Reviews (page 4 of 9)
This album is mid, it’s not really the kind of music I usually listen to but there was still a couple songs that I really liked. I think my top three were dry your eyes, wouldn’t have it any other way, and blinded by the lights. The rest of the songs were alright but not great. The album was very wordy and I think that threw me off a couple of songs. The beat on a couple were just strange.
Absolute banger of an album
I would give this -10 stars if I could. This is utter sh*te and the fact it’s in this list is mind-boggling
I found me thousand quid
A good album doesn’t come for free, apparently.
This sounds like a demo tape some kids made when they were 13. The rapping is all end rhymes and extremely basic. He literally rhymes money with funny. And the hooks asker laughably bad. Is this supposed to be like the shags where it’s so bad it’s good or this is what passes for good hip hop in the UK?
Worth every penny
Absolut nichts für mich 1/5
Glad this album is over.
Legendary 2000s album. Genius concept album.
Most of this was mid. A few more of the high energy songs where good. Also he must have just leaned the word "spliff" because he can't stop saying it.
Funny but I don’t think I would listen often
this is so terrible i fear. the rhythm is just nonexistent. i cant fathom someone enjoying this.
Funny, great tracks on it but also some I didn't like the beats.
Furchtbares Album. Ein Flow aus den Abgründen des menschlichen Geistes mit mehr Ecken und Kanten als ein Labyrinth. Rap Texte die mich an die Songs von Abschlussklassen irgendwelcher deutschen Berufsschulen erinnern, die in den 2000ern online gingen und wo die Anzahl der Aufrufe heute immer noch auf 'nem niedrigen dreistelligen Wert liegt. Manchen arroganten selbstverliebten Arschlöchern sollte man die Stimmbänder amputieren.
sehr unterhaltsam und witziges Album. Blinded by the lights fit but you know it dry your eyes waren die Highlights
Was für ein geiles Konzeptalbum. Ich versteh warum man es hassen mag. Aber ich liebe die Beats und die britische Stimme. The Streets auch teilweise Influenz für Enter: Shikari. Fit but you know it war damals auf FIFA 2005, welches ich gesuchtet habe. Blinded by the Lights und Dry your eyes auch richtig coole Songs.
Dnf, horrible
First track I thought "oh this is gonna be bad" but the more I listened, I was getting into it. I liked the story line of the album. A bit of Ian Drury vibes but the beats were painful. Favorite track: Fit but You Know It.
What a joke, I can’t believe someone paid this group to make this album.
I mean the whole story throughout the album thing is cool but his voice is yuck. Also he's only on here cause he's British.
is this a joke?? is it supposed to be some type of "rap opera" parody??? WHY is it on the list??? 1.5 stars. bump to 2 only because it did have some variations in tempo, but this felt incredibly amateur & juvenile
Udder shite. English rap always sounds this bad to me.
Ok wow, more British rap. And this one is a "rap opera". I actually find the idea of a rap opera interesting, but this is pretty bad. It's very amateur-ish, like someone just made this in their bedroom. Which there is nothing wrong with making music in your bedroom, but is this really a "must hear" album? My other issue is that the rapping doesn't really have any emotion. It all just sounds the same the whole time.
There’s something really compelling about this album. There’s an intimacy and earnestness that I haven’t heard anywhere else on this list. Also the music is stylistically unlike anything I’ve ever heard. It’s not really to my taste, but it transcends taste in a way that makes it fantastic.
Good idea for an album, execution sometimes good, acomplishing what I think was intended, but sometimes flawed. At times akward rapping with akward flow, there are better albums with english rap other than this one. I think it gets better as you listen to it, maybe because you become accostumed to the song or perhaps because it starts in a low with the starting track "It Was Supposed to Be so Easy". Favourites: "Wouldn't have it any other way", "Fit but you know it", "Dry Your Eyes"
A repetitive poor mess.
I respect this more than I like it. It should be be considered more like an audio drama than a musical piece, because he can't sing at all, and from this, I'm not sure he can rap either. The songwriting and lyrics are all excellent however. And it's so british I can't give it any less than a 3.
Just awful. The chart hits are just about listenable, but otherwise in the bin!
Shite
Did not enjoy this, at all.
