Illinois

Twenty-two tracks about a state he barely knew: Lincoln, a serial killer, a supermarket of history, and three of his most loved songs.
Sufjan Stevens, 2005

Released
4-5 July 2005
Recorded
late 2004 to early 2005
Studio
The Buddy Project, Astoria, Queens; his Brooklyn apartment
Label
Asthmatic Kitty / Secretly Canadian
Producer
Sufjan Stevens
Length
73:59

Play on hypersongs (1)Play on hypersongs (2)Play on hypersongs (3)

Stevens spent about four months in a small studio in Astoria, writing as he recorded, which he called an incredible amount of work. He read Saul Bellow, Carl Sandburg, Lincoln biographies and out-of-print town histories, and asked friends and chat rooms for stories. He played most of the instruments himself, from banjo and oboe to glockenspiel and a Casio keyboard, with James McAlister on drums, Craig Montoro on trumpet, Shara Worden among the singers and a string quartet. It was recorded cheaply, on two Shure SM57 microphones into a small digital eight-track, and mixed on headphones. He cut lament after lament, including four eulogies for Lincoln, and decided a double album would be arrogant.

The original cover showed Superman; legal worries led to later pressings without him. Illinois sold over 300,000 copies by 2009 and later went gold.

Reception

It was the best-reviewed album of 2005. Pitchfork's Amanda Petrusich called it strange and lush, as excessive and challenging as its giant song titles, and named it album of the year; Rolling Stone loved Chicago and Casimir Pulaski Day but found John Wayne Gacy, Jr. a creative-writing exercise. Paste named it the album of the decade, and NPR one of the decade's most important recordings.

Track listing

  1. Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois2:08
  2. The Black Hawk War2:14
  3. Come On! Feel the Illinoise!6:45
  4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.3:19
  5. Jacksonville5:24
  6. A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons0:47
  7. Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!3:03
  8. One Last "Whoo-Hoo!" for the Pullman!!0:06
  9. Chicago6:04
  10. Casimir Pulaski Day5:53
  11. To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region1:40
  12. The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts6:17
  13. Prairie Fire That Wanders About2:11
  14. A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze0:19
  15. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!5:23
  16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!5:09
  17. Let's Hear That String Part Again0:40
  18. In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth0:35
  19. The Seer's Tower3:53
  20. The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders7:02
  21. Riffs and Variations on a Single Note0:46
  22. Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind4:21

Personnel

More from Sufjan Stevens

The Age of Adz (2010), Carrie & Lowell (2015)

Sources

  1. Illinois (Sufjan Stevens album), Wikipedia
  2. Illinois seems like a dream to me now, Gapers Block (2005-07-04)
  3. Sufjan Stevens, Tape Op (2009-03)
  4. Illinois review, Pitchfork (2005-07-04)