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The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras From The Illinois Album
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 39 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Asthmatic Kitty
Release Date: 11 July 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Singer-Songwriter
Summary
Each of these 21 tracks originated during the recording of Stevens' 2005 album 'Illinoise,' although most were re-recorded or fleshed out during later sessions. Included are several new versions of the track "Chicago" from that earlier album.
Also By This Artist: Illinois Seven Swans Songs For Christmas The BQE
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site SS @ MySpace
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
E! Online
Most of these songs are just as good, if not better, than the ones that actually made the cut.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
These wistful folk-pop leftovers are better than most acts' A game.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
The more interesting discussion to be had about The Avalanche is whether it says more about Sufjan Stevens or everyone else that a collection of even his second-tier material ranks among the most superior releases of the year.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
No, this album is not superfluous -- far from it. The Avalanche brings Stevens' exacting vision on Illinois into sharper focus.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
Avalanche,... is all over the place musically but never loses the singer-songwriter's jaw-dropping vision.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
The Avalanche's best songs would've been Illinois standouts as well.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Yet another work of widescreen beauty and magnificent ambition. [Aug 2006, p.86]
Dot Music
You simply have to marvel at the talents of a man who is surely amongst the most gifted and fascinating musicians of modern times, even if "The Avalanche" does feel like a vaguer retread of the absolute bravura seen on its big brother.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
If anything, the quality of Stevens' B-sides further validates the folk-hero legacy he's begun. [Sep 2006, p.212]
The Guardian
Stevens is a pensively nostalgic folk chorister like the Paul Simon of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: he is just as prone to swerving into an epiphanic Bach-lite chorale, but as yet short of memorable tunes on his own account. He's close enough to be fascinating, though.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Although not as flat-out amazing as its parent album, this new record shows us that even Stevens’s warmed-up leftovers are more creative, engaging, sophisticated, beautiful, and simply better than what most other musical acts have to offer with their A-list material.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
The biggest upside to the release, however, is that now the intrepid Illinois enthusiast can cobble together one super playlist.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
It's hard not to compare the two albums and find this one wanting; even the best songs, which are quite good, wouldn't bump anything off of Illinois.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Stevens constructed an alternate version of Illinois that is almost as good as the original.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
What Stevens does most successfully here is expand the notion of American song. [#14]
Paste Magazine
A shadow version of its decorated predecessor. [Aug 2006, p.91]
Lost At Sea
Listening to The Avalanche is a lot like going back to visit old friends - familiar, cozy and safe.
Read Full Review >Blender
It's like School House Rock for hip kids. [Aug 2006, p.117]
Mojo
This whets the appetitie for whatever Stevens' formidable talent fixes upon next. [Aug 2006, p.96]
Spin
Remarkably, the songs on Avalanche are nearly as good as the ones on Illinois, although with surprising synth bursts and craggy guitar noise that were sandpapered off of its predecessor. [Aug 2006, p.79]
Observer Music Monthly
All the songs here are fully realised and often the equal of those on their parent album.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
The Avalanche is a great record, but one that may have benefited from its creator learning to be a little more detached from his compositions.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
There’s a wealth of great material buried within The Avalanche, if you don’t mind digging.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Anyone expecting a pared down, contented Sufjan can bugger off. If anything, The Avalanche chases his caprice and whimsy further down the rabbit hole.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
The Avalanche packs enough weirdo magic to make it more than just a gift to his growing cult. [13 Jul 2006, p.104]
Prefix Magazine
There's a difference between a damn fine song and the brilliance that made up Stevens's previous two releases, Illinois and Seven Swans. Unfortunately, The Avalanche clunks through track after track of damn fine songs while only rarely hitting these moments that make your body tingle in euphoria.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
There's very little here that ups the ante (or matches the highlights) of the original Illinois disc.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
Ultimately, The Avalanche lacks the lasting impact of Illinois, as its songs don’t quite hold the same sense of gravitas, economy, and focus.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
A notch above an off-cuts collection. [Aug 2006, p.116]
Dusted Magazine
The Avalanche is, perhaps predictably, a middling reconstitution of its legitimate predecessor.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 39 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Better than the first
Matt Step gave it an8:
Out-takes!!? OUTTAKES!?! Will Mr Stevens please stop hogging all the tunes! I thought this would be patchy at best but it turns out to contain many of the best things Sufjan Stevens has done (The Mistress Witch from McClure, Adlai Stevenson, The Henney Buggy Band etc.). I really don't need three more versions of Chicago though, no matter how good they are.
Philip C gave it a5:
Vastly overrated, even more so than the rest of his catalogue.
Chad M gave it an8:
Great album. Even if he released this as an actual album it would be incredible, but the fact that it is a compilation of outtakes makes this all the more remarkable.
matt a gave it an8:
I love Illinois, but to be honest, I thought this album was going to be annoying. I was wrong. While his sound is becoming a bit tiresome, Sufjan still has some tricks up his sleeve. There are some seriously cathcy pop songs (if you can believe it) on this album (see Adlai Stevenson, The Henney Buggy band, and No Man's Land). I think Stevens needs to continue in this direction on his next lp in order to avoid even more critical reviews than this album is recieving.
Joe G gave it a9:
Not quite up to Illinoise's heights, but will still delight fans that a CD of 'out-takes and extras' can be this good. It seems churlish to complain about the 3 alternate versions of Chicago when even whitout them there's still 60 minutes of new material to enjoy. Let's be quite clear, nobody is being short-changed here in either the description, quantity or quality of this offering. I can imagine that some of these songs, with their brassy arrangements or CSN&Y vibes were excluded from Illinois for programmatic reasons rather than any lack of quality. Highlights (for me) are Carlyle Lake, Mistress Witch, Springfield, No Man's Land and the affecting Pittsfield. Low points are the instrumental interludes, which don't really hit the spot this time.
Jake M. gave it a1:
No...really, when will this eve end. Avalanche indeed! I mean, Illinois was bloated enough, but to think that we really need ANOTHER 75 minutes of this tripe... I guess he's starting to believe his own press.
