Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

[bloop]

Post your thoughts on the album here.

I've listened to it three times today already, so I'm pretty sure I love most of it. I'll have to wait and see if the rest clicks into place.

[Brenden]

My first reaction is that this is some of the best stuff Sufjan has recorded. Repeated listens will tell whether that reaction sticks.

[spacebrat311]

Color me impressed.

[bloop]

I, too, am very impressed. I don't know that it quite has the emotional heft of some of the best stuff from Seven Swans or Illinois, but the brilliant way Sufjan layers his electronic squeaks with real instruments is keeping me coming back a lot. Where it could have sounded forced, it sounds, for the most part, like a natural progression for him. A sure front-runner for the head of the pack this year.

Halcyon Digest is really great, too, but I don't think Deerhunter have the following here for its own thread, as is Grinderman 2. Pretty good time of the year for new music.

[Josh]

Hmmmm. My first impression was that it's a gaudy, overwrought mess. Clearly, I need to listen some more.

Grinderman 2, on the other hand... 

[bloop]

I'm known to appreciate a messy approach to things, so I can sort of see that.

[murlough23]

Hmmmm. My first impression was that it's a gaudy, overwrought mess.

Translation: It's electronic and heavily layered. Sounds like I'll love it!

[murlough23]

Listening to this for the first time today. I'll see if I have time to offer some first impressions later. I can say that I'm not put off by the electronic layering and general "messiness" of it thus far. It also isn't as radical a departure as I'd been led to expect thus far - I think All Delighted People was the bigger hump for me to get over in that respect.

[Ian]

p good

[murlough23]

I'm trying to form a coherent enough opinion of this album to write a review. I thought it might help to discuss individual songs here.

Futile Devices: Brief but beautiful opener. I like how it creates false expectations for what's to follow. I'm amused by that one piano key which seems to be stuck on purpose.

Too Much: My favorite track on the album. Love the time signature, the melody, pretty much everything about except for maybe the 20 seconds of random gurgling at the beginning. When the woodwinds and the electronics combine, it's as awesome as "Traffic Shock" from The BQE.

Age of Adz: Probably my #2 favorite. Took some time to get used to its "bent melody", but now I really like the contrast between the loud, bombastic passages and the meeker, more acoustic parts.

I Walked: One of the more straightforward tracks. Nice groove, though it does drag a bit for me towards the end, since it isn't as dynamic as other tracks.

Now that I'm Older: A bit too sparse for my tastes, though I think the echoey vocals and general ambiance are interesting.

Get Real Get Right: Another solid track. Good balance between catchy rhythm/melody and hints of dissonance.

Bad Communication: This sounds like the musical equivalent of a fart to me. I don't like it.

Vesuvius: Like the flutes. The off-key/dissonant vocals are starting to wear on me by this point, but overall I still think it's a good song.

All For Myself: Sort of feels like the stuff I liked about "Vesuvius" colided with the stuff I didn't like about "Bad Communication". It's OK. Doesn't overstay its welcome.

I Want to Be Well: This one's already generated a lot of discussion, and I still don't like the thing I originally indicated that I didn't like about it. That said, it's one of the most musically dynamic tracks on the album, and despite being one of the longer tracks, it doesn't feel like it drags on, since most of the "action" is in the climactic final part. I relate to the lyrics. I can understand being that frustrated about not being well, even though I might have expressed it differently.

Impossible Soul: I think it's very easy to look at the 25-minute runtime and immediately think "Overindulgence" here. Truthfully, this could just as easily have been five tracks with each bleeding into the next, with a constant tempo throughout (except for the fifth and final segment) and seamless transitions between them, and perhaps then it wouldn't seem as ridiculous at first glance, since the individual tracks would all be roughly five minutes long. I actually like a good chunk of this song - it's only when it trails off into endless "Don't be distracted"s and then into the vocorder section, and then later where it settles into that humming drone before the final acoustic section picks up - that I feel like it's filling more time than it needs to. The buildup to the climactic breakdown - "It's a long life"/"Boy, we can do much more together"  - is pretty solid, one of my favorite parts of the album. We could probably trim five minutes total from the song and not lose much, but I generally don't find myself getting impatient with this one outside of small segments of it.

