Sufjan Stevens' Illinois: his second and final "state album" following Michigan and before going in a new direction a half-decade later with The Age of Adz. With Illinois, everything came together. The brilliant production, the somber yet powerful songwriting, and the beautiful vocals of Stevens all come together near-perfectly on what remains his most critically acclaimed album nearly two decades later.

The opening track is everything that Illinois is in a mere two-minute ... read more