The choir on this track plays a great foil against the odd electric guitar work."Prairie Fire that Wanders About" begins with organ and xylophone

This album has gotten pretty much over-hyped by now but even so, it is a terrific work of art

It's too bad Sufjan Stevens probably won't get the recognition he deserves for this intricately beautiful work.

One cannot deny the touching sincerity exhibited by Sufjan Stevens in his ambitious work, which features highly original and entertaining titles if nothing else

****), which range from slightly tolerable electronic background music to somewhat dull acoustic Christian inspired pastoral washes to the first in his very good State inspired theme series with its collage of interesting, theatric, tender and beautiful moments, but I think Illinoise is the best, as a more balanced, mature, interesting work

If you like this, you'll like his other work.

Brian Wilson's grander, more orchestral work; Joni Mitchell; and Phillip Glass.

Chalk all this mania up to musically-starved pop writers if you want, but I think the work is worth the buzz.

crime - "Illinois" is a complete work of astonishing freshness, and I find it difficult to imagine how it will be topped in the next 6 months.

Wonderful imaginative lyrics, terrific guitar work, a useful backing of a strings section, and a singer with a beautiful voice

We haven't heard `Michigan' but, if it is anywhere near as complex and intricate a work as `Illinois', Stevens may not be emerging from his studio again this century

This work is extremely impressive across the board

His work is rich and full

That probably gets as close as anything I have heard in terms of describing this excellent work, although even comparisons to musical theatre have been credibly offered (indeed, I can see the theatre producers lining up already to arrange this for the stage)

The scope and depth of this CD easily surpass any of Sufjan's other (great) works to date.

While I lambaste the professional critics that touted this work as "album of the year", I commend the numerous Amazon reviewers that laid down the truth on this album's merit

With 22 tracks and utterly epic names for the songs, Sufjan has produced an incredibly lovely disc that really outdoes his previous work."Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois" starts the listener on this new epic journey