Sufjan's lyrics are rich, specific, emotive, honest and poetic. Tracks that particularly transport me so the music takes over whatever I was doing at the time include the acoustic version of "Chicago," "Saul Bellow," and "Pittsfield."

I do think that this young man will be considered one of the best song writers of the 21st Century.

His songs are in the same league as Woody Guthre.

This CD has some songs that "miss", but most of them are right on the mark.

Too bad the Illinoiose CD was not the double set as intended.

My friend introduced me to Sufjan Stevens a while ago when we exchanged mix CDs. On it was a lot of good Indie music from artists I never heard of, including three songs from these guys. Never heard of them, but after a few listens, these three songs started growing on me. I think they were from the Chicago album, including the title track. Eventually I decided to delve a little further into this dynamic group, and came across this item first. After just a quick listen on the sample page, I knew it was for me. I sort of bought it on impulse, which usually works out well for me. Just so you know, this review is coming from a person who has not heard any of Sufjan Stevens' other albums, but I am highly impressed with this one. It's big, clean cut, and very diversified. If this is and example of their "leftovers" from another album, then I can't imagine what the album's like! If you complain about the overwhelming factor of the work, you're simply complaining about too much of a good thing.

We're loaded with 21 tracks here and all are good. Some are of the shorter variety, but mostly this CD is made up of regular length songs beginning with "The Avalanche". To give you an idea, the average length of a song here is probably about 2.50. The next two songs are great, however there are a few that are just sort of...well, noise. Take "The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies", otherwise known as track #4. I suppose it's not bad if you like that sort of thing. It just adds a little extra texture and makes this CD what it is. There are three different versions of "Chicago" which is fun. My favorite is the "adult contemporary easy listening version" (otherwise known as track #12) but they are all excellent. "The Henney Buggey Band" is one of my favorites, very lively. Some are instrumental, such as the next two, tracks 7 and 8 so this CD maintains a nice balance in variety. "Springfield or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair" sounds a little Crosby, Stills and Nash to me, mostly because of the drums and vocal harmony. An interesting track. "The Mistress Witch From McClure" is a soft, gentle track set with nice brass. The vocals are also excellent. My next favorite is the combo of "Inaugural Pop Music" that flows smoothly into "No Man's Land", one of the best songs here. You wouldn't know you were listening to a CD of "excrement" if you heard this song blindfolded. It is album worthy, and 4.45 long. The last group of songs ends the CD quietly, like a whisper. You're sort of surprised when it's over, but I guarantee you'll be wanting more.

This is a fine album of supposedly bits and pieces, its real strength being in its completeness as a whole. Some of it you can throw away, some of it is gold. But if you like the group, then you will love this.

Being a huge fan of Sufjan's Illinoise release, I expected to find a gem or 2 on this out-take cd. I am completely surprised, as it is not just a collection of material that "didn't" make it - Hearing this cd explains exactly why the first version had 22 tracks. There is just not enough space on one cd for the creativity inside this musician. This is not a lone cd for the obsessed fan, but truly another example of his amazing work.

I look at it this way. If you still haven't heard of Sufjan Stevens, you've probably spent the past 18 months or so hiding under some musical rock somewhere. And that can be understandable to some extent - everyone does have their own musical tastes, preferences, likes, and dislikes, all of which can confine the average music listener to only being exposed to quite a narrow slice of the musical spectrum. However, I would like to assume that most of the people who would potentially be reading my written/typed words have heard of Mr. Stevens and his multi-state recording project, not to mention his traveling folk orchestra (the Illinois-makers). Thus, I will proceed henceforth under the impression that you have some inkling of this man and his offbeat, yet defined musical style.

Wow... Simply wow. This album represents quite an ambitious musical undertaking, one that few artists would ever dream of undertaking, and I'm not even talking about the 50 States Project. In its most rudimentary form, many people have released CD's full of B-sides, out-takes, rejected tracks, and other assorted songs that didn't quite fit on any other released album. Thus, in and of itself, Avalanche isn't really that revolutionary - many groups throughout music history (whether they themselves or greedy record executives) have created something of this nature and they're usually released to mixed reviews (i.e. Led Zeppelin's Coda). Big deal, right? Aren't most of albums of this nature just a vain attempt by bands to milk their loyal fan bases for extra money (i.e. Pearl Jam's series of live concert releases from their US and European tours a few years back)?

