A Grand Don't Come For Free

This is totally terrible. The flow just isn't there and every line just seems jerkied away. A white british man whinning about his first world problems "boo hoo, my biscuit broke and got soaked in my tea, I'm sad". Ridiculous.

2002, along with continuing the streak of every year of this millennium being utterly crap, saw the release of Original Pirate Material, the debut album by The Streets, a garage/hip-hop homegrown work by Mike Skinner, a talented emcee from Birmingham, who pretended to be Cockney to the bones. Now, I started university in 2002, and beforehand I spent some time in London, and I can tell you that Original Pirate Material was everywhere in the capital, for good reason. Original Pirate Material presented a recognisable portrait on contemporary youthful London life, both hedonistic yet somehow unsatisfied, loving the pub-club-spliff-takeaway treadmill yet wondering if life should be so shallow and focused on instant gratification. Mike Skinner proved a witty, incisive lyricist, a man steeped in that British tradition of the clever-beyond-his-class songwriter, and it demonstrated that UK hip-hop, oft a kicking-boy of British music, could foster an independent, worthwhile voice. This is not to say Original Pirate Material was perfect; many found The Streets grating and oafish with justifiable reasons. But I was not one of them, and I had moderately high expectations for what The Streets would achieve in the future, and A Grand Don't Come For Free could have cemented Mike Skinner as one the great British lyricists. I hated it. I found this album abysmal. It is the sound of a starving artist being offered a banquet, then pigging out and disgusting everyone by pouring custard onto a beef wellington and subsequently vomiting all down his front. Every decision made on this album proves to be exactly the wrong one, and I have no idea why this, instead of Original Pirate Material is on the list. Harsh, I know, but the deterioration from the first album to the second is palpable. For his second magnus opus, Mike Skinner deciding to make a concept album. That sound you just heard was you releasing the safety catch off your grandad's luger. So, a concept album about a poor young man who meets a girl, blows all his dosh on an ill-considered bet, gets drunk/stoned/pilled-up, loses the girl, then either sits in his flat resenting his bad run of luck, or finds a grand down the back of the TV (yes, that last part makes absolutely no sense). As a narrative, it sounds and is pretty banal. But the main issue with the story is that even though the chap goes through a series of common experiences, the listener doesn't empathise with him at all. He just seems such a twat. He goes through these experiences with little genuine reflection, almost like a philosophical zombie, an entity with no internal life whatsoever. The girl leaves him because she clocks that he is just a loser, an opinion with which the listener agrees. The albums second greatest weakness is that you just don't care about him. The biggest weakness? Mike Skinner's rapping. All his talent, all the lyrical flair on the first album has vamoosed. Try saying this couplet: I might ask my mates where they'll be drinking From the sofa giving them a ding Seriously, just say it. It feels awful in the mouth, because it is an incorrect use of metre. The entire album is constructed from similarly jackknifing lines, lines which invariably end in the worst rhyming couplets conceivable. Again, look at the cited example, which manages to be both lazy and laborious. And then Mike somehow succeeds in making it worse by STRESS-ING EV-ER-RY SYL-LAB BLE. Mike Skinner seems to be aiming not so much for Roots Manuva as Pam Ayres. A Grand Don't Come For Free is one of the most wince-inducing cases of second album syndrome I have heard. The biggest hit from this was Fit But You Know It, which was a huge song at the time. Fit But You Know It doesn't quite slot into the risible concept of the album, which can only be to its credit. But consider the song's half-life. Dapper Laughs was a comedy character by an already-forgotten estate agent-turned comedian, whose schtick was short skits on Vine depicting a wilfully crass lad (his catchphrase was "Proper moist!"). His routines consisted of 6-second bits where he would say, for instance, you shouldn't eat a banana next to a gay man, as he'd think you'd want to suck him off (ba-dum-tsh!). ITV2 (the number tells you it's crap in advance) gave him a short-lived TV show, where he tried to parody dating advice shows by granting his wit and wisdom to actual members of the public (such as shouting out "GET YOUR GASH OUT!" to show off your adventurous side). A few rape jokes down the line, his show got put out of our misery, and the comedian had to go on Newsnight and announce he was retiring the character. Anyway, the theme tune to Dapper Laugh's show was Fit But You Know It. That's what I now associate the song with: a pillock shouting at passing women to show him their boobs for proper bants.

