New Music Reviews: Sufjan Stevens-The Age Of Adz

Stevens released his much anticipated first full length album "The Age Of Adz" in the beginning of October after a five year hiatus. And I'll tell ya, it's taken that long to digest the whole thing for me to write some sort of review for it. He wet the appetite of fans just a couple months prior with the "All Delighted People" EP, which with a running time of over fifty nine minutes is anything but an EP. With "The Age Of Adz" it's a seventy four minute affair. And while I'm not going to go on and on about the length of these projects, bear in mind that it tells me Stevens has a lot of ideas and a lot to say after his lengthy hiatus. Is the patience there to indulge?

The theme on "The Age Of Adz" is much more introspective. He's no longer telling tales for history buffs as he did on past efforts "Come On Feel The Illinoise" and "Michigan". That 50 state project turned out to just be a promotional gimmick, I suppose. Those that might miss those historical tales have to listen to the themes about getting older and overcoming adversity as Stevens did overcoming an illness that plagued him during the writing of this album. There is a lot of thought and care put into the work by Stevens to have the album revolve on this axis, but it's never an overbearing process. There are good moments like the gorgeous melodrama of "Now That I'm Older" and when he continually delivers the line "I'm not fucking around anymore" on "I Want To Be Well". He's no longer singing about "Casmir Pulaski Day", Sufjan is getting older and coming to grips in his own way.

The sound of "The Age Of Adz" has lost the pastoral feel of past albums and integrated more electronics into it. Throughout the albums there are blips and bleeps going on around every corner. I don't feel that it's that off putting or distracting, but In can throw a casual listener off until they get accustomed to it. Stevens is a great conductor and all the intricate little sounds, all the gorgeous orchestration you've come to love is still in its right place. If Stevens gets tired of songwriting, he could easily go into producing film soundtracks. His ear is fantastic for this.

So where my problem lies most with "The Age Of Adz" comes in two parts. One, the songs don't stick. You can put together something that is fantastic and pieced together where it should be, but if you're not going to remember a hook a Wednesday from now, it really turns into something you can admire when it's on and that is pretty much where things will stop. It's not a piece that is going to garner additional listens. Two, it could really use some sort of edit job. And I'm not just picking on the twenty five minute suite "Impossible Soul" that ends the album, I just wish some of these songs would take on a more traditional form. There are plenty of good and bad ideas through "Impossible Soul", from shout along chants to multi-vocoders, but is the excess really needed. Is it necessary?


You can admire Stevens' attitude of moving forward with a bold statement of growing into the computer age on "The Age Of Adz" (I believe that is the intent of the electronics). I'm not sure if it will have a timeless feel several years from now or if there is anything here that will sound terribly outdated in that time. There's a fine line between being novel and novelty. Which side of the pool you decide to jump into is your decision. For me it's like the second track on "The Age Of Adz", its "Too Much".

Grade: B-

JHO Picks:
Too Much
I Walked
Now That I'm Older
I Want To Be Well


  Sufjan Stevens - Too Much by lostmonster 


  Sufjan Stevens - "Now That I'm Older" by Pretty Much Amazing 


  Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz - 03 Age of Adz by anavisan

Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2010/11/new-music-reviews-sufjan-stevens-age-of.html

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