The little secret behind the Illinois record is that it was originally conceived as a double album, culminating in a musical collage of nearly 50 songs, however, common sense weighed in and the project was cut in half. Sufjan gleaned 21 useable tracks from the abandoned material, and through substantial editing, new arrangements & additional vocals, has created 'The Avalanche'. A careful listener may uncover the obvious trend on this record: almost every song on the Illinois album has a counterpart on The Avalanche.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. The Avalanche
2. Dear Mr. Supercomputer
3. Adlai Stevenson
4. The Vivian Girls Are Visited In Thee Night By Saint Dargarius And His Squadron Of Benevolent Butterf
5. Chicago (Acoustic)
6. The Henney Buggy Band
7. Saul Bellow
8. Carlyle Lake
9. Springfield, Or Bobby Got A Shadfly Caught In His Hair
10. The Mistress Witch From Mcclure (Or, The Mind That Knows Itself)
11. Kaskaskia River
12. Chicago (Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version)
13. Inaugural Pop Music For Jane Margaret Byrne
14. No Man's Land
15. The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake
16. The Pick-up
17. The Perpetual Self, Or "what Would Saul Alinsky Do?" (Acoustic)
18. For Clyde Tombaugh
19. Chicago (Multiple Personality Disorder Version)
20. Pittsfield
21. The Undivided Self (For Eppie And Popo)