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Australia
Howie Day
Retail Price (not our price): $11.98
Release Date: 2002-06-11
Manufacturer: Sony
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
This reissue of Howie Day's self-assured debut, originally released independently in 2000, reveals a maturity beyond the young Maine singer-songwriter's age. Mixing gravelly vocals and somber strumming à la Joseph Arthur with the soaring power of Remy Zero and Dave Matthews Band and a touch of Radiohead fervor, Day's music is nonthreatening but far from wimpy. "She Says" combines plaintive acoustic guitar and bursts of vocal anguish, and the whispery "Disco" has dreamlike orchestras and a world-weary tone, while the lovely "Kristina" floats with a spare but intricate melody. Yet Day's maudlin tales of heartbreak have backbone--"Sorry So Sorry" ends in guitar-tossed turbulence, while "Everything Else" has biting riffs, and "More You Understand" builds to a crashing crescendo. Indeed, these injections of passion are what make Australia so exciting. While his influences are far from original, Day's execution is wholly his own. Australia brims with a life-or-death emotional urgency that's devoid of cynicism and steeped in the intensity of youth. --Annie Zaleski

2) Album Description
Debut album from East Coast based 20 year old singer-songwriter who's constant touring has quickly developed a rabid coast to coast following

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Love it!   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Like many, I heard this after Day's second LP, Stop All The World Now. I love this album - every song. It's a bit more unpolished than the first album - but I'm not a purist - I don't see that as better or worse - it's just good, good stuff. I recommend this & all of his material. I haven't liked a new artist this much in years. I feel like an enthusiastic about music teenager again.

2) Just ok CD   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
I bought this CD after I bought Stop all the World Now and compared to that album,well this one doesn't even compare.

3) Amazing   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This is an amazing cd. Howie Day has the poise and true talent that can never truly compare to others. I wish his new cd was better. It might be the most popular on this site, but listen to Australia. He doesn't have a full band and there's much more emotion. THE "SHE SAYS" ON THIS CD IS ACOUSTIC AND 20 TIMES BETTER. There's just so much feeling in his voice that it's almost like he's playing a private concert for you. Other highlights on this CD, besides "She Says," include: "Sorry So Sorry", "Ghost", "More You Understand", "Morning After", and "Disco". If you like this cd, get the Madrigals EP or in the opposite order. Howie Day is definitely a great singer-songwriter. His new CD does not do justice to his raw talent, so go for his older stuff if you've never heard him before.

4) Better than most   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
I too was blown away by Howie's one man bandness at a Tori Amos show. Of all the singer/songwriters whose emergence have coincided with the newly refound brilliance of Nick Drake, Howie is the only one that doesn't come off as taking himself too seriously. His talent is unintentional and does not seem to be scripted. Plus he doesn't seem to be permanently stoned...

5) Morning After   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
The cold stung right through my jeans, leaving a layer of frost across my butt that served to remind me of just how cold I really was. Ice scrapings shot at my seat on the bleachers, as I watched the groups of children skate with their instructors. I was bored and eager to leave the skating rink that had left my fingers numb and toes tingly. That was when I found Australia in my bag. I had never heard of Howie Day before, but his CD Australia was in my walk-man, having been left there by my friend taking the skating lessons. It was holding on track 9, the song Morning After. Suddenly I'm in a room, just barely lit by the refracting light that bounces and curves along the wall. I lay in a bed with white sheets pulled to my chest, rising and falling with constant bursts of warm air, that lift from the beach below and blow in through the open balcony where a silent figure stands, painted with a tepid glow of sun light. I hear serene echoes of acoustic guitar in the distance and begin to close my eyes. I was shivering again and could feel the pins and needles in my toes. I remembered ice and the poorly lit arena and then I was there, back on the frosty bleachers, waiting for the lessons to finish. Boredom once again swept over me. At least I had had an escape for a little while, my own morning after.