LogFAQs > #976608324

4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (Track #4)
Score: 78 (Average Rank: 5.29/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): MaxGalactica (#10)

FoolFantastic: A perfect example of folk music as storytelling. Just an absolutely devastating song about the serial killer; that middle section has brought me to tears numerous times. In my experience, most works about serial killers tend to accidentally mythologize them, but this reaches its peak by instead focusing on the tragedy of the boys who were lost. Seems the least personal track on the album until the last few lines, where it evolves into a key piece of the religious journey. How does someone cope with the belief that all sins are equal? That a single impure thought puts you on this level? Sufjan captures such an unbearable sense of despair.

3. Casimir Pulaski Day (Track #10)
Score: 87 (Average Rank: 5/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Sheep007 (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb, HBJDubs (#11)

FoolFantastic: One of the most devastating songs ever written. All the joy of the last few tracks is immediately shattered as a childhood friend develops cancer. This mix of sadness and quiet anger always hits me, to the point that I am once again crying despite hearing this song a hundred times before. The growing sense of love and hopelessness, the prayers that do nothing, the questioning of a god who lets all this senseless misery happen. This is where Sufjan goes beyond a mere Christian artist. And that trumpet that comes in halfway through

MaxGalactica: Tragic composition both lyrically and instrumentally. I normally don't like banjo all that much, but Sufjan uses it in such a subtle, yet prominent way that it just works for this song. And the trumpet solo is gorgeous.

2. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades (Track #15)
Score: 92 (Average Rank: 4/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#10)

FoolFantastic: There are a shocking four songs on this album that have made me cry at some point; I think there may be a couple dozen total, so that says a lot about the power this album has over me. This at least falls more on the Chicago side than the Gacy/Casimir Pulaski Day side. Perhaps Sufjans most explicitly queer song, and one that hits the perfect mix of love and shame that defines most queer peoples first crushes. This is as bittersweet as they come, as Sufjan lovingly reflects on a friend who is no longer part of his life.

MaxGalactica: Strong Steve Reich minimalist influences in this one, particularly in the woodwinds. The interplay between the lead and backing vocals in polyphonic form in the outro is one of my favorite moments of the album.

1. Chicago (Track #9)
Score: 115 (Average Rank: 2/16)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, HBJDubs, MaxGalactica (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Fluttershy_Pony (#4)

FoolFantastic: The purest moment of hope on this album. The big hit for obvious reasons, and also the one where a more traditionally Christian album would likely stop. The album as a whole creates this sense of enormity and this is the peak. The instrumentation creates this constant sense of forward motion while also seemingly floating above it all. So much is happening, yet it all perfectly congeals.

MaxGalactica: Honestly one of the most beautiful songs I've heard. The entire song is essentially a ton of variations of two short musical phrases for 6 minutes, which may sound like it would get repetitive after a while, but Sufjan does so much with it to keep it feeling fresh. Instrumentally, there's so much going on it's hard to explain it and keep it brief. The vibraphones, the strings, the backing choir-like vocals, the horns, the tambourine, the underlying bass, everything is crafted together perfectly. Hard to pinpoint an individual favorite moment of this, but I'd probably point to 3:58 when everything comes together leading to the trumpet section afterwards. This song is the purest form of euphoria, and I'm glad Sufjan crafted it.