Truly excellent album, and timeless, I remember playing songs from this album to my kids driving down to Argeles in France , in the 2000s they were very young, and they still love them, and have seen them “live”, I have tickets for their shows this year, when they will play this album in full, I’m going with my kids, who are now in their 20s👏👏
This is... odd. 2/5
Not sure what this is…. Rap, rock. I’m not sure. Not crazy about music
The tricky second album... here the follow-up to Original Pirate Material. Well-received and well-deserved; some smart rhymes even though they're delivered in Mike's usual doggerel style. Stand out is Fit But You Know It - we all know someone like that, man or woman. The whole thing's worth a listen for sure.
Ok
Laughably bad. Blur's Parklife but rap and shite. Why on earth is this on the list? Really makes you question the guy picking these albums.
he sounds like british blueface, sounds so shit but i cant stop listening
What a punish. The most basic and simple beats with amateur sounding rapping. I was amazed this was on the list, but after getting through the album there was 2 songs that were decent and I didn’t hate. I can see that these style of songs influenced a rapping style and minimalist style of production but it’s not for me.
*an album totally RAP and with foul language.
operatic street vibes
Another album where the lyrics shine through
Hadn't heard this for a while. Lyrics are still great and pull you through the album. Music not so much to my taste though.
I might have to give this another listen someday. The lyrics are good, but I'm not sure about his delivery.
Cool, another obscure British rap album from the 2000’s that took up a slot that could have been filled by Madvillany.
4/10
Not for my taste. Kinda sounds outdated.
I was really feeling a 2 on this but haven't given many 1's. And this isn't really undeserving of it....
Not great, but could be worse. Very British though.
The Streets – *A Grand Don’t Come For Free* (2004) An 11-track, 38-minute “rap opera” that follows one bloke’s month: a missing £1,000, a new girlfriend, a bust-up with the lads, infidelity, heart-break, and – finally – the money discovered down the back of the TV. Mike Skinner produced, wrote, rapped, sang, engineered and even mixed most of it in his Birmingham bedroom. Twenty years on it still splits rooms: for some it is the most *British* record ever made; for others it is an amateurish monologue set to cheap loops. Below is a detailed autopsy. -------------------------------------------------------- 1. Lyrics & Narrative -------------------------------------------------------- - Kitchen-sink cinema in real-time. Every bar is first-person diary: text-message slang, betting slips, lager breath, club toilets. - Running jokes and callbacks give the cycle the internal logic of a sitcom: the missing grand, “it was supposed to be so easy”, the TV repair man, the tin of beans. - Skinner’s narrator is deliberately small-scale – petty, jealous, cowardly – which makes the emotional peaks (the betrayal in “What Is He Thinking?” or the break-up in “Dry Your Eyes”) feel universal rather than heroic. - Language is hyper-regional (JD Sports, William Hill, “pissed up in Ibiza”) yet the sentiments map onto any Western twenty-something’s fear of debt, loneliness or being cheated on . -------------------------------------------------------- 2. Music & Production -------------------------------------------------------- - Built on Fruity-loops and cheap sample packs: 2-step garage swing at 130 BPM, sub-bass, one-finger piano riffs, trumpet stabs, the occasional string loop. - Tracks are short (2½–4 min) but segue with ambient fuzz, pub chatter or TV static so the LP feels like one continuous night bus ride. - Skinner mixes everything *dry* – no reverb showers or glossy ad-libs – which gives voices an almost documentary closeness. - “Blinded by the Lights” uses only three chords and a single gated pad, yet captures 3 a.m. MDMA disorientation better than most dance records . - “Dry Your Eyes” adds live violin, Beach-Boy style block harmonies and still keeps the bedroom-demo intimacy . -------------------------------------------------------- 3. Themes -------------------------------------------------------- - Money as fate: the grand is literal (a month’s rent) and metaphorical (control over life). Its random re-appearance is a cosmic shrug – life is chaos, you just keep living. - Masculinity in crisis: the narrator front-loads bravado, ends up crying in the kitchen, finally chooses self-reliance over self-pity. - Class portrait: no flex, no champagne, no mink. The leisure activities are the bookies, the pub, a budget holiday to Faliraki – British working-class realism that hip-hop had rarely mapped before . - Moral punch-line: the last track (“Empty Cans”) literally rewinds the mix and offers two endings – stay bitter or help the handyman fix the TV. The album votes for kindness, but only after showing how easily we choose spite. -------------------------------------------------------- 4. Influence & Legacy -------------------------------------------------------- - Opened the door for every regional UK voice