However, where this album stands up and makes people take notice is that Mr. Stevens went back into his journals and pages of scribbling from the recording sessions for Illinois, found all of these songs, finished writing them, cleaned up whatever rough studio version might have exited, and compiled yet another CD (nearly 80 minutes worth) for his listeners. The aspiring, wannabe, wish-I-could-be songwriter living inside of me is excited to listen to these songs, as many of them are truly works in progress. Here is a writer/artist/sings who's willing to open up to his listening audience and declare, "Hey! Here are some broken fragments of songs, some not-so-good songs, and some could-have-been songs! I'm not afraid to release a CD that's not picture-perfect!" When I first heard of the release of this album I was quite excited, because the makeup of these songs and how they were collected was really compelling to me.

But then, the more I listened to the album and gained a decent glimpse into the content of this album and what it represented, my cynical side began to expose itself. I fight my cynicism rather often, as it can be difficult to repress, but it comes to the fore when I think about this album. I enjoy it; in fact, I really enjoy it, but this album screams out, "Over-Indulgence!" And I don't like thinking of artists of various descriptions, whose work I regularly enjoy, as crassly commercial beings, out to make a quick buck with their creativity. But, if you've ever heard any of the programming on any radio station owned by Clear Channel (or other large media conglomerate), you'd know that people sell out and do so often and regularly.

Please don't misunderstand me here - I am not accusing Sufjan of exploiting the ears and wallets of hipsters across the nation by cashing in on the well-deserved acclaim of Illinois. Far from it actually - I think that there are many portions of The Avalanche that are excellent. To be honest (and a fawning fan), I could listen to every single variation (both studio, live, or otherwise) of "Chicago" that Sufjan could ever release. When traveling and performing, he takes pains to recreate and reformulate "Chicago" on a regular basis; he is simply not content to let the song stay as it is, and such an idealistic approach to making music makes me really happy. And just like on Illinois, the "Name" songs on The Avalanche (as in, the songs referring to specifically to people, whether real or fictional) are standout tracks, filled with quality lyrics and his best compositions. I mean, who else would actually write songs entitled "Adlai Stevenson" and "Saul Bellow"? I am in no way denying this guy's talent - Mr. Stevens is a great songwriter, one of the most talented that any genre or subgenre has heard in years.

But, in the long run, I think my problem with this album is that Sufjan is running the risk of watering himself down. A songwriter can simply release too many albums, too many tracks, too many concepts, and too many ideas, and, in the process of doing so, can potentially diminish his or her impact upon music history. Accordingly, there's just too much here, as in, I feel overwhelmed by the sheer length, depth, and breadth of this album, and it's only a collection of B-sides. Sufjan would have done well to engage in a bit of the same self-editing he employed when casting these songs off Illinois in the first place.

I wholeheartedly concur with the idea a great friend of mine had when he reflected upon the entirety of the record - I would have preferred to purchase this album as a succession of 3 or so EP's. Yes, that means I probably would have spent more money, but I would have found much more enjoyment from the collective purchase. Each EP would have included one or two different versions of "Chicago" and, from there, the songs would be collected thematically - "Name" songs, "Place" songs, and then other assorted bits and pieces of things. I would have been really excited about that. I would have been able to decide which version I wanted to enjoy and not feel bad about skipping across songs that I really don't want to hear, because I don't like skipping around - I'm a fan of listening to an album in its entirety, the way that the artist made it to be.

So, if ever I get into a conversation with Mr. Stevens, I think what I'd tell him would go something like this - "Hey! Sufjan! Great work on The Avalanche! Next time though, do a better job with track selection. I want to hear your best work, and not just your `Eh, this is OK' kinda stuff. I'd appreciate it."