YMMV / Illinois!

• Breakthrough Hit: "Chicago," which has remained one of his Signature Songs.
• Even Better Sequel: While Michigan was well-received when it came out, Illinois, with its more grandiose and maximalist sound and its more complex lyrical content, absolutely outdid the earlier album critically, and is in fact the highest-rated album of 2005 on Metacritic.
• Fridge Horror: Listeners who aren't familiar with Illinois history and/or don't pay close enough attention to the lyrics may have this kind of reaction when they realize that "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." is a song about a Serial Killer.
• Genius Bonus: The album is absolutely littered with Shout Outs to often-pretty-obscure Illinois history and lore. For example, in "Come on Feel the Illinoise!", "Columbia" refers to the United States (as in, land of Christopher Columbus) and to the Chicago World Expo, which was called the Columbia World Fair. "Ancient hieroglyphic" and "South Pacific" refer to Cairo Street and the Japan Pavillion at the Fair, and the song also references many inventions unveiled at the event, from the Ferris Wheel to Cream of Wheat.
• Ho Yay:
  • "The Predatory Wasp..." is one of the best-known (and most hotly debated) examples in Suf's discography. The song tells the story of an adolescent kiss between the narrator and his (male) best friend, who later distances himself from the narrator even though the song insists that they "were in love." The fan debate stems mainly from Suf's hesitation to discuss the track’s meaning: when asked, he's tended to focus on the insect imagery, drawn from a childhood incident when he and a friend imagined they were being chased by an enormous wasp, rather than the more personal content. (This isn't surprising, as Suf has always been extremely private about his sexuality and love life.)
  • Some fans believe that the love interest in "Casimir Pulaski Day" is male. The only gender-based hint in the lyrics is a reference to a "blouse," but—the possibility of gender-nonconforming clothing aside—it's been pointed out that this term is sometimes used to describe the top part of a military uniform. (In that light, the mention of a "Navy Yard" also takes on a deeper meaning.)
  • A common interpretation of the ending of "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." ("And in my best behavior I am really just like him / Look beneath the floorboards for the secrets I have hid") is that it's about the self-loathing the narrator feels because of his sexuality. He sees himself in Gacy—who, as the song says, preyed upon young boys—not because they're actually similar, but because he’s internalized homophobic stereotypes about all gay men being predators.
• Song Association: "Chicago" was used in Little Miss Sunshine and was included on the soundtrack. The same song also plays during the Title Sequence of the Ryan Murphy Netflix series The Politician.

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