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''The Age of Adz'' (pronounced )〔 is a 2010 album by American singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, released on October 12, 2010 by Asthmatic Kitty. It is Stevens' sixth studio album and his first song-based full-length album in five years, since the release of ''Illinois'' in 2005. The album features a heavy use of electronics augmented by orchestration, and takes inspiration from the apocalyptic artwork of schizophrenic artist Royal Robertson. Stevens' use of electronics marked a radical departure from much of his previous work—most notably from ''Seven Swans'' and ''Michigan''. Unlike ''Illinois'', the lyrics do not explore events, characters or setting, but deal instead with themes and emotions on a personal level. Critics praised the intimacy of the album, but many were divided over the change in style that Stevens had taken. Nonetheless, it appeared on several "best of 2010" lists—including those of ''Paste'', ''The New York Times'' and MTV. Commercially, the album gave Stevens his career's best first week sales to date and was his highest charting album to date, peaking in the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200. ==Background and recording== Following his 2005 album ''Illinois'', Stevens did not produce another song-based full-length album for five years.〔 In 2006, he released an album of extra material left over from ''Illinois'' (originally conceived as a double album), titled ''The Avalanche'',〔 as well as an album of Christmas music titled ''Songs for Christmas'' (produced in parts between 2001 and 2006).〔 Following the release of ''The Avalanche'', Stevens expressed a dissatisfaction with his music, stating in an interview with Pitchfork Media in 2006: "I'm getting tired of my voice. I'm getting tired of...the banjo. I'm getting tired of...the trumpet". In 2009 Stevens admitted that his Fifty States Project—an attempt to write an album for each of the 50 U.S. States—had been a "promotional gimmick" and not something that he had seriously intended to complete.〔 In the same year he released ''The BQE'', an orchestral suite accompanying a home-made film dedicated to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.〔 In an interview with BeatRoute Magazine in 2010, Stevens stated "(BQE'' ) kinda sabotaged the mechanical way of approaching my music, which was basically narrative long-form. It really opened things up for me. It also confused things as well. I don’t think I ever really fully recovered from that process".〔 On August 20, 2010, without prior announcement, Stevens released the EP ''All Delighted People'',〔 and less than one week later, announced ''The Age of Adz'' to be released on October 12.〔〔 In interviews, Stevens stated that during 2009–2010 he suffered from a mysterious debilitating viral infection that affected his nervous system. He experienced chronic pain, and was forced to stop working on music for several months.〔 He said: "''The Age of Adz'', is, in some ways, a result of that process of working through health issues and getting much more in touch with my physical self. That's why I think the record's really obsessed with sensation and has a hysterical melodrama to it."〔 My Brightest Diamond frontwoman Shara Worden—who previously collaborated with Stevens as a backing vocalist on the albums ''The Avalanche'' and ''Illinois''—has a solo performance on the track "Impossible Soul", and provides backing vocals throughout the album. The song "Vesuvius" was sampled in "Fade Away" by Social Club and Khleo Thomas and "All For Myself" was sampled in Asaiah Ziv and Kiya Lacey's "Babylon()" and Kendrick Lamar's "Hood Politics". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Age of Adz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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