Black Smoke Rises is one of the best songs on here. And Forever Close My Eyes is one of the best songs ever

Doing my end of year relistens, and I was desperately hoping I would get a better impression of this the second time around. Oh boy. This is even more painful than I remember. I got halfway through The Wedding and had to call it quits. Pretty much nothing the boys try out here work out for them. Pretty much the only thing this has going for it is the catchy chorus of Emily G, but even then I found the song incredibly tedious. Hoping for a totally new direction on the next one

There aren't really any bad elements on here, but for now I feel like every song builds up certain expectations of grandness that they then fail to meet. I want the walls of sound to hit me harder and I want the melodies to feel more fully fleshed out, but it all ends up feeling a little flat and same-y. Hoping this grows on me.

You're all wrong about this one, and it's very hard for me to see how this is rated the same as Era Vulgaris. This album exudes immaculate vibes, like walking through a dark, foggy alleyway feeling like a god. The creativity and attention to detail from SFTD is still completely intact here. Sure, it falls off a bit towards the end, but that doesn't retract much from the experience.

Favorites: Everybody Knows That You're Insane, Burn the Witch, In My Head, Someone's In the Wolf

I must have listened to this album more than 20 times, but it still continues to confuse me to this day. It’s erratic, all over the place, and I even find some parts to be quite grating. It’s absolutely overflowing with camp, and it can hardly be called elegant in any way. The production sounds quite cheap and lacking at some points.

So why is it still so god damn addictive?

This album has a life of its own. It’s a constant flow of stream-of-consciousness ideas that leaves ... read more

TALK TALK TALK TALK THAT'S ALL YOU DO

“What am I but a bad storyteller”, Susanne lies in Bedtime Story.

These songs grow within you and become entire worlds. Each one is beautiful on its own, but the last four songs send shivers down my entire spine

Best last 3 track run of any album ever made

As a firm believer in bulls, I love this

Always an angel, never a cod :/

A Caroline prequel? Why did no one tell me about this band? This is peak pop and the synths are so much fun, it kind of falls off a little towards the end but it's still a joy to listen to

Get Real Get Right was the first Sufjan song I ever heard so I might be biased, but this album is flawless. No album makes me feel so much bliss, despair, appreciation for life and fear of death at the same time. It's an entire musical world on its own and it's topped off by one of the best songs ever made. If this is what heaven sounds like, consider me a convert

Do yourself a favor and get real, get right with our lord and savior Sufjan

The album equivalent of getting a warm hug by a T-Rex in a thermal spring during a meteor shower

It doesn't do anything spectacular or thought-provoking, but every song plays its role incredibly well. This album is like an old friend to me that I'll never grow tired of returning to and reminiscing with

Oh, and Grounds for Divorce has to be one of the best rock songs of the 2000s

Some bops, some slops
Also, Screen Face sounds like What I've Been Looking For from HSM

Most bands would sell their entire souls to make a batch of songs as good as this and these dummies aren't even going to make a studio album out of them

This album deserves sooo much more attention, as does Susanne. Her ability to write captivating melodies shines so brightly on this album and it's so consistently breathtaking from start to finish. White Foxes, Can You Feel The Thunder and The Silicone Veil are absolutely stunning highlights, and the only (kinda) dud is Stop (Don't Push The Buttons).