Soooo bad... but nice to dust off the 1.

A cool concept, but honestly so much of the album was just annoying, both the whining and the rapping and beats themselves. I like the idea of the album far more than the execution.

What the fuck? Who cares about any of this bullshit? This is the first album in a while that felt like it was made specifically to make me angry.

Worst album ever every song just keeps getting worse

On one hand, you could admire the work put in to make something sound so awful on purpose. On the other hand, fuck this shit.

One of most British things I have heard, but it is fantastic!

I knew, before I'd hit play, that I'd give this one a 5. I love The Streets so much. This album, along with Original Pirate Material and The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living were on regular rotation in my car in the late aughts. The delivery is aggressively conversational, the lyrics deliver a beautifully sharp narrative, and the sparse beats provide the perfect bed for the vocal performance. I just... I just love The Streets. I just do.

If my son turns out to be autistic I'll be happy he does an album like this in high school. If on the other hand he turns out normal and does this, it will be my greatest disappointment.

Jesus christ.

Lose a bag of money: try to gamble on soccer to win it back. Go to pub and do drugs Get stoned with girlfriend and watch tv, get in row with girlfriend, go to pub and try to pick up hot girl, insult her and get in fight. . ZThis album is pure gold.

A mix between Eminem's "Stan" and some random knob down the local pub who doesn't know when to shut the fuck up, he is constantly babbling as if anyone gives a shit about the inane bullshit he spouts that no one gives zero fucks about. "Yeah people want to hear this" he thinks in his head like an absolute twat he is.

going into this challenge, i knew there would be “filler”. i mean, 1001 is a LOT of albums. but sometimes i feel as if the person who compiled this list is playing a joke on us with some of these albums… thus we get entries like the streets’ 2004 album “a grand don’t come for free”. where do i begin? as i had stated on a previous album in this challenge, something about rapping with Ana english accent that just doesn’t work. not only do you have a primary vocalist who is gratuitously bri ish, every time he raps or “sings” (yes he does both for some reason), it seems as he is about half a second behind the beat. and this becomes even more evident when there are multiple singers concurrently. and from what i could tell, this seems to be some sort of concept album about something or other… but i really couldn’t care less about any of it. as i have stated on a review of a previous concept album (pink floyd’s “the wall”, i think), concept albums are meant to be listened to as an entire work, and you couldn’t pay me enough to listen to this piece of shit again. while it’s not the worst album on this challenge that i have encountered so far, it’s definitely up there. do yourself a favour and avoid this one. it is borderline unlistenable.

This is pretty terrible.

Tis good. Cool to hear hints of early dub-step in the background. You can tell this album really set the stage for a lot of music that followed it.

Interesting as a concept but not as good as Original Pirate Material.

2004 was a strange time, let’s not talk about it again.

This album is almost at the very bottom of my ranking, but I guess I can appreciate that it has a concept and isn’t as boring as some of my other 1-star albums. The rapping on this album is extremely grating, though, which is the biggest problem since there’s not much else going on. The instrumental parts are just generic. I don’t understand why this is here at all.

Saved Prior: None Unsaved: 11. What Is He Thinking? 10. Such a Twat 9. It Was Supposed to Be so Easy Saved: 8. Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way 7. Get Out of My House 6. Blinded by the Lights 5. Not Addicted 4. Dry Your Eyes 3. Empty Cans 2. Could Well Be In 1. Fit but You Know It Overall Notes: Slowthai if he was a pothead instead of a crackhead. So much personality and witty (and sometimes even sneakily emotionally impactful) writing all over this thing, I love it. The complete lack of hooks is a little annoying but I got used to it. Incredible concept album. If you give it a chance this is one of my favorite albums yet, but I can understand how the way he raps would be a dealbreaker to some.

