YMMV / The Age of Adz

• Creator Breakdown: The Age of Adz happened as a result of a depression / neural illness that Stevens suffered from, which explains the album's atmosphere of what Stevens described as "hysterical melodrama".
• Ho Yay: The album features romantic songs addressed to both men and women, though the former tend to generate the most discussion:
  • "Futile Devices" is all about how difficult the narrator finds it to express his love to someone whom he thinks of as "my brother."
  • "All for Myself" says explicitly that the narrator's Love Interest is a "boy" and mentions his "hairy chest".
  • "Impossible Soul" is at least partially about a breakup with a woman (the first line of the song is "Woman, tell me what you want..."), but some listeners believe that the cause of the breakup is the narrator's coming-out and/or his romantic interest in another man. The main evidence for this is the song's repetition of "Boy, we can do much more together." At some points this is sung by the female vocalist, presumably representing the woman's side of the conversation, but the song ends with a more or less solitary Sufjan singing "Boy, we made such a mess together..."
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Some were not receptive towards the drastic sound change exhibited on the album.
• Song Association: While slightly overshadowed by the two film-exclusive tracks Sufjan also contributed to the soundtrack, a lightly-remixed version of "Futile Devices" appears in Call Me by Your Name and has come to be associated with the film by (especially newer) fans.
• Vindicated by History: Though the initial reception was mixed at best, owing mainly to the unexpectedness of Sufjan's electronic shift, Adz is now widely regarded as one of his best releases. "Futile Devices", "Vesuvius", "I Want to Be Well", and "Impossible Soul" in particular have become fan favorites.

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