I have a sort of mixed awe of Sufjan Stevens. He has an amazing ability to weave music in a way that makes me want to crawl under the covers and read on a snowy day, stare up at the stars late at night, and ride my bike through unfamiliar neighborhoods on summer evenings. He's found an amazing way to mix fact, fiction, narrative and music in a way that comes close to symphonic arrangement.
Reviews seem to be of two camps on The Avalanche. Those who say "This stuff is really good, and the best of this stuff would have been excellent on Illinois" and those who say "This stuff is not as good as Illinois and didn't really deserve to be put out simply because it exists."
Illinois, like Michigan, was a concept album. The songs on The Avalanche mostly fit within the theme of Illinois, obviously. I can see how the songs that didn't make the cut didn't make it though. While they fit in the theme, and they fit musically, they might have seemed redundant (John Wayne Gacy is a better song than Saul Bellow, and Adlai Stevenson, and really, it is important to limit the number of profile pieces you include on your concept album). Springfield is very good... but also very similar to Chicago.
This is a wonderful album for people who enjoyed Illinois and definitely for people who like Sufjan Stevens. If it had been released instead of Illinois, or prior to it, it would not stand up. Hearing The Avalanche I am only more awestruck by Sufjan Stevens ability to compile an amazing album faced with myriad musical, lyrical and factual gems. Illinois stands head and shoulders above Michigan, and I await Stevens' next album.
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