Grand 💵

A fantastic companion piece to Arctic Monkeys' debut album. Every word feels perfectly chosen to draw out comedy or poignancy to the max. As a result, I really enjoy the repetition of phrases over and over again. A fantastic snapshot of early 2000s Britain, one to enjoy further in the future.

As far as concept albums go, this one's a keeper. And it's a U.K. rap/grime concept album, to boot! My only minor reproach is that there are a few underwhelming tracks where the overall narrative takes over the music itself in terms of priority, especially towards the middle. But fortunately, this is not the case on the records' highlights. "It Was Supposed To Be Easy" is a striking opener, Mike Skinner's heavily accented yet clear-as-a-bell lad's voice doing wonders to set up the table and introduce the story *in media res*, as in most great short stories or novels. "Blinded By The Lights" is one of the best depictions of a drunken night ever penned this side of the pond--it's slow pace swaying you into the narrator's hallucinory state of mind as if you were there in that sleazy club with him. Far more straightforward, "Fit But You Know It" is a snarly hit with a catchy rock guitar sample. And "Dry Your Eyes" and "Empty Cans" end the yarn with the right amount of emotions, the latter even serving as a morality tale of sorts about free will and redemption. The strings arrangements on those two last tracks are very subtle, too. They're not strings for Hollywood stuff, they're strings for Mike Leigh or Ken Loach. Which is fitting here. As usual for those five or four-star reviews, I won't add much to what has already been written out there about this particular album. I even fear that I've spoiled the story a little with what I've written so far. But beyond that spoiler alert, what I found really interesting about this sophomore effort is that it was a different way for Skinner to depict that working class world he had already brilliantly explored in *Original Pirate Material*. Here this world of lads, lasses and geezers is viewed through the lens of a particular narrative, and such storytelling ambition often feels earned. Because Skinner keeps it sharp and simple, right as it should be given the topics he chose to deal with. It's a story about characters having mundane challenges in their social and love lives--characters having money issues, passing deluded thoughts and self-denial phases, not to mention addictions that might turn from a minor problem to a major one if left unchecked. But mostly, it's a story about simple folks. It's a rap opera, yes. But it's a rap opera about us as a people. [Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 982 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 8 (including this one--but only on the condition there's room for *Original Pirate Material*, too) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 6 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (as I think many others are more important): 4 Albums on which I feel my judgment is muddled by my past forays into specific genres instead of others (some might end up on my final list if they're culturally important): 1]

Yeah, this ain't it.

The mile skinner concept album. Absolutely superb; it was supposed to be so eeeeeaaassssyyyy!

Great album

Awesome.

Se oli tonnin seteli. Maailma olisi parempi paikka, jos olisi enemmän tällaisia levyjä, missä kerrotaan tarina. Ja toimiviahan nämä biisit on ihan yksittäisinäkin, mutta koko levyn tarinan suhteen odottaa kappale kappeelta, mitä seuraavaksi tapahtuu. Levy, mihin takuulla palaan. 4,5 --> 5.

4.5 afgerond naar vijf. Nooit gedacht dat ik dit zo leuk zou vinden. De betere vorm van rap. Een paar keer extra luisteren om het hele verhaal mee te hebben zal sowieso dit album nog beter maken.

MEESTERLIJK

This was a favorite of mine back in college. Haven't listened to it in years and was surprised to see it on this list! I enjoyed it just as much as back then. I love how the lyrics form an overarching story, and is generally pretty humorous.

Fucking killer album. Saw him live at a festival when this came out and It was great. Still sing along with the accent.

