Over the time that I've been a fan Sufjan's style has gone through a lot of changes and I believe that he has really evolved as a songwriter and musician. I'm going to give a quick chronological guide of Sufjan's albums (based on release dates, not when I first heard them).
A SUN CAME
Sufjan's debut album is, in my opinion, one of his most interesting and diverse sounding albums. Sufjan himself described it as incorporating "traditional pop music, medieval instrumentation with Middle Eastern inflections, tape loops, digital samples, literary vocals, manic percussion, woodwinds, sitar, amp distortion and Arabic chants." This album introduced the world to Sufjan's signature sound which often includes unusual instrumentation such as oboe, banjo, electronic sounds, choirs, etc.
My Favorite Song: Wordsworth's Ridge
ENJOY YOUR RABBIT
A concept album which has a song for each sign of the Chinese Zodiac and two additional tracks, "Year of the Asthmatic Cat" and "Year of Our Lord". This album is a total departure from "A Sun Came" and is much more electronic and in some senses more minimalistic. The changes in the songs come about more gradually, much like Phillip Glass or John Adams (the composer, not the President). It is very interesting to listen to each song in the context of what the Zodiac says about the sign. "Year of The Snake" for instance (my sign) really does give a feeling of wisdom, elegance, caution, grace, calm, and constancy. Or take "Year of the Rat" as another example. This song does feel eloquent, intense, ruthless, and even industrious.
My Favorite Song: Year of The Monkey
MICHIGAN:
This is perhaps my favorite album for a number of reasons. For one thing, it was the album that introduced me to Sufjan as an artist. For another thing, it is named for my home state, and the songs are all about Michigan and the different people and places in it. Some of the lyrics really hit home since they are quite literally about my home. "Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)" is probably the saddest song I've ever heard. This song conveys the same feeling and empathy about Flint as watching Micheal Moore's "Roger and Me" and all in under 4 minutes. I actually own this on vinyl and noticed not too long ago that in the run-off groove of each side there is an inscription scratched in by hand. "Say YES to Michigan!", "Go! Tigers!", "If you seek a Pleasant Peninsula, look about you", and "The Great Lake State". It's stuff like this that makes me feel that every time I listen to this album I am a part of a very special audience that this was written for. It's also fun to know that Sufjan was born in Detroit, went to Hope College, and even attended Interlochen Arts Academy (for a while before he dropped out anyway).
My Favorite Song: Holland
SEVEN SWANS:
Probably Sufjan's most religiously oriented album of the bunch (with track titles including "Abraham", "The Transfiguration", and "The Devil's Territory"). The entire album is filled with Biblical allusions and quotes. Even though I'm not religious I still can't help but appreciate the beauty of the music and the lyrics. I feel that this album best exemplifies Sufjan's signature sound. It relies heavily on banjo, woodwinds (especially oboe), and vocals. It is mellow and delicate but very powerful.
My Favorite Song: Seven Swans (This song references the Book of Revelation but is mixed with personal accounts and symbolism)
ILLINOIS:
The second, and so far the latest, entry in the Fifty States project. This was the album that really put Sufjan on the map as a recording artist. Sufjan chose this album as the second installment in the project because, although born and raised in Michigan, he was a long time Chicago resident and was very familiar with this state as well. This album is, in my opinion, his most mainstream. That's not to say it isn't as good, it is. But I feel that he didn't take quite as many risks with this album as some of the others like "Enjoy Your Rabbit", "The BQE", or "The Age of Adz". This is probably one of the reasons that it was critically acclaimed and commercially very successful.
My Favorite Song: They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhhh!
THE AVALANCHE:
This album is comprised of outtakes and extras from the "Illinois" album. However, don't make the mistake of thinking that just because they didn't make it on that album they aren't as good. I think it's a testament to Sufjan's creativity, prolificness (it's a word), and sheer brilliance that an album of outtakes rivals any of his other albums in quality and depth. I mean, it's 21 tracks, nearly as many as were on "Illinois" itself. Imagine if he had recorded it all for the album they were written for! In a lot of ways this album and "Illinois" are twins, for obvious reasons. They sound similar and share the same subject matter. I couldn't say that one is better than the other, either. In fact I think that Sufjan should have just released it as Part II of "Illinois" rather than an outtakes album.
