The Avalanche is a 2006 compilation album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his album Illinois, released the previous year. The title song "The Avalanche" was also a bonus track on the Illinois vinyl and iTunes release.
Stevens leaps in front of a Chevy Avalanche on the cover drawing
Stevens and band toured dressed in Block I Fighting Illini cheerleading gear
Although Stevens plays most of the music on the album, he invited several friends to guest, such as Rosie Thomas
Illinois is a 2005 concept album by American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. His fifth studio album, it features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. state of Illinois. Illinois is Stevens' second based on a U.S. state—part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album Michigan and that Stevens has since acknowledged was a joke. It was adapted into a musical, Illinoise, in 2023 and, after playing smaller venues, opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway in April 2024.
The original cover of Illinois, with Superman visible
Sufjan Stevens performing on stage during a tour for Illinois. Stevens and his band the Illinoisemakers wore outfits modeled after those of the cheerleaders of the University of Illinois.
The Blue Marvel edition from 2015.
Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond was one of several collaborators on Illinois and also opened for Stevens on his subsequent tour