Best track: Futile Devices

Great Album, first Sufjan I've listen too. Can not wait to listen to his previous work.

Sufjan's greatest trait may be his ambition. With The Age of Adz he continued to allow his ambition guide him, resulting in a masterpiece. The dynamic arrangements cut deep with emotional resonance.

Sufjan Stevens has addressed so many themes in his career but this album catches me most. It's self-conscious in a way that pervades his entire discography. Discord and pop vie for spotlight and balance while positive undertones beg to break through the more vulnerable ones.

I'm never sure about this album. Sufjan Stevens, previously a melodic, mostly acoustic christian folk song writer takes a five year hiatus and then comes out with this cacophony of an album. Bizzarre detours, mad orchestration and unpredictable electronics all barge at you at once as Sufjan Stevens, for the first time, really screams his most personal and effective lyrics yet - even exclaiming multiple times in "I Want To be Well", 'I'm Not Fuckin' Around' - when that's exactly what he's doing on this album. What this album suffers from is filler. At least 20 minutes of the album is barely cohesive and not enjoyable - when the madness comes together magic is really created, but it doesn't always happens. It makes me smile though, when at the end Sufjan Sings solemny - almost returning to his previous style "Boy, we made such a mess together" - you sure did Sufjan, you made a complete mess of an album that no sane person would call music, and that's why it's so fantastic.

This isn't quite Sufjan's best work, but the extended piece that closes the album is maybe the single best track he's recorded. An overall great record, if a little inconsistent (the middle tracks in particular are not as great as the opening and closing tracks).

Everytime I think back to the first time I ever heard this album it always brings a smile to my face. After the first four tracks I was like... Sufjan you sly dog you... you've done it again. How stupid was I for ever doubting your greatness. Every time I doubt and think Sufjan's running out of material he brings something new and amazing to the table. Every time! Sufjan Stevens is an artist, a composer, a multi-instrumentalist, and an underrated lyricist. The Age of Adz lives up to any of Sufjan's previous efforts. I don't think it's as good as Illinois but I do think it is just as good if not better than anything else in his outstanding music catalog. Personally this album is my third favorite Sufjan album and that's saying something because I think everything he has put out to this day has been really good. The only exception to his greatness was his first album A Sun Came. That was his only weak effort. Keep going Sufjan! Don't stop making incredible music! The day Sufjan retires is the day the music industry loses a few irreplaceable notches on the quality meter.

this elicited wide eyes and a dropped jaw the first time through. it was such a monumental departure from Sufjan's last album, and i didn't see it coming. the first track is actually really deceptive, because it seems to be in the same vein as "Illinoise;" then loud and cacophonous electronic scribbling. on the whole, a very mind-stretching and innovative experience from an artists who always keeps you guessing.

I loved the castanets cover sufjan performed for the "dark was the night" charity album last year, so much that I was direly hoping that cover would provide direction for his next full-length album. WISH FULFILLED and executed wonderfully bringing electronic flourishes (and even autotune) and additional strings to his usual intellectual brand of folk.

What a great album. It's as if Sufjan had reached into my head, pulled out all my insecurities, and converted them into lyrics. The wordplay on this album is ridiculous, especially when he manages to get a duel meaning out of how similar Vesuvius and Sufjan sound. The self-reflection on Now That I'm Older and All for Myself are off the charts. I can really feel a connection with Sufjan when he almost mumbles "I want to be well" several times, only pausing to take a breath before climaxing with the greatest moment where he just screams that he's not fucking around at the top of his voice, as if all the garbage and bullshit he's detailed previously could not be held back anymore. Now, most artists can pull off a climax, but only the rare ones can come back to the table for a second helping, which he does less than a minute later.

I didn't even have to mention Impossible Soul because this album would still be a masterpiece without it. It's like the cherry on top. The half-hour, auto-tuned, breathtaking, incredibly awesome, 800 pound cherry.