pity on me. And it’s filler! Fuuuuuuuck. 0/5 The Man of Metropolis …. : Boring boring Rock Part! Back to boring Rock Part!! Slowly peters out. Is this the end? Thank god. 1/5 Prairie Fire That Wanders … : kinda cool filler. Some of the filler is actually better than the songs. 2/5 A Conjunction of Drones … : oh man missed this one. It came and went. 0/5 The Predatory Wasp … : were I grew up we had a massive wasp we were scared to death of, but it was ultimately harmless. Apparently not like this one, and I bet this wasp is only half its length. This song is scarier then the John Wayne Gacy song. 2/5 They Are Night Zombies! … : title’s more interesting than the song. Boring. 1/5 Let’s Hear The String Part …: fill…, fuck it I’m so done with these. 0/5 In This Temple …. : back to back filler!! What fresh hell. 0/5 The Seer’s Tower: OMG a normal song title. I miss Sears. The occult take is interesting, but the song sounds like something to play at someone’s death bed. If you did that please kill me before the song ends. 1/5 The Tallest Man …. : Eh, kinda tuned out. I’m sure it’s a song somebody will enjoy somewhere. Guy does have a knack for good endings. 1/5 Riffs And Variations …: trumpet filler. 0/5 Out of Egypt …: um, what? 0/5 oh now I see that the last 3 songs are tacked on, this is the ending that’s why, instead of insufferable filler. 0/5 John Galaxy’s ….: is this an actual remix? It’s not some I’m trying to be funny title? Skip 0/5 The Avala…: heavy sigh. 0/5 The T…: heavier sigh. Rough sledding these last two. 0/5 S…: I can’t do it anymore. I can’t. 0/5 Ok, I kinda get why this is on the list, but quality really drops on the 2nd half of the album. The indie singer-songwriter is definitely a thing, but was this really the one? I can think of half-a-dozen pretentious critic darling that I would much rather suffer through. Who am I kidding? I’m sure they are on the 1001 list somewhere. Overall insufferable, but Jacksonville, Chicago and maybe the stepmom song have replay value. 1/5

This is bad

Not my thing. Tried a few times. Just not my thing. As someone else said, if yoghurt made an album, this would be it.

Have tried to get into this many times. Let's try again.... No, it's just the kind of music that critics think is deep and wonderful. It's boring, I just don't get it. Maybe it resonates more in America. And it's TOO LONG. Boring!

Muy malo no me gusta nada

Not my style

Llevamos muchos días con truños impresentables. A ver si vamos cambiando.

I really don’t like this

mid af

no es mi estilo, aunque la tematica es interesante

not for me

I hated everything about this album

To quote the movie "The Rock" "I dont listen to that soft shit"

This is a vastly different album than what I was expecting with a name like "Illinoise." I was expecting (hoping for) a hip hop, Beastie Boys-esque, album, or "Cum On Feel the Noize" by Slade or Quiet Riot, but instead, this is more indie folk or lo-fi background music, with Christian soft rock and splashes of elevator jazz. As far as being important, influential, or best in popular music, this album is a swing and a miss. The highlight of this album is the sweet and pure trumpet sprinkled throughout which loosely reminds me of "Pictures at an Exhibition."

3/10 - not the greatest to many songs - nice if you like melancholy indie has some uplifting songs though - skipped some thought

Really not for me

Not good. Hard to listen to.

Pretty but not my thing

Forcing myself to listen to this feels like the scene in Animal House where Bluto smashes the guitar.

I feel like i'm supposed to be impressed by this. It's produced well enough. Good use of instumentation. No memorable tracks.

I couldn't finish listening to this album. It was just too slow and too boring

Shit Album

If Charlie Brown was commissioned to make the music for an off brand circus, this is what it would sound like.

Ass

Not my favorite. Couldn't get through it.

Sounds like the worst of the worst of derivative millennial crap.

I like when I can just like at the track listing and tell I'm going to be annoyed by an album just by the names. Quirky for the sake of being quirky? No thank you. Some of the instrumental arrangements aren't half bad here, but the lyrics are completely impossible to take seriously. And if you would try to take them seriously, the album would probably be even worse.

Like Elliot smith, but boring lyrics and repetitive drab melodies.

I am starting to question how these albums were chosen ...

boring soft jazz-rock-folk - baby food for the ears.

First off, straight up 1 star for the song about John Wayne Gacy. One of the few songs in the world I absolutely abhor and find truly unlistenable. Second, he comes across like the David Foster Wallace, or better yet, the Dave Eggers of indie rock. I can see how some people are impressed by this brand of seemingly boundless, nearly absurd ambition, but for me it just doesn't work in practice. I don't know if he's trying to be oh so clever that it's supposed to come back around to being perceived as sincere and heartfelt? Ironically pretentious? But it's so over the top that it's a joke - get it??? Well, I don't.

coffee house schmaltz. not for me.

I’ve been to Illinois. It’s not this boring.

Not sure if it was a mood music think, but I did not enjoy this listen. They are Night Zombies!! Is the only song I kinda enjoyed, but nah on the album.

The buzz about this album, and Sufjan in general was insufferable. His navel gazey music sucks and so does this album. Even the "hit", Chicago is just one long chorus with a single break down.

Me and my band wouldn’t dare make an album with a run time of 1hr 31mins.

It's just not my thing.

Reminds me of 1970s Genesis. That is not a good thing.

I’ve tried several times with this record over the years but I just don’t hear anything in it. Self indulgent whisper/mumbling over about a thousand miserable songs. Coffee table music for people who wear white socks.

I didn't know this artist but there is something I don't like of this music.

Wtf is this ridiculousness? Just no lol.

Christ that was dull. Sufjan, you don't need to do the other 49 states !

mmmm nope…

8 pints in and this piece of shit enters my life. What a gross waste of my time. Get me some smack, I'm off to curl one out on my daughter's chest as she screams in horror and delight. 1 star, you prick.

Helaas, daar vond ik werkelijk niks an

Acho que devo me dedicar a mais audições para sentir mais o disco.

Not for me, minus that one song that's in Middlewestern 2

I might need to come back to this one because as I listened to it just now it pretty much did nothing for me, and it might be mood-based. Talented artist, I can hear that, and I'll give it another chance some time because in the right frame of mind there are probably some things I'd like in there. For now, though, not really.

so boring

Not for me, just couldn't get into it

Boring and lackluster, all songs sound the same and there’s a lingering feeling while going though the tracks that it could use a bit more intensity but it never gets there

Nope.

mama mia...

garbage

This is the 20+ time I’ve listened to this album straight through, I love it

v peaceful