Although I loved (and I mean loved)
Carrie and Lowell, the only other Sufjan album I remember listening to is, I think,
Illinois? Maybe. Anyway, I don't recall being too impressed by it. This one has me on the fence. Some of it is quite excellent, some of it not so much so. There's a good opener, interesting but it only really grabs my attention when we get to "In the Devil's Territory", then I kind of slide again into somewhat boredom until "Sister", which at first I took to be an instrumental. Mostly, it is - he only comes in with the vocal in the last minute or so - but it's a real standout. "Abraham" annoys me with its blatant opening riff from "Stairway to Heaven", and "We won't need legs to stand" is good but I sort of zone out then till the title track, which is again excellent, and it ends strongly on "The Transfiguration".
Overall, solid stuff but a lot of filler, for me, and really I can only manage a
5/10, given how good the good tracks are. When it's good it's really good, but unfortunately it's too inconsistently so. I see mentions of comparisons to Elliot Smith in reviews: maybe that's why it doesn't really strike a chord with me. Singer/songwriter acoustic stuff doesn't always chime with me, and I'd much rather hear Dan Fogelberg than Elliot Smith. I haven't heard enough Smith (and likely never will) to say if that comparison between him and Stevens is fair, but though I think I could grow to like this album - there's enough here to draw me in and keep me interested - it would take some time.
Whether I decide to give it that time or not is another matter.