Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz - Music & Performance - CD

2010 release from the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter. The Age of Adz (pronounced Odds) is Sufjan Stevens' first full-length collection of original songs since 2005's conceptual pop opus Illinois. While the sounds on this record are distinctly "artificial" (drums machines and analog synths reign supreme), the proclamations of the songs are unabashedly visceral, sung loudly, with a backdrop of insistent orchestration. The result is an album that is perhaps more vibrant, primary and explicit than anything Sufjan has done before, incorporating themes that are neither historical nor civic, but rather personal and primal (if even a little juvenile).

Sufjan Stevens' official follow-up to 2005's critically acclaimed Illinoise puts to rest the conceptual trappings that have dominated his work thus far. Taking a cue from 2009's Koyaanisqatsi-inspired BQE, Age of Adz is a schizophrenic album: a subject-spanning, electro-orchestral collection of original pop songs which feels like more like an exorcism than it does a simple evolution of Stevens' songwriting. The literate, collegiate folk-pop that dominated his earlier work has been transformed by the self-admitted "existential crisis" that followed the success of Illinoise, and while there are elements of the past third-person intimacy on Age of Adz, it's Stevens himself who bears the weight of the world this time around, though it's never revealed as to whether he's heartbroken, world-weary, or just raw from the unattainable expectations placed on him by many of his overly earnest fans. Loosely based on the work of troubled American Creole artist Royal Robertson, who specialized in apocalyptic visions of the future replete with aliens, utopian temples, and end-time prophesying, Age of Adz (pronounced "oddz"), with its glitch-filled, heavily processed barrage of late-'90s electronica, feels cut from the same desolate cloth as Radiohead's Kid A, or Bjork's chilly Vespertine, but where Kid A utilized restraint, Age of Adz trumpets a near-constant cacophony. Opener "Futile Devices" eases the listener into this new world with the familiar sound of a gently fingerpicked electric guitar, and as Stevens' pitch-perfect, heavily delayed vocals reassure his subject that "I do love you," it almost seems like old times. That dreamy setup is revealed as a red herring just seconds into the epic "Too Much," as tree trunk-sized synth bursts and staccato drum machine blips flip the switch on and unleash the Age of Adz' most accomplished cog. "Too Much," along with the gorgeous "All by Myself" and the propulsive "I Want to Be Well," are stand-outs not just because of their formidable intricacies (the title cut owns that honor), but because they operate on an emotional level that some of the other tracks fail to convey -- as lovely and naked as closer "Impossible Soul" is, it could have been 20 minutes shorter. Stevens' talents as a musician are indisputable, but it's refreshing to hear him so candid, even if that forthrightness is festooned by enough bells and whistles to wake the dead. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Performer	Sufjan Stevens
Music genre	Rock
Music subgenre	Folk-Rock
Media format	CD
Original release date	2010-10-12
Edition	Standard Edition
Language	English
Is collectible	Y
Number of tracks	10
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Series title	Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz COMPACT DISCS
Track listing	Futile Devices, Too Much, The the Age of Adz, I Walked, Now That I'm Older, Get Real Get Right, Bad Communication, Vesuvius, All for Myself, I Want to Be Well, Impossible Soul
Record label	Asthmatic Kitty
Target audience	Adult
Composer	Sufjan Stevens
Songwriter	songwriter
Music producer	Sufjan Stevens
Number in series	1
Occasion	All Occasion
Track name	Futile Devices, Too Much, I Walked, Now That I'm Older, Get Real Get Right, Bad Communication, Vesuvius, All By Myself, Impossible Soul, I Want to Be Well, Age of Adz
Duration	75.13 min
Digital audio file format	MP3
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N