One of my all time favourite

Äntligen The Streets! Mike Skinners projekt har funnits i min periferi länge, utan att jag har kommit för mig att ge mig in i ett album. Så det var med stora förhoppningar jag gav mig in i detta projekt. Mina förhoppningar möttes. A Grand Don't Come For Free är ett konceptalbum som följer berättarjaget Mike. I It Was Supposed to Be So Easy beskrivs hur Mike har en riktig pissdag då det mesta går fel, och den slutar med att han tappar bort 1000 pund som han haft liggandes bredvid sin trasiga TV. Vi får sedan följa Mike tiden efter denna dag, som satte stort spår, för du vet, A Grand Don't Come For Free. Mike träffar Simone, som jobbar med kompisen Dan (Could Well Be In). De blir tillsammans, men bråkar. På semester är Mike otrogen mot Simone. Väl hemma är Simone själv otrogen mot Mike med Dan. Mike blir sedemera dumpad av Simone, vilket avhandlas i låten Dry Your Eyes, en vacker och extremt sorglig beskrivning av ett break-up. I Blinded by the Lights ska Mike träffa Simone och Dan på en nattklubb, men de kommer aldrig. I låten går Mike runt och är nojjig på klubben, poppar piller, och blir allt mer berusad tills han till sist inte bryr sig om vad Simone och Dan gör, cuz' there's a tune coming in. Låten kan vara den bästa som någonsin gjorts. Den får mig att vilja bli full, festa, ta droger, ha relationer, men är samtidigt fylld med stor sorg och vemod, som skiner igenom i den fan-tastiska produktionen. Skivan avslutas, och berättelsen kulmineras, med Empty Cans, en låt som bättre än någon annan demonstrerar Mike Skinners berättartalang. Den berättar två alternativa slut på historien. Först, en bitter Mike som skyller alla hans problem på andra ("It's not my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans"). När en kille kommer för att reparera tv:n misstänker Mike att han håller på att bli blåst, och de börjar slåss, innan tv-reparatören springer ut ur lägenheten och Mike kan fortsätta dricka i ensamhet. Låten tar sedan lyssnaren tillbaks till samma scenario, där Mike sitter ensam och dricker, men med annan inställning ("It's all my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans"). I denna versionen kommer kompisen Scott och lagar tv:n, och hittar i processen Mikes 1000 pund. Mike rycker upp sig, och kommer till insikten att endast han själv kan ta tag i sitt liv. Kompisar, familj, kanske kan hjälpa dig på vägen, men i slutändan är du ensam ansvarig över vilka vägar du tar i livet: "Or maybe it's that I realised that it is true No-one's really there fighting for you in the last garrison No-one except yourself that is, no-one except you You are the one who's got your back 'til the last deed's done Scott can't have my back 'til the absolute end 'Cause he's got to look out for what over his horizon He's gotta make sure he's not lonely, not broke It's enough to worry about keeping his own head above." The Streets va. Visst, vissa av låtarna kanske inte låter som world-beaters, och beatsen kanske är lite smutsiga. Men, det är en så äkta berättelse av en brittisk arbetarklasstillvaro att det är omöjligt att inte bli drabbad. Jag har en personlig dragning till brittisk fulkultur (fulla fotbollssupporters, skitiga pubar), så det är kanske inte konstigt att detta album tickar så många av mina boxar. Mike Skinners staccatoliknande rap är helt egen. Han spottar ren fakta mannen. Detta är en mall för hur konceptalbum som aspirerar att berätta en historia bör berätta den historien. Världsklass. Konst. The Streets är äkta. Bästa låt: Blinded by the Lights.

Really interesting album, the style may be similar to Gorillaz, but it's completely different. There are several songs that took my attention. It contains miscellaneous music, but in general it's hip-hop. It's very melodic and independent, that makes it interesting.

Love this album - the best concept album of the decade.

It's been a while since I listened to this album, but I'm falling in love with it all over again. Great beats and electronics, rap/spoken word with a nice flow, entertaining lyrics, and sometimes it gets quite moving. Really enjoyed this from start to finish.

Love this album

Lovely bit of Brit-Hop, he has his own style as a street poet and I love that he performs in his own accent. Love "I Could Well Be In" "Fit But You Know It" "Dry Your Eyes" of course. Lovely snapshots of Brit Life in the early part of the 21st century. If you like this you must also love Arab Strap, proper social commentary through music.

This was unexpected. Really awesome!

I love this album. The storytelling is amazing.

It’s great. Although there is probably a fair bit of nostalgia related to that with this one.

An absolute cracker from start to finish. The best thing Mike Skinner has done - untouchable

One of my all time favourites. Superb.

