The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Takes Us Through a Strange Land

The Age of Adz is a masterful, grandiose composition of the most bizarre. In many ways dissimilar to the themes and sounds of his other albums, following the opening track ("Futile Devices"), TAOA departs into electronic soundscapes built with avant-garde textures and noise. These dramatic soundscapes drape upon the overwhelming thematic landscape of the personal, the primal, the cosmic, the apocalyptic, and the schizophrenic. You probably haven't and won't hear this combination of sounds anywhere else.

The album, released in 2010, was a commercial and critical success, despite its frankly alarming content. Frequent criticism: "Too much too much too much."