The Avalanche
by Sufjan Stevens

The Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens
(Compilation album)
Year: 2006
Release date: 2006-07-11
Overall rank: 7,174th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 127 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 2006 (120th)
Award Top albums of the 2000s (1,247th)
Award Best albums of all time (7,174th)

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Sufjan Stevens The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album! New
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Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche [New Vinyl LP]
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Sufjan Stevens bestography

The Avalanche is ranked 11th best out of 34 albums by Sufjan Stevens on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Sufjan Stevens is Illinois which is ranked number 43 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 19,977.

Sufjan Stevens album bestography « Higher ranked (5,231st)
Carrie & Lowell Live
This album (7,174th)
The Avalanche
Lower ranked (10,202nd) »
Enjoy Your Rabbit

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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The Avalanche track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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The Avalanche rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 7,174th | 2000s rank: 1,247th | 2006 rank: 120th

The Avalanche collection

The Avalanche ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 127 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 127 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
12/07/2025 15:40 Araldo  Ratings distribution  1,47180/100
 
60/100
 
09/05/2025 12:54 TonySayers61  Ratings distribution  23,90964/100
 
50/100
 
04/06/2025 13:18 Cheboygan74  Ratings distribution  1,28952/100
 
75/100
 
09/30/2024 03:00 juanr1096  Ratings distribution  6,11378/100
 
60/100
 
06/22/2024 22:55 dhbarrett  Ratings distribution  8,37265/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 15% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.1/100, a mean average of 72.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.3.

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The Avalanche favourites

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The Avalanche comments

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Rating:  
85/100
From 04/01/2018 20:40 | #212135
Not bad at all, maybe I would remove 4 or 5 songs, but there is a lot of great material here! 7/10.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 10/20/2016 22:37 | #177232
The fact that The Avalanche is a collection of outtakes and B-sides from Illinois--and that it's this good--lends some perspective on how good an album Illinois is. At the time he was writing and recording all this music, Sufjan Stevens must have been on one of those creative highs that one experiences once in a lifetime, if at all. In this case he's made an album that parallels Illinois in many ways, following a similar narrative arc and emotional trajectory. It's a record that feels familiar and homey, especially if you've heard Illinois, and the best track, "Pittsfield," in the words of Pitchfork reviewer Chris Dahlen, "has the cozy tunefulness of a chicken soup jingle."
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 06/11/2016 11:31 | #168444
A collection of outtakes from the, Illinois, project, the avalanche, is an excellent album in it's own right. Some of the stuff here is as good or even better than some of the stuff on the, Illinois, LP. Some nice versions of, Chicago, too. Good stuff.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/25/2015 15:21 | #140177
The best of the rest. A few duds, but some gems that wouldn't have been out of place on Illinois.

The mistress witch..., Adlai Stevenson and Pittsfield are all great tracks, and the other versions of Chicago are an intriguing listen, especially the adult contemporary.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 12/07/2014 16:38 | #128915
A good outtakes collection.
I mean, it's more illinois. How can that be a bad thing?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/15/2014 04:20 | #106318
A solid B-Sides collection. Criminally underrated. You've got to love the ingenuity behind some of these songs.

Favourite Songs: The Avalanche, Dear Mr. Supercomputer, The Mistress Witch..., Chicago (adult contemporary version)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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