User Score
Universal acclaim- based on 183 Ratings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 164 out of 183
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Mixed: 9 out of 183
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Negative: 10 out of 183
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Oct 19, 2010
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Oct 13, 2010A soul searching, heartfelt, electronic masterpiece- with Sufjan's trademarks all over the album. I really liked Illinoise!, but I think I love The Age of Adz.
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Oct 18, 2010It's by no means a bad album, and i applaud him for trying something different. Well, sort of. Maybe it isnt fair that i had listened to illinois and seven swans right before i heard the age of adz, but its just not the same. its got its highlights and improves with each listen, but man did sufjan take an odd turn...
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Oct 18, 2010
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Nov 22, 2010This CD is a lot like Illinois, in that both albums are practices in maximizing what is available to use in music. Illinois was more baroque-ly orchestrated while Age of Adz is more electronic and bombast in its orchestrations. I like the direction Sufjan is taking, and "Impossible Soul" is song of the year.
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Oct 13, 2010This is easily Sufjan Stevens' best album! So what, if it doesn't sound like Illinoise...good! It is only expected after five years of not releasing anything - right? Wouldn't you want something completely different? This album is dark, honest, and mesmerizing.
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Oct 15, 2010
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Oct 17, 2010
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Nov 6, 2011The Age of Adz is a really tremendous feat for Sufjan Stevens. He's put together this massive, huge, record spilling over with content, and it stands up. Its not perfectly coherent, but songs like the title track and impossible soul are so majestic and explosive it makes up for its faults, and delivers on most fronts.
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Oct 13, 2010The greatest album of the year. And I think this is the best album Sufjan has ever made. One of my favorite songs is the closer "Impossible Soul" a 25 minutes epic piece you'd love to listen.
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Oct 13, 2010I'm not sure how or why anyone would rate an album without actually listening to it first. Why even waste your time posting a review. This album is a 10 and any BS vote of 6 without any frame of reference besides Sufjan's former album from 5 years ago is not accurate and meaningless.
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Oct 12, 2010
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Oct 12, 2010Dense with sound. Hyper-saturated maximalism. Quite brilliant and bold. Distills a wide range of styles and influences. Really impressed with the brass and woodwind elements.
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Oct 12, 2010
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Oct 12, 2010there is so much more going on here than songs on an album with funny noises. this album is the most vulnerable and confessional we have ever heard sufjan. we are hearing the struggle of â
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Oct 12, 2010
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Sep 23, 2018
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Oct 12, 2010
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Oct 12, 2010Two things are obvious about The Age of Adz: this album is bold, and this album is pure genius. Sufjan combines his signature melodiousness with complex, lush orchestration, a frantic aesthetic, and a knack for surprising his demanding audience. The result is possibly the best work of his prolific career.
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Aug 10, 2011
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Oct 15, 2010
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Oct 15, 2010Listeners familiar with Stevensâ
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Oct 19, 2010
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Oct 20, 2010This is by no means a "bad" album, but may be a little too dense to make the right impact on the first listen. Listening to this reminds me of something like a Kid A or Amnesiac. I only could appreciate those albums after multiple playthroughs. If you are looking for accessible, look elsewhere. If you want to dissect a lush album, give it a try... or two or three.
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Oct 20, 2010The album descends into experimentation for experimentation's sake. This is a shark-jumping effort in which the promise of the first two tracks is broken over and over again.
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Oct 22, 2010
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Dec 20, 2010
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Oct 25, 2010
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Oct 26, 2010This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
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Oct 26, 2010This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
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Oct 27, 2010I was appalled by the quality of this album. Especially, "Futile Devices" which is quite average in a sense that it sounds the same as every other song on the album except it has added nihilism which makes the overall quality of the album inappropriate and downright shameful to be called The Age of Adz.
But that's just my opinion,
- Jamie Valerio -
Nov 5, 2010This is not my favorite sufjan stevens album...
it is my second favorite. I always like it when a musician breaks off into different genres and tries new things. some might find the Experimental nature of the album in audible, but i have loved every single beat of it. -
Nov 18, 2010
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Nov 23, 2010
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Nov 27, 2010While not as immediate as his previous albums, the Age of Adz, like many great albums, takes some time to sink in. Once you dive into all of its beautiful subtleties you'll realize it's greatness. A beautiful and sublime piece of art.
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Dec 1, 2010
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Feb 8, 2011Great! Sufjan Stevens is a genius, everything he does sounds new, not only the first time you listen to it, but every time. Again, he offers pure magical moments.
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Mar 10, 2011This is easily the greatest album that sufjan has made to date. Revolutionary is the way to describe this album. Sufjan has his finger on the pulse of the indie music scene and now that he has gone electronic you will see several more bands going that way. Not only is this album superb musically but is also superb lyrically. This album is the deepest album in terms of emotions and lyrical depth.
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Jul 1, 2011This album is just as masterful, if not more so, than Illinoise. It's rather sad to see some of these low ratings and general under-appreciation in the critic reviews. This will be remembered at the end of the decade as one of the best albums.
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Jul 5, 2011
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Aug 1, 2011I have never heard such sounds!!
When I was hearing it I was thing"dam,you gt to know about music to do this album.
The only problem I found was that no songs are as good as Impossible soul.
But anyway It is pretty good! -
Aug 27, 2011
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Nov 19, 2011I love Sufjan Stevens!! This album is a new thing I've hear from him. You're used to sweet soft sounds but here you have a new side of him. And this is noise but good noise. ALL music is noise. He put a new darker side to his music on his album. I think very well job. As sad in I want to be Well, He is not **** around.
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Jan 2, 2012
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Jan 26, 2012
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May 20, 2012
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Jun 30, 2014
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Jun 7, 2015Its hard to find something more thrilling to listen to than a devout Christian songwriter repeatedly cry "I'm not **** around". "Too much" sounds like idioteque from Kid A, in a weird and awesome way. 10/10—"I want to be well", "Too much", "Impossible soul"
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Jan 23, 2021
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Apr 10, 2017Sufjan displays his versatile talent in this folktronica masterpiece. I will say, the 25 minute outro is a bit of a chore to get through but man... does this album have some sweet moments filled with choral singing, synthesizers, and drum sequencers. A must listen.
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Mar 12, 2017The lyrics are emotional and longing, and Sufjan Stevens ties it in with unique sounds tied in with brass and woodwind. This could very well possibly be his best work.
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Feb 7, 2018Great album from Sufjan Stevens.
A departure from his classic folk-ish sound to a more electronic one. The only acoustic songs are at the start (futile devices) and one part of Impossible Souls.
Every other track is full of sounds and chaos. -
Jul 30, 2018
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Jan 31, 2021
Awards & Rankings
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Jan 11, 2011The combination is ethereal and transcendent.
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Dec 23, 2010Stevens ventures widely on this 85-minute disc to find the best way to express what turn out to be basic home truths.
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Dec 21, 2010Where he used be be so proficient at letting us hear the sound of his sad, sad heart, the directionless elliptical clutter that defines The Age of Adz just sounds to me like he's manufacturing an idea of what a sad heart might sound like. What's worse, it sounds self-indulgent.