Illinois (album)

Illinois (2005) is a concept album by Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing cities and people in the state of Illinois. It is his second album based on a USA state, in a planned series of albums to encompass all 50 states, beginning with the 2003 album Michigan. Although the cover reads "Come on feel the Illinoise", the official album title is just "Illinois". The phrase echoes the song "Cum on Feel the Noize", a hit for Slade and Quiet Riot.

Related Topics:
2005 - Concept album - Sufjan Stevens - Illinois - USA - Michigan - Slade - Quiet Riot

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Lyrically, the album is dense with allusions and references. Among the towns and places mentioned on the album are Highland, Lebanon, Columbia, Jacksonville, Decatur, Chicago, Metropolis, Peoria, Bushnell, the Great Godfrey Maze, and the Rockford River Valley. Among the historical figures named are Frank Lloyd Wright, Carl Sandburg, John Wayne Gacy, Jr., Andrew Jackson, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, Casimir Pulaski, and a number of influential jazz musicians. Other Illinois figures are referenced more obliquely, like the 8'11" Robert Wadlow in "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders". Many of the songs use real locations and historical events as settings for fictional accounts or jumping-off points for ruminations on more universal subjects such as family and faith.

Related Topics:
Highland - Lebanon - Columbia - Jacksonville - Decatur - Chicago - Metropolis - Peoria - Bushnell - Godfrey - Rockford - Frank Lloyd Wright - Carl Sandburg - John Wayne Gacy, Jr. - Andrew Jackson - Abraham - Mary Todd Lincoln - Casimir Pulaski - Jazz - Robert Wadlow

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While ostensibly a record about the people and places of the eponymous state, Illinois has also been noted for its religious overtones, which occur in greater frequency and explicitness than is typical for the indie rock genre. Nearly all of the songs address Biblical imagery or themes in one way or another, from track 1, in which a 2000 UFO sighting is related in terms that echo the Resurrection, to track 22, whose title evokes Matthew 2:15, "Out of Egypt I called my son." Other examples include the refrains of "Decatur" ("it's the Great I Am") and "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" ("the Spirit / the Carpenter"); the explicit references to "the glory that the Lord has made" in "Casimir Pulaski Day"; the Scriptural allegory informing "The Seer's Tower"; and the apparent absolution Stevens finds in the final verse of "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."

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Due to legal issues regarding the artwork, Asthmatic Kitty Records had stopped sales of the album and asked retailers to do the same. Though not stated explicitly in the label's notice, the image of Superman on the album cover is assumed to be the source of the legal problems.

Related Topics:
Asthmatic Kitty Records - Superman

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However, because big-box retailers such as Best Buy did not comply with the order, Asthmatic Kitty allowed continued sales of the album. The label hoped to have new versions of the album, with updated artwork, distributed to stores by the end of July.

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Despite the issue, the album continues to sell online. The version currently being sold at the iTunes Music Store lacks the picture of Superman in the artwork, but is otherwise unchanged. Despite, or perhaps because of the issue, the album sold briskly on iTunes in its first week, ranking among the top five albums sold.

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