When I started this I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it… and then it took me on a journey with a protagonist I am completely taken by. It may not seem like an epic journey - filled with mundane details as well as the highs and lows of a relationship of a stoner’s life in Britain - but by the end I was so emotionally involved that by the breakup in “Dry Your Eyes” I actually had to heed the advice myself. This is an absolutely wonderful album. I felt like my life changed a little today.

This is a simple but compelling story performed as a rap opera in a Brummie dialect that would make anything charming to my American ears. I'm not super interested in listening to any single song as a stand-alone track. But the album as a whole is unique and provided me with a fascinating listening experience today. I really enjoyed it.

this is hysterically bad technically British rap

15th May 2022 Listened in the morning and finished at work. Gareth came round in the evening to chat about Kate. Mike skinner and the streets have what every artist is striving for- a sound which is unique that you know immediately is them. Tracks the course of a relationship, but adds grandeur as well as grounded realism.

Loved it, loved the fact of a story throughout the entire album

I fucking love this album. Never heard it before, but it speaks to me in so many ways. Obviously, it's got that British-angsty-goofy (but still melancholy) thing going for it. It's classic British story-telling too. It brought me the same level of joy I get from watching Snatch or Lock Stock and the rest of those brilliant movies. It's just so "every day / nothing special" but conveyed in a way that sucks you in. Plus, having the first song being about losing 1000 pounds and the last one about finding it gave a nice sense of closure - like I just lived through something with this guy. Love it.

What an album. Honestly the true successor to Arthur by the Kinks, or The Wall by Pink Floyd, except much more grounded in "Guy loses some money, meets a girl while pilled up, cheats on her on a lads holiday, loses girl, descends in to bitter depression/realises he's lucky to have his friends and finds his money again (yes there are alternate endings)". It's fantastic, and that it can go from bawdy humour on Fit But You Know It, to heartbreaking on Dry Your Eyes, to fully dark on Empty Cans is fantastic. Mike Skinner never topped this or his first album, but the first two are both ESSENTIAL.

Made me fall back in love with concept albums. Doesn't have the bedroom tunes raw power of the first album but this is music as storytelling and I love it.

This album is Uber-cool for many reasons, not the least of which is that its best-known track is funny AF and I didn’t know that it was part of this rap opera opus. This album, like The Village Green by The Kinks or Different Class by Pulp, reflected British youth so dead-on in 2004. I want to give it 5 stars. It deserves 4.5 because not everything is a banger but it’s all so accurate. Aw, fuck it.

Absolutely amazing storytelling in a stunning way

Well, this is one of those albums that will undoubtedly be lost on anyone who's not from the UK. I think it has a setting and subject matter that just plainly won't make too much sense to people elsewhere in the world, and I suspect that's why the global rating on this one is quite low. While I really like The Streets, I hadn't listened to this in its entirety before, though I'd certainly heard almost every song, just out of order. I'm generally a little more familiar with Original Pirate Material, and Has It Come To This? remains my favourite song of Skinner's. I was just a child when this was released, so I was far too young to understand or appreciate anything of this album, and that's why I was honestly totally caught by surprise to discover that this was a rap-opera concept album. It was clear that every song I'd heard before had a story to tell, but I never realised that they all went together to form an entire tale. Mike Skinner just has a way with words, lyricism and music production that makes the whole thing just excellent, both as a compelling story to follow and an album of absolute bangers. It's not just a good rap album with some bangers though, I feel it really did push the bar in some cases, with elements of early dubstep in Blinded by the Lights. I promise I'll eventually stop rambling, but I felt that I needed to give Empty Cans an honourable mention. While it's not really my favourite *song* on the album, it's definitely my favourite parts of the wider story. I really liked how it essentially had a bad ending and a good ending in the form of basically two tracks that start exactly the same and branch off in two directions, leaving the true ending up to the listener. Overall it's an amazing album and I definitely want to seek out more concept albums now. It's worth noting that I am EXTREMELY biased, due to being just about as British as this album. Favourite: Blinded By The Lights

A fantastic album, a classic. The whole things feels so mid 2000s and although we were too young to understand a lot of the context of it it still transports me straight back to those days at school. The whole sound was so fresh for me then and so different I just love it.

