Illinois
Sufjan Stevens

I loved this album in high school. It was really great to revisit it and discover that I still love it. There are a lot of standouts on this album, but they almost all come in the first half. "Come On!" "John Wayne Gacy, Jr" "Jacksonville" "Decatur" "Chicago" "Casimir Pulaski Day" are all so good. After those it feels like the album falls off a little bit. I love "The Tallest Man", but most of the other songs from 11-22 feel worse than the first half. "They Are Night Zombies" gets an honorary mention, I love the chanting section. The album is very creative, has amazing song names and showcases Sufjan's wide musical ability. If the album was 30m shorter, cutting out all second half songs besides the ones I mentioned, I'd give it a 5 enthusiastically. Unfortunately I have to give it an 8/10.

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