My Favorite Song: Pittsfield
SONGS FOR CHRISTMAS:
This actually includes five different volumes of Christmas songs, some written by Sufjan and some that are traditional Christmas songs. This is my go to Christmas music aside from the classics. I'm not normally a fan of the newer Christmas music, especially original songs, but I feel that this is an exception. I think you can tell that Sufjan really put effort into making a great album that is musically interesting and not just a commercial ploy to make a few extra bucks around the Christmas season. I don't doubt that money was a motivator to create this album, but I think you can tell that there was a tremendous amount of effort and musicality put into all of the five volumes.
My Favorite Song: Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming
THE BQE:
When Sufjan created this album he proved yet again that he was innovative and amazingly talented, both as a musician and writer. Yet another departure from what he had done in the past, Sufjan created an album written for orchestra (and accompanied by an original film which Sufjan both wrote and directed). He also created a comic book to go along with it as if it weren't enough already. The album is a symphonic tone poem with the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway as it's subject. Regarding this album Sufjan said, "I intended to create a non-personal, non-narrative piece. I tried to reduce my own personal investment as much as possible, and I refused to incorporate one of my strengths, which is the song. I was relinquishing my greatest weapon." I think that this album is really what set Sufjan apart in my mind and put him in a league of his own. Not many musicians can go from singer-songwriter to composer, but Sufjan did and he did a damn good job. Wagner would be proud. The BQE is a perfect example of "Gesamtkunstwerk", or total artwork, a term coined to describe Wagner's musical and artistic ideals. A Gesamtkunstwerk makes use of many artistic mediums to create something that is greater than the sum of it's parts. For the BQE Sufjan was personally credited with recording and mixing; playing many of the instruments; direction, cinematography, and editing for the film; photography, layout, design, and illustrations for the packaging of The BQE; and the story and writing for Hooper's Heroes, the comic book. The only way to make this more of a Gesamtkunstwerk would be to add a lazer-light show and choreograph the whole thing.
My Favorite
ALL DELIGHTED PEOPLE:
This album came out at the end of this last August as a digital only download. It was great because it was pretty much out of the blue. There hadn't been much talk about Sufjan even working on a new album let alone releasing it so soon after the BQE. The only clue I had that there might be a new album coming out was that Sufjan had scheduled some tour dates, which had generally coincided with a new album being released. I was even more amazed when it came out and I discovered that the MP3 download of the entire album was only $5! Granted, it's only 8 tracks, but it comes out to being nearly an hour of music, right up there with the rest of his albums. "Djohariah" comes in at an epic 17:03 (only 2 seconds short of "Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida"). After I downloaded this album I couldn't stop playing it on iTunes or my MP3 player or in my car. In the first week I had it I probably listened to this album over 20 times in its entirety. I'm also not the only person who feels like this about "All Delighted People". The album rose to #27 on the Billboard album charts solely through digital sales. Since then it has become available in both CD and LP format as well.
My Favorite Song: All Delighted People
(sorry for the green screen, but it was the only version
I could find of the original version as opposed to the
"classic rock" version, although both are on the album)
THE AGE OF ADZ:
After downloading "All Delighted People" from Asthmatic Kitty's website I noticed that there was also ANOTHER new album coming out soon by Sufjan named "The Age of Adz" (pronounced "odds"). It was too good to be true... ANOTHER new Sufjan album!? I immediately clicked the link and discovered free downloads of two tracks, "Too Much" and "I Walked". Of course I downloaded them and probably listened to them just as much as I did "All Delighted People". Not too long ago I got the rest of the album as well and was equally impressed. This album was released after Sufjan struggled through nearly an entire year of viral infections and health issues. He said "The Age of Adz, is, in some ways, a result of that process of working through health issues and getting much more in touch with my physical self. That's why I think the record's really obsessed with sensation and has a hysterical melodrama to it." The album features heavy orchestration, electronic effects, distortion, and choir. One song in particular sticks out on the album. "Impossible Soul" comes in at a whopping 25:35 and has sparked a lot of discussion from reviewers and critics. It has been described as having "more engaging ideas than most artists could muster in a career", but has also been described as an "epic train wreck". I would tend to agree with the former, but I can see why the piece would be so polarizing. It utilizes auto-tune at times (say what you will) and definitely drags on at times.
My Favorite Song: Too Much
