The 50 Best Albums of 2008

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John Mellencamp LIFE, DEATH, LOVE AND FREEDOM Hear Music

John Mellencamp's growling fatalism and T Bone Burnett's scorched-blues production made this the darkest, most compelling Mellencamp album in years. It was also the perfect run-up to Election Day: 14 songs about a nation going broke and a generation on the ropes. "But nothing lasts forever/Your best efforts don't always pay," Mellencamp sings in "Longest Days." He didn't call himself Little Bastard for nothing. "Beware of those who want to harm you/And drag you down to a lower game," he snarls in "Troubled Land." "Just know the truth is coming," he adds, a line that now sounds like the Election Day we deserved.

• View List: The 50 Best Albums of 2008
• View List: Readers' Top 30 Albums of 2008