Originally Posted by mannny

Illinois is an amazing album but I think the reason I don't like it as much as Michigan is that it is really long (I know this isn't the greatest reason to not like an album but theres more to it). There is a lot more filler on this album than in Michigan, and I think it has a worse filler to good song ratio. I also think that listening to Michigan all at once is a better experience than listening to Illinois.

Michigan is probably one of my favorite albums in the past ten years. I think it is the perfect length. To me, there really isn't much filler at all. Besides a couple of his 2-minute ambient tracks it is full of some great folk tunes. Also, listening to the album progress is really amazing. The first track is really stripped down, and quite somber. Then when once you get to the end you have this big songs with some Philip Glass-ness to them and some really great ambience thrown in.

I could go on and on about that album but I just wanted to clarify why I think it is better than Illionois. These two state-themed albums are the reason I chose Sufjan over I&W. I'm really hoping that Sufjan keeps up with the states.