that couldn’t (or wouldn’t) imitate American rap: Plan B, Slowthai, Kano, Dave, even early Arctic Monkeys’ observational style. - The “concept album with no hooks” blueprint resurfaces in Ghostpoet, Streets label protégé The Mitchell Brothers, and more recently in Self Esteem’s spoken-word vignettes. - Critics routinely place it on “best British LP” lists; *Rolling Stone* called it “the greatest UK hip-hop concept album” ; *Crack*’s 20-year oral history shows rappers still quoting bars in 2024 . -------------------------------------------------------- 5. Pros – why it is loved -------------------------------------------------------- ✅ **Storytelling precision**: every scene moves the plot; you can play the album once and recount the full story. ✅ **Sonic signature**: cheap, yes, but instantly identifiable – no-one else has made a pub-argument sound this musical. ✅ **Emotional economy**: “Dry Your Eyes” delivers the universal break-up song without a single cliché; grown men still admit to weeping . ✅ **Cultural snapshot**: pre-smart-phone, pre-austerity Britain caught in amber – ring-tone Nokia, £1.80 a pint, UKG still on daytime radio. ✅ **Re-play value**: because the beats are minimal you hear new ad-libs, new background pub-chatter, new punch-lines years later. -------------------------------------------------------- 6. Cons – why it is loathed -------------------------------------------------------- ❌ **Vocal delivery**: Skinner half-sings, half-speaks, often off-beat; to many ears it is tuneless whining rather than rapping . ❌ **Production value**: intentionally lo-fi – tinny drums, no bass low-end on some tracks – can sound like a demo tape beside contemporary 2004 releases (*College Dropout*, *Madvillainy*). ❌ **Regional barrier**: slang-heavy; if you have never queued in a William Hill or done a “shoobs” in Ibiza entire verses feel impenetrable. ❌ **No melodic hooks**: almost every chorus is spoken or looped ad-lib; listeners who want sung refrains leave empty-handed. ❌ **Narrow emotional range**: aside from the break-up centerpiece the mood is stubbornly mundane – some find that boring rather than profound . -------------------------------------------------------- 7. Verdict -------------------------------------------------------- *A Grand Don’t Come For Free* is neither perfect nor for everyone. It is, however, the **first organically English hip-hop opera**, a record that proved you could swap guns and Cristal for betting slips and beans on toast and still generate Shakespeare-level tension. If you value narrative, character and place over technical dazzle, it is essential; if you need Rakim-level flow or Timbaland-level sheen, it will feel like a prank. Either reaction is valid – and that polarity is exactly why, twenty years on, people still argue about it in comment sections.
There are so many great records that were left off this list. No Chuck Berry, Tupac, or Jim Croce. No RAM from Paul McCartney or Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty. I have no clue how this made it over any of them. This is bad, and not in a cool or interesting way. Definitely one that has me scratching my head.
This album is embarrassing and I gave up at "Such a Twat." From external reading, this is an album that grows on you but Mike Skinner fails as an engaging MC with lackluster production tying it all together.
Decent. Not the biggest fan of UK rap.
Oh wow. This has to be the biggest comeback from a dire impression I’ve ever experienced over the course of an album. I was ready to hate-listen after the first song, but found myself almost completely won over by the end. There’s a lot of humor in here that will reward re-listens. This is like the hip-hop equivalent of Jonathan Richman or Jens Lekman. There’s a self-aware naïveté or earnestness that I just find really funny and endearing. Songs added to the playlist: None
Someone find this man his box of money >:(
This is awful.
Notoriously hard to write about bleak and boring without being bleak and boring while writing about it. Likewise, writing about dramatic things doesn't mean the writing will automatically be dramatic. About this effort, I pretty much just don't care that much. Not for me.
I feel like this is an album where the more invested you become the better it is. I liked the Streets when this first came out and found it very droll and so English. It captured a Zeitgeist, the concept of being young and British and that part of society where you’re a complete wanker. I feel like Mike Skinner is acting a part but one he knows well. If you follow the concept album and listen to the words, it’s hilarious and the story becomes more and more real. He’s a very believable and recognisable character. If you try and listen to this album in the background, it’s gonna be a disaster. You’re gonna hate it and not understand what he’s trying to do. To me, this just gets better with every listen and makes me laugh uncontrollably. It’s like a sitcom episode where it’s nervous laughter as you recognise what completely atrocious behaviour we are all capable of. And maybe what atrocious behaviour we indulged in when we were young and didn’t know better.
