At last Sufjan Stevens releases a LP that isn't a studio outtake, EP, soundtrack or box set. It has been five years since the release of the very successful indie masterpiece Illinois. Now Sufjan comes with a more average way of an artist with The Age of Adz. Instead of 35 word long song titles and seven second songs, or focusing on a state like Michigan or Illinois. No, Sufjan makes his most traditional album yet.
The indie folk/pop that has dominated Sufjan's sound has been transformed into a chaotic, huge mass electronic orchestra including flutes, strings, choirs, horns, samples, and so much more. The sound can take a few spins of the album to really start sinking in. The instrumentation is constantly changing that you never truly know what's going to happen next. The crescendos and decrescendos move with perfection and deliver tremendous structured, complex songs.
All above Sufjan's soaring vocals, the instrumentation is having a hay-day. When Sufjan is uttering female names like "Gloria" and "Victoria" in a beautiful voice over electronic glitchy beats on the title track, The Age of Adz truly comes together. Those "wow" moments appear a lot on the album, like the tear-jerking choir on "Now That I'm Older" and the horn and flute work on "Get Real Get Right".
Probably the biggest example of Sufjan's insanity is showcased on 25 minute epic "Impossible Soul". "Impossible Soul" starts out with a moderate ballad with beautiful vocals from Sufjan and then explodes into an epic and heavily distorted guitar solo. Sufjan's chaotic, glitchy electronic orchestra weaves and floats through many changes through Sufjan's line of "Don't be distracted" and then moves into the most bizarre moment on The Age of Adz. Sufjan takes the mic with auto-tune in effect and it makes him sound like every other mediocre hit on the radio. This may be off the topic of this review, but I utterly despise auto-tune. It makes people that have no vocal talent and makes them sound robotic and synthetic. Sufjan can sings just beautifully, the idea of using auto-tune was horrible. After the painful six minutes of auto-tune, "Impossible Soul" transforms into a dancy, fist-pumping jam that is backed my Sufjan's yells of "It's not so impossible!".
"Impossible Soul" is probably the breaking point of whether or not your going to like The Age of Adz. Part one of the song is solid, part two is mediocre, and part three is spot on. What I love about part three of "Impossible Soul" is the soul Sufjan sings in. The same way he controversially sings "I'm not f***ing around" on the climatic "I Want to Be Well". This soul transends The Age of Adz into an excellent, mature album that will have you going back for seconds, thirds and even fourths.
I didn't think that Sufjan's strongest work of Illinois could possibly be beat, but here it is. The Age of Adz is Sufjan's best effort by far. Sufjan's mature, polished approach was spot on. Leading in from a solid EP, All Delighted People, The Age of Adz is a very good effort. The chaotic, glitchy electronic orchestra that Sufjan crafted is just so entertaining to listen to. Face it, he's not f***ing around.
Overall: 8.4/10
Track Listing:
1. Futile Devices - 8.0
2. Too Much - 9.0
3. Age of Adz - 9.0
4. I Walked - 8.5
5. Now That I'm Older - 8.0
6. Get Real Get Right - 8.5
7. Bad Communication - 8.0
8. Vesuvius - 8.5
9. All For Myself - 8.0
10. I Want To Be Well - 9.0
11. Impossible Soul - 8.5
Sample:
No comments:
Post a Comment