I was a big fan of this record when it first came out.

It's like a Jim Jarmusch film - a complete story rooted in the events of a normal everyday life (if your life involves going on holiday in Spain, losing money, and trying to gamble on football in an attempt to get that money back). This concept album somehow effectively blends dark comedy with real emotional resonance of love, loss, heartbreak, and tragedy without it being a complete parody of itself. Amazing record. I was a fan of Original Pirate Material and for whatever stupid reason never really gave this a proper listen. Glad this came up on the list because I'll be returning to this frequently.

2004. What a time. I listened to this album a bunch when it came out. Being Canadian there wasn’t much exposure on the Streets or Mike Skinner but I remember they played the video for Fit But You Know It on Muchmusic once and I had to find out who this was. This thing is about being a cringy 20-something in the 21st century. I have to rate it 5 stars as I was one of these people!

phenomenal story & listen

This album is absolutely terrible in the best possible way, definitely one of my new favourites!

Would never have discovered this without the site. I wasn’t sure what I was listening to at the start but by the end I loved it. 5/5

Unadulterated filth of an album. Best of the 00s.

Absolute genius

Great album. spent all day listening to the The Streets after this was suggested.

SLAPS

threepenny opera

“I just stopped sharking for a minute to get chips and drinks.”

In some ways I find this album hilariously bad but it really works, like really works. It’s probably one of the easiest concept albums to follow as it’s in spoken word chav voice which works in its favour, the beats are very good as well but don’t go expecting something super high brow or anything. Personally though it’s still a 5.

Love this one. The first time I listened to this, I had no clue what I was listening to. But it grew on me and it’s in the regular rotation now.

Cute little story to hold the whole album together. Highlights would be the catchy “fit bit you know it” and the chill “blinded by the lights”. Funny one liners thought out. Album I’ve listened to many times and had no issue listening to again.

Every beat and every rhyme here tell stories. That may seem like the standard but truly their amazing tales. Told by an expert teller. Heartbreak, love and the mistakes we make are all front and center and I for one was more than happy to be in the audience to experience it!

It’s funny how a couple of years ago I’d have said that I didn’t understand the appeal with The Streets and that they were naff. Then around a year ago I listened to Original Pirate Material by them which I loved, and since listened to this album too. I didn’t review this album at the time, so I’m excited to have been generated it today. Songs I already knew: all of them Favourites: Dry Your Eyes, Fit But You Know It, Get Out Of My House, Could Well Be In If you’ve heard any of the above songs but haven’t heard this album in full, I’d recommend it so strongly. Plenty of songs here can stand out as good, but when listened back to back as an album it is something incredible. The album follows a narrative of stolen money, love and breakups and it had me hooked as if it was a drama tv show, whilst also being catchy enough to make me want to dance. This is probably up there as one of my top 10 albums of all time.

YAAAAAY. i love the streets so so much, from every single one of their albums there is something great, im not much of an album listener i guess, i just pick all my favourites and keep it moving so this will be fun to listen to the whole thing in order, but i love them and will be surprised if i don’t like it, in my head it’s already 5 stars ngl. One of the best albums of all time, i fucking love mike skinner so so much and it made me so nostalgic for the early noughties and this will be in my weekly rotation from now on, but not just single songs, as an album because the story makes so much more sense all put together and i just think the streets are perfect, i would give it more than 5 stars if i could, and i miss authenticity like this in music, and originality.

Just as good as finding an envelope full of money in the back of your TV.

If “So You Think You Can Britain” was a competition, Mike Skinner would win every year. His flow is unique and might take some getting used to, but he’s always on point, sharp-witted and fun with a knack for storytelling. A Grand Don’t Come For Free is so British it hurts. And I just love it.

Mike Skinner took the grandiose rock opera and turned it into a unique account of everyday mundane life in Britain anno 2004. It's hilarious, riveting, and touching, and an immensely rewarding listening experience, although demanding your full attention. Some people have an issue with Skinner's flow and rhyming. Those people are plain wrong.