Wow. This is three duds in a row for me. I couldn't get past the deliberate non-rhythm of this. His deadpan delivery didn't help. Never got close to flowing with this.
I remember enjoying his debut album, but when this came out, I pretty much tuned out. Today's listen hit different. This is the All in the Family of rap albums. I guess your enjoyment of it depends on how much you enjoy laughing at, but also empathizing with, a character who is clearly a twat, while also knowing that there are plenty of people who don't get the joke and who don't see him as a twat but rather as a working-class hero. Sometimes it's very clear where the artist stands, and sometimes less so, which can make for an uncomfortable listen. And that's compounded by the fact that this is very much an anti-hip-hop hip-hop album, with anti-rhymes delivered with an anti-flow and featuring choruses with anti-melodies and nearly anti-singing. And yet it somehow all works and is sometimes quite moving and even majestic, but other times it comes across as almost a novelty act. I'm not sure I enjoyed it, but I couldn't stop listening; even when I didn't like it, it was always interesting. But then I thought about how privileged white male rappers are to be able to portray characters who are twats and who are given more leeway with their postmodern approach to art than other people. And I thought, fuckin' 'ell, I'm just trying to listen to some music, why are you forcing me to confront all these things? So how do you rate something like this? A 2? A 4? A kumquat? Beats me. I guess I'll go with a 4 even though I'm not sure how often I'll be dialing this one up. But at least it made me think, which is more than I can say for half the albums on this list.
I enjoyed the theatrics and story telling of this album. While the story was different, the atmosphere evoked that of the 2024 movie Bird with Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski.
This was not good, like "made in my basement while drunk" bad. But their accents were funny so that's good, I guess. 2/5
Technically hip hop, but imagine the narrator of Parklife doing a hip hop record about his daily life. That is this insanely bad record. A man with a thick British accent raps poorly about his boring life over some truly boring beats. I’m not sure if it's intended to be comedy or performance art or they’re just taking the piss. It doesn't work on any of those levels for me, and I'm clearly missing what makes this such a must hear record. I can only surmise that the Brits who wrote the book felt bad that their hip hop is such shit and they included this to irritate Americans. I didn't think anything could be worse than Slipknot but there I go tempting fate again. I'm sure there is something worse than this on the list. I just hope I don't have to hear it. 0/5
I get what they were going for with the vocala, but I just don’t think it worked out
Enjoyed this
Some excellent tracks on here that have spanned mine and my kids generations, “Fit but you know it” and “dry your eyes” master class in writing 💥
A day in the life of a true Brexit geezer. Least charismatic performance of a somewhat funny story. The flows just aren’t there and the hooks are mostly uninteresting.
Absolutely not
Sounds like brylcream and lynx deodorant. Simpler times.
#27 As soon as I heard the voice, I scrubbed through the rest of the album. ROUGH.
Mike Skinner isn’t the strongest rapper among the artists in the 1001 Albums book, and his delivery can feel flat or awkward across a full record. Still, the concept — a loose narrative about the mysterious loss of £1000 and the unraveling of everyday life around it — is clever and gives the album a unique angle. The storytelling stands out more than the actual performances, making the idea more memorable than the execution.
Album 984 of 1089 A Grand Don't Come For Free - The Streets (2004) Rating : 2 / 5 This one falls under British hip hop, and I’ll be honest - it just didn’t do much for me. The whole album plays out like some guy narrating the odd moments of his life in a very plain, very literal way. I can appreciate that it has a certain charm for listeners who like storytelling in this style, but to me it came across as pretty elementary. There’s nothing particularly offensive about it - it’s just not something I connect with. The flow, the delivery, the overall feel of the album all left me thinking, “Well… that was something,” and moving on. Not for me, but I can see how it might hit differently for others.
Honestly wasn't sure at first but I really liked the tail end of this album.
I enjoyed this one despite its flaws. Of which the are many.
White British men are simply not made for hip hop.
Is… is it bad on purpose?
So bad it’s good.
cool beats, and a nice flow. I just can’t rlly do the British accent
pretty standard
Politely, not my thing.
Not a fan. I liked the beats on a couple but that’s about it. His vocal style reminds me of Yard Act. The concept and music itself is just meh Rating: 1.4
This is #day484 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… maybe I'm just not a fan of British rap. Most of my childhood rap heroes were American, after all. This one, though? A genuinely steaming pile of crap. The flow is atrocious, the music is hollow. I didn't feel like finishing it. This is a 1 out of 5. Looking forward to #day485.
