The Avalanche

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The Avalanche
The Avalanche cover
Studio album by Sufjan Stevens
Released July 11, 2006
Genre Folk Rock
Length 75:48
Label Asthmatic Kitty
Professional reviews
Sufjan Stevens chronology
Illinois
(2005)		 The Avalanche
(2006)		 Songs for Christmas
(2006)

The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album is an album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his album Illinois. It has been released on the iTunes Store, and copies are available on the website for Asthmatic Kitty, Stevens' record label. The title song "The Avalanche" was also a bonus track on the Illinois vinyl and iTunes release.

The cover features a cartoon depiction of Stevens wearing a cape and costume held aloft by strings, a likely reference to the image of Superman he was forced to remove from the cover of Illinois. He wears a shirt with a Block-type Serif letter I; the symbol of varsity athletics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The "Block I" appears several times in the album art.

A press release on the Asthmatic Kitty website reported that the Illinois album was supposed to be a double record (with somewhere near 50 songs), but the idea was eventually scrapped. After the success of the album, Stevens returned to his analog 8-track recorder in late 2005 and began the process of finishing 21 of the previously abandoned songs, which would eventually become The Avalanche.

Stevens has stated during interviews that although he doesn't like The Avalanche as much as Illinois, he felt it was important to release the songs in light of the success of his most recent album.[1] He has also said that he decided to release the album in order to buy time until his next "50 States Project" release. The album cover jokingly makes reference to the partially commercial reasons for the album's release, declaring that its contents were "shamelessly compiled by Sufjan Stevens". Also on the cover is a Chevrolet Avalanche and Sufjan's pose is very similar to a pose of a flying Superman. The image of Superman was removed from the original printing of Illinois after legal problems with DC Comics.

In May 2006, Pitchfork Media was given permission to distribute the second track from The Avalanche, titled "Dear Mr. Supercomputer", on their website in MP3 format. The whole album was leaked to the Internet on May 9, 2006.

The album debuted at #71 on the Billboard Top 200, making it the highest charting Sufjan Stevens release to date.[2] The album ranked 9th on Almost Cool's Best of 2006 and #9 on Uncut's Best of 2006 [3] The album made several other Best of 2006 lists [4].

The track "No Man's Land" plays during the closing credits to the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine, which also features "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "The Avalanche" – 3:14
  2. "Dear Mr. Supercomputer" – 4:20
  3. "Adlai Stevenson" – 2:34
  4. "The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies" – 1:49
  5. "Chicago" (Acoustic Version) – 4:40
  6. "The Henney Buggy Band" – 3:16
  7. "Saul Bellow" – 2:53
  8. "Carlyle Lake" – 3:15
  9. "Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair" – 4:17
  10. "The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind that Knows Itself)" – 3:24
  11. "Kaskaskia River" – 2:14
  12. "Chicago" (Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version) – 6:06
  13. "Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne" – 1:25
  14. "No Man's Land" – 4:45
  15. "The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake" – 1:38
  16. "The Pick-Up" – 3:27
  17. "The Perpetual Self, or What Would Saul Alinsky Do?" – 2:24
  18. "For Clyde Tombaugh" – 3:43
  19. "Chicago" (Multiple Personality Disorder Version) – 4:34
  20. "Pittsfield" – 6:53
  21. "The Undivided Self (For Eppie and Popo)" – 4:59

[edit] Thematic elements

As a pseudo-sequel to Illinois, this album follows the theme of Stevens' "fifty states" project: one album for each constituent state of the United States of America. Explicit and implicit references are made to Illinois persons, places, and institutions throughout the songs. Note that the song "Chicago" originally appeared on the Illinois album. The following list may not be complete:

  1. "The Avalanche"
  2. "Dear Mr. Supercomputer"
  3. "Adlai Stevenson"
  4. "The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies"
  5. "Chicago" (Acoustic Version)
  6. "The Henney Buggy Band"
  7. "Saul Bellow"
  8. "Carlyle Lake"
  9. "Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair"
  10. "The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind that Knows Itself)"
  11. "Kaskaskia River"
  12. "Chicago" (Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version)
  13. "Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne"
  14. "No Man's Land"
  15. "The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake"
  16. "The Pick-Up"
  17. "The Perpetual Self, or What Would Saul Alinsky Do?"
  18. "For Clyde Tombaugh"
  19. "Chicago" (Multiple Personality Disorder Version)
  20. "Pittsfield"
  21. "The Undivided Self (For Eppie and Popo)"

[edit] Spiritual themes

Although less explicitly religious than other albums, Stevens' Christian faith is evident in The Avalanche, with explicit references to God in the title track, "The Perpetual Self, or What Would Saul Alinsky Do?," and "The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind that Knows Itself)." "Dear Mr. Supercomputer" is apparently about a crisis of faith about the shortcomings of atheistic humanism, and the inability of science to give meaning to human life. "Father John" is a character in "The Henney Buggy Band."

[edit] Other references

Stevens alludes to "You Never Give Me Your Money" from the 1969 Beatles album Abbey Road in "Dear Mr. Supercomputer". The original line is "One Two Three Four Five Six Seven / All good children go to heaven." Stevens' lyric is "One Two Three Four Five Six Seven / All computers go to heaven."

[edit] Artwork

The cover of the album features a Chevrolet Avalanche on the cover, with an old-style Illinois License Plate which reads, "AKR 022", a reference to the catalog number of the album on Asthmatic Kitty Records. The license plate of the police car in the liner notes illustration reads "A NO NO". This is possibly a reference to the first track of the album Tell Another Joke at the Ol' Choppin' Block by the Danielson Famile. Sufjan is an honorary member of the Famile.

[edit] U. S. chart history

"The Avalanche" - The Billboard 2006
Week 01 02
Position
71
138
Sales
13,625
6,044
Total
14,322
20,366

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interview: Sufjan Stevens
  2. ^ News Home
  3. ^ Metacritic: Best Albums of 2006
  4. ^ Acclaimed Music - The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras from the Illinois Album
v • d • e
Sufjan Stevens
Albums
A Sun Came (2000) · Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001) · Michigan (2003) · Seven Swans (2004) · Illinois (2005) · The Avalanche (2006) · Songs for Christmas (2006)
Singles
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