Bad opinions [ARCHIVED] • Page 160

I don't think the instrumental tracks are filler. It's pretty disappointing that there are people out there who write them off just because there aren't any vocals. I revisit the instrumental tracks on Illinois just as much as the other songs. "Out of Egypt..." is especially beautiful and up there with his finest moments. Illinois is a long album but it's wonderfully cohesive imo, due in part to the various interludes bridging it all together. The other interludes last around 6-20 seconds each lol so I have no idea why they would bother you

 

Illinois is great but it's certainly bloated. There's no reason for most of the 7 second interludes tbh

 

They don't bother me. They "nothing" me. They don't exist for long enough to be bothersome or pleasant. That's my point. That's the definition of filler. Instrumental tracks aren't filler and I never once said they were bad because they didn't have vocals. I like instrumental music quite a bit. Most instrumental tracks on Illinois are technically good but are too short to really do anything. Out of Egypt is a great example of a track that works. Most of the other ones though don't.

 

I feel like the interludes all contribute to establishing the vibe/tone of the record. A good example is how perfectly "The Black Hawk War..." builds up and leads into "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!". It makes that song even more spectacular for me because when it finally kicks in after the interlude I'm already feeling what Sufjan was going for on the album and I'm pumped for the song. Idk, I'm really bad at describing what I mean haha. But yeah, I genuinely love each and every interlude on the album. I guess we'll just have to disagree on this.

 

Now I'm revisiting the interludes on Illinois. "To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region..." is gorgeous

 

"For the Widows in Paradise..." >

 

circling back to this im not exactly sure what this even means

 

It means he's a fantastic writer who confused "difficult" for "good" on Adz, imo, despite being very capable of being both.

 

Adz is both

 

yeah i definitely do not agree with this in the slightest

 

I can tell. Haha

 

after seeing him at pitchfork i got really into seven swans

 

Seven Swans is my go-to.

 

I never got into Sufjan for whatever reason, no real strong feelings either way, you'd think reading Pitchfork for like a decade it would just happen via osmosis

 

Fresh off watching a video of Metallica playing "Ride the Lightning" in it's entirety live, I have the unpopular opinion that it's not only their best album over Black or Master but it's one of the classic rock/metal albums of all time.

 

I think that goes without saying. Master may be their most influential but Ride is far superior in musicianship and songwriting, IMO.

 

I typically see Master or Black on the top of peoples list, and besides Creeping Death or Bell Tolls I think the songs on that album get overlooked. Happy to see another fan

Fight Fire with Fire is the song they should always open with!

 

hot take all of their albums are trash. they are a greatest hits band.

 

nah, your albums are trash.

What are their greatest hits in your opinion?

 

Oh that's bullshit is this really your whole criticism of the record?

How are you going to say it "hurts" a record if it sounds best in the context of a start to finish listen? If you're putting all those interludes in a shuffle playlist then it's you who is disrupting the flow of the record not Sufjan, that wasnt the artists intent. Don't hate on the art's order and arrangement if you're not going to consume it how it was intended to be comsumed.

Imo the interludes are nice, because none of them are too long to detract attention away from the album in a straightforward listen. Most of that 75 minutes is meaty, well written songs..you're complaining about maybe 10 minutes of the record, a 10 minutes which makes the record as much of a thematic journey as it is in the first place. The whole point of the interludes is to create smooth transitions. If you listen to them as one off songs then of course they're pointless because you're defeating the entire purpose of them being included in the album to begin with.

The only ones that are long are "to the workers of... blah blah blah" and "the black hawk war". And both of those are just great instrumental tracks with actually very deliberate song structure.

 

Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets are both great. I like Master slightly more. I don't really like the black album other than a few songs.

 

Also Seven Swans is a phenomenal record.

Illinoise fans definitely need to work back to Michigan as well. To me Illinoise is a spring record, Michigan is like an Illinoise for winter time.

 

WIDOWS IN PARADISE

 

I totally agree with this. CarpetElf's post was really bad. Not sure I understand his argument that the interludes are worthless when he clearly acknowledges that they work in the context of the album. It's not Sufjan's fault if he doesn't have the attention span/time to listen to a full 75 minute album lol