... what is this. Why did I listen to it? Why did I not stop it?
I'm Canadian, but my mom comes from the British working class, so this album makes me feel very connected to my ancestors' culture
Из примечательного здесь только британский акцент. Остальное даже хип-хопом назвать нельзя. Такой себе недоЭминем.
Why does this sound like if Eggsy from Kingsman: The Secret Service made an album
Shite!
Horrendous
Good memories…
Brilliant.album,raw and real,progressive rap???
Shes looking kind of fit, I feel like a fit, my mate in the back telling me to split. I wasn’t feeling it.
Good idea poorly executed. My first impression was WHAT THE HELL? I really don't have much to say about this. Definitely sounds like it was made in someone's bedroom.
Album #979 British rap so laughably bad it’s good?
OK, so musically, this album is pretty abysmal, and I guess as rapping goes, that's pretty bad too. But, boy, do I love the way the story unfolds. Yes, it's mudane, everyday stuff, but stuff that for me, and probably many other British males who were young in the 80s 90s and noughties, is very relateable. So in summary, I enjoyed the album a lot, even though it is in a genre that I'm not that keen on, and it is probably not a very good example of "music" in that genre.
You’re fucking with me right??? Lmao
My first real surprise out of this 1001 albums project. I didn’t like it at all at the beginning. As a rap album, it doesn’t really flow, it has a jilted and sparse production that sounds like it came out of somebody’s bedroom. And yet somehow about half way through the album I started warming to it. Because, somehow, completely implausibly, this laddish British rap opera works. The actual story here is mundane: guy loses money, guy meets girl, they break up because of mutual infidelity; themes and characters weave throughout the course of the album. It’s so sharply observed that it feels cinematic, the way that “Get Out of My House” ends with a domestic argument that grasps the exasperation when both people are just done, how in “Blinded By The Lights” the detail about going to the door of the club to get phone reception feels so real. You can imagine all of these scenes. There’s a truth in here. In the first couple of minutes I thought this was going to be a one-star album with yet more questions about how this list was compiled, but I’m happy it’s so much more than that.
Thought it was going to be a 2..
Discordant and poor vocal performance over basic hip hop backing tracks. This is my first album and I enjoy a ton of varied music but this is a poor showing for albums you need to listen to before you die. The story being "sung" is somewhat interesting but completely distracted by the artists vocals.
Wow. So bad.
Not for me
2.5
Several transitions in the songs were really awkwardly abrupt. Didn't get it.
Crap, disjoined British rap. How on earth did this rubbish make this list? It's like old mate just wanted to ramble over stock beats. The mix is abysmal, and is quite possibly the worst album on this list so far. There's plenty of better ways to spend 50 minutes than listening to this crap: do a workout, go for a walk, watch a TV episode, even have a snooze: all are more interesting than subjecting yourself to this lazy rubbish. Best songs: There's no songs here, just rambles about being in British suburbia.
I really liked the concept but musically it is terrible
The ability for this list to have both some of the greatest hip hop ever created and the worst all at the same time is impressive.It really is a spoken word album not a hip-hop album. I’ll give the album credit through- If you give it a listen the storytelling is well done. That’s the only redemption.
#769. If I learn nothing from this experience, at least I will have learned British rap is quite possibly the stupidest genre of music to ever exist. 2/5: dumb
The stages of listening to this album: 1) good beat, this could be good 2) vocals come in. is this a comedy album? 3) wait, this is serious? 4) oh, FFS. WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS. This is my 1,073rd album on this list so I've heard some 'interesting' music. But this is not only the worst album I've been subjected to while doing this list, it is the absolute worst album I've ever listened to in my entire 53 years on this planet. This is the first time I've ever wished for a 0 option on the rating scale - and I've found something positive to say about Steeley Dan. .5/5
Like a time capsule of what it was like to be a young geezer in the early 21st century living in a British city..…
Jazz rap is something I don't want to listen to ever again. 1/5
Anglo-Saxon gangster rape. I found it fun and unique.
really tough one. overall didn't enjoy myself too much listening, but i see something in there. without a doubt special, but maybe not the good kind.
2.5
Can anyone explain to me why British males can sing - well - in a perfect American accent, but when they rap, they trip over their own accent and word vomit all over themselves? And yes, it's the men. There have been a couple really good British women on here that do interesting things (to my American ears) with the British accent. This is objectively bad.