[ajyouthguy]

i realize this is hypocrisy around here...but...i really want to like this album...but i honestly don't. 

[murlough23]

i realize this is hypocrisy around here...but...i really want to like this album...but i honestly don't. 

How is that hypocrisy? Hypocrisy would be pretending to like it when you really don't... or something. "Blasphemy" might be the word you're looking for. Regardless, I'll back you up, because while I like it, I totally understand why it isn't everyone's cup o' tea, even former Sufjan fans.

[ajyouthguy]

give me a break...stayed home with a sick kid second Thursday in a row, lacking sleep severely for the past 2 weeks b/c of ministry life slapping me all in the face...so i confused/mistyped religious words while typing while watching The Office...so sue me...haha...

yeah...i liked Seven Swans, Illinois and Michigan...and was excited about this...and have listened a few times, but it just didn't click with me at all.

[murlough23]

My guess is you probably wouldn't like Enjoy Your Rabbit. A lot of people are acting like Sufjan went and abandoned his old sound, so I have to point out that he's actually just synthesizing his existing sound with one of his older sounds. Sorta. (Some of the flute stuff actually reminds me of A Sun Came!, which I'm sure has been heard by about eleven people. It's not a great album, honestly.)

[ewok20t3]

i really want to like this album...but i honestly don't. 

I agree with you, actually. I love Sufjan. I don't love this album.

[bloop]

I'm still very enthusiastic about the album as a whole, and it should be coming to my house sometime pretty soon. That part we've discussed to death may not be deep, but it's communicating what it's trying to communicate, and that's all language is really for anyway.

[plvarona]

Personally, I'm in the "like, but don't love" crowd when it comes to this album.  I do appreciate what Sufjan is doing musically here, and there are a few tracks that stand out for me.  However, this is countered by a few tracks that don't quite work for me.  Still, I have a positive impressive overall, but the "misses" keep it from being a contender for my Album of the Year.

Also, murlough, for the most part we have similar opinions on the individual tracks.  "Too Much" is also my favorite song on the album.  Our biggest disagreement is on "The Age of Adz."  That's a song I want to like, and he does some interesting stuff musically.  It's just that for some reason, his vocals on that song really grate on my nerves.  On the flip side, I think I like "Now That I'm Older" more than you do, but I see where you're coming from there.

[murlough23]

Personally, I'm in the "like, but don't love" crowd when it comes to this album.  I do appreciate what Sufjan is doing musically here, and there are a few tracks that stand out for me.  However, this is countered by a few tracks that don't quite work for me.  Still, I have a positive impressive overall, but the "misses" keep it from being a contender for my Album of the Year.

Also, murlough, for the most part we have similar opinions on the individual tracks.  "Too Much" is also my favorite song on the album.

At last, a voice of reason. 

Our biggest disagreement is on "The Age of Adz."  That's a song I want to like, and he does some interesting stuff musically.  It's just that for some reason, his vocals on that song really grate on my nerves.  On the flip side, I think I like "Now That I'm Older" more than you do, but I see where you're coming from there.

That's not that big of a disagreement, considering.

[bloop]

I got this record in the mail today, and Melissa wants to wrap it up and give it to me for Christmas.  Boo!

[murlough23]

I got this record in the mail today, and Melissa wants to wrap it up and give it to me for Christmas.  Boo!

Aw man, you'll have to wait a month and a half just to hear... oh wait.

[bloop]

I'll have to wait a month and a half to play it on my record player, but you're right that my story isn't so harrowing.

[murlough23]

My full review.

http://www.epinions.com/content_531357404804/