1: It’s a narrative-driven concept album where basically nothing happens, narrated by a man who sounds like he’s never rapped before in his life. I was going to provide a whole list of other reasons why this album is excellent, too, but honestly if you need it explaining then you’ll probably never get it anyway (and you’re probably not from the UK). Besides, it’s hard enough remembering my opinions without remembering my reasons for them.

cool

I fucking love this album. Wore it out. Thought this dude was going to be the biggest musician on the planet. An epic story. Great production. Grime/Drill before we all fell in love with it. This would have destroyed on TikTok. Maybe it still will.

Alt Hip Hop is definitely not a genre I'm overly familiar with, so take this with a grain of salt: this album was a blast and a half. The lyrics told some great stories. Fit but You Know It is hilarious. Incredibly witty writing combined with some really well done instrumentals make this a memorable album. I hope to get more like them.

Only an absolute clown would rate this album lower than a three…

5/5. I don't know what it is, it feels objectively bad but it has an energy that I really dig. The singing is mostly terrible but the beats go hard and there is a sense of amateur vibe that feels so real and raw. The story is silly and feels like an unreliable narrator that makes you second guess what you are listening to. It somehow ends really beautifully, making me really feel for the main character. This was a great listen, unique and well-written, and subverts a lot of expectations for what could be an enjoyable album. A 5 for sure.

Так, ну что-то интересное. Первый же трек это рассказ про "плохой день" от какого-то британца. Странный вокал, музыка зачем-то оркестровые духовые использует, это прям тоже странно. Но по крайней мере интересно слушать А, это рэп-опера. Ооооо... интересный жанр. Окей, оцениваем, оцениваем. Я не жалею, что открыл текст песен, потому что британский английский это кошмар конечно. Но альбом пушка. Интересный звук, интересная подача и вообще, сюжет, господа! Любовь, расставание, насилие. Мне очень понравилось. Эта пять.

I reckon a whole lotta buggers think this album’s rubbish but I say that’s poppycock!! This was so intriguing I was engaged the whole time. Would not listen again but the experience was magical. I was lowk in an altered state of mind when listening tho. The English accent is the only reason this album worked, it’s very stupid tho. Cheerio bruvs! 12/10

I really loved this, and just for being very British, one extra star...

One of the all time great concept albums.

5/5 - well that was surprising

This is a true masterpiece. Peak euro rap. Everyone who thinks different is a peasant.

I'm not very versed in English rap, but a phrase like "the man in the white top at the MacDonald's car park" made me an instant-fan. This album's got an alluring charm all over it.

Simply amazing

There really isn't anyone else like The Streets/Mike Skinner, they capture a certain aspect of British culture in a way nobody else does. The lyrics are often funny and interesting and the beats are also really unique. The over enunciated delivery is great when it works and annoying when it doesn't, not addicted in particular gets on my nerves. By and large though if you're in the mood for the streets nobody else will do. 4.5.

So split between a 4 and a 5 but the story of the album, the humour, the songs- It's a 5

Maybe as important as Quadrophenia.

Very fun, very catchy, I like operas and I love rap. Great story. Standout Tracks: Not Addicted, Blinded by the Lights, Get Out of My House, What Is He Thinking?, Dry Your Eyes

Great album, lots of middle school emo memories.

Весьма оригинально и харизматично звучащий белый хип-хоп с английским шармом, броскими припевами и очень интересным, в некотором роде андерграундным продакшном, но не идеально. 8/10

This was pretty weird at first but then I kinda came around to it. Like a British Eminem who just talk raps.

Ensikosketus tähän Streetsin levyyn. Ihan ei pääse mainion Original Pirate Materialin tasolle, mutta varsin kelpo tapaus tämäkin. Tykkään Mike Skinnerin vahvalla brittiaksentilla vedetystä omaperäisestä tyylistä. Lyriikoiden kuuntelu jäi valitettavasti töitä tehdessä vähemmälle.

Adorei o conceito de album que conta uma história, me fez ler todas as letras. Nenhuma das músicas é agradável o suficiente pra entrar na minha playlist, mas fui entretido!