British rap, I guess? It's a lot of talking off beat over rap instrumentals, it's very odd and not enjoyable.
I agreed with my colleague on this one...utter garbage. Neither of us can stand it!
Decent Br*t*sh rap. I like Original Pirate Material by these guys better
empty cans is nice, rest is not really for me
Kind of like Stockholm syndrome.
I don't know if it is shit or genius. What a weird album. It kind of works over the course of a full album. Blinded by the lights was a good song. His flow is really weird, it could be 1 or 5 stars, so 3 it is
The beats, lyrics, and flow were pretty bad. The concept story throughout the album made it interesting to listen to and saved this from being a 1. 2/5
Cool
Genuinely terrible. I have never listened to anything so unlike my own music taste.
really good
Hard pass for me. British rap just isn’t my thing, and this guys delivery is especially terrible
I listened to dis album quite confused, thinking na im di bosh man skinner who does west ham and strictly com dancing. No sabi who dis mike fella na, no tok bosh once. I also dont fit and you sabi it. If you go dey for a jog then you go sabi you jog a lot and then you go de very fit. Send accidentally runs a marathon. Maybe dem do. I dont sabi
did you ever think aftershocks would get immortalised in song? storyline for the concept - dogshit rapping - dogshit song about pills - class i hope we get daphne and celestes album next.
Sound
Mike Skinner’s A Grand Don’t Come For Free isn’t just an album — it’s a slice of early-2000s British life wrapped in beats that sound like they were produced on a slightly sticky pub countertop. It’s a concept album that actually works, telling the story of a geezer who loses a grand, falls in love, messes it up spectacularly, and maybe (depending on how charitable you feel) finds a bit of redemption at the end. The beauty here is in Skinner’s total commitment to the ordinary. He raps (well, half-talks) about broken TVs, arguments in takeaways, and nights out that go sideways — yet somehow it all feels mythic. Tracks like “Dry Your Eyes” and “Blinded by the Lights” are modern tragedies, told through kebab wrappers and Nokia texts. The production is minimalist but brilliantly purposeful; every cheap synth and clunky drum machine sounds exactly right for the world he’s describing. It’s also one of those albums that rewards full listens — it’s a story, after all — so anyone who skips tracks is missing the point. It’s like fast-forwarding through Coronation Street and expecting to understand who’s been sleeping with whose cousin. And speaking of skipping effort… word on the street (pun entirely intended) is that Dave Group Of Trees was supposed to write a review himself, but he decided that was “too much hassle” and outsourced it to AI. So here we are, me — a literal algorithm — praising an album about working-class struggle, while Dave sits somewhere on his sofa, “researching” (read: watching football highlights and eating crisps).
Mike Skinner’s masterpiece turns everyday chaos into poetry — lost cash, love, and late nights all told in that unmistakable Brummie drawl. Fit But You Know It struts, Dry Your Eyes devastates, and Blinded by the Lights still feels like 3 a.m. confusion bottled in a beat. I played it for Shack while he flipped lamb chops; he just said, “That’s real life, that is.” Exactly. Raw, funny, heartfelt — still Britain’s truest kitchen-sink album.
Oof. It’s the British Biz Markie of the 00’s. Not good
Dry Your Eyes
Absolute shit
Love!
Interesting concept, strange execution. One good fun song, the rest not my style.
Started laughing after a minute or so in the first song. Thought it might be a parody album. Found out it was not.
Fuck. English rap again. I'm a firm believer in the value of diversity but that doesn't extend to letting Brits try to rap. (Review posted 45 seconds into the first track.)
i dont think this aged all too well. sounds somewhere in between soundcloud and flight of the conchords.
not good mate.
first time I heard The Streets in Life is Strange 2, with “on the flip of a coin” song. They stole my heart then. I’m not so convinced to this album tbh, but sounds freshy and worth listening if you love Brits accent haha. Whole album is just yapping with music in background lol
I mean...hmmm the synthesizing was cool at times. Wikipedia says Skinner describes his upbringing as "Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring." I feel like that also describes this album...not poor but not much substance, really boring.
No. If this is what British people sound like when they rap, maybe they should not do that.
I feel like I just listened to an episode of Love Island UK. What to say about this...it's pretty juvenile in its story writing. Dude loses 1000 quid and has a broken tv, gets a girl he fancies who happens to have a functioning tv, wonders if he really wants to watch tv with girl, maybe he fancies his mates and their tv more, but maybe he fancies girl more, but he cