{"id":47557,"date":"2008-12-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2008-the-view-from-down-under\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:54:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:54:35","slug":"2008-the-view-from-down-under","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2008-the-view-from-down-under\/","title":{"rendered":"2008: The View From Down Under"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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10.\u00a0 Sneaky Sound System — <\/b>2<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

The Aussie dance-pop trio had a big job ahead of themselves in following up a mega-selling debut, but they pulled it off with ease.\u00a0 An explosion of finely-crafted pop songs, pumping bass\/electronica arrangements, and Miss Connie\u2019s powerful vocals all make for the year\u2019s best pop release.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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9.\u00a0 Whitesnake — <\/b>Good To Be Bad<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/i>You either love or hate the Snake, and I really do love them. \u00a0Coverdale and his current line-up turned out a loud, heavy, and bombastic assault on the senses.\u00a0 Overblown at times, it\u2019s still classic Whitesnake and easily the band\u2019s best album since 1987<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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8. \u00a0John Hiatt — <\/b>Same Old Man<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Never one to rest on his laurels, this is Hiatt\u2019s fifth album of the decade and it\u2019s also his best.\u00a0 Ranging from old-school blues to quirky (almost) country, there\u2019s a lot of fun to be had here.\u00a0 Hiatt is still clearly having a blast and some of his \u201cgrumpy old man\u201d contemporaries should take note.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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7.\u00a0 Alice Cooper — <\/b>Along Came A Spider<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

The master shock-rocker returned with his much hyped, long-awaited (twisted) concept album. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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6.\u00a0 Dr. John and The Lower 911 — <\/b>City That Care Forgot<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Inspired by the great indifference shown to New Orleans (by you know who) after Hurricane Katrina hit, legendary bluesman Dr. John went about recording an album based around the events.\u00a0 With help from many friends, including Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson, the album was finally released this year and the wait was definitely worth it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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5.\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Capsis — <\/b>Everybody Wants To Touch Me<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Aussie actor, singer, and cabaret star Paul Capsis released this, his first album of original material this year.\u00a0 It\u2019s a stunning mix of soulful ballads and jazz-inspired funk.\u00a0 His loyal (mostly gay) fan base could only push this thing so far, and until the mainstream is ready for gay love songs on the radio, they will continue to miss out on his rare talent and this fantastic album.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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4.\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds — <\/b>Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

For their fourteenth studio album, the Bad Seeds decided on the biblical story of Lazarus to serve as the concept this time around.\u00a0 Punk in attitude and rock in its execution, this IS without a doubt the best rock album by an Aussie band this year.\u00a0 The gigs to support this were brilliant and the boys have certainly now cemented their place in Oz rock history as one of, if not the<\/i> best band from the land down under. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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3.\u00a0\u00a0 Emmylou Harris — <\/b>All I Intended To Be<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

In a departure from her later day alt-rock efforts, Harris returned to her roots for this, her 21st studio album.\u00a0 Her often angelic voice has never sounded better, and her country fans rewarded her by sending this way up the charts to record her best-selling album in almost thirty years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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2.\u00a0 Mudcrutch — Mudcrutch<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b>Better late than never. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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1.\u00a0\u00a0 Neil Diamond — <\/b>Home Before Dark<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

At times heart-warming and other times heartbreaking, this deeply personal masterpiece from the solitary man is still the best thing I\u2019ve heard all year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 10.\u00a0 Sneaky Sound System — 2 The Aussie dance-pop trio had a big job ahead of themselves in following up a mega-selling debut, but they pulled it off with ease.\u00a0 An explosion of finely-crafted pop songs, pumping bass\/electronica arrangements, and Miss Connie\u2019s powerful vocals all make for the year\u2019s best pop release. 9.\u00a0 Whitesnake […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":50686,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"feature_type":[5609],"class_list":["post-47557","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","feature_type-best-of"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/feature"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"feature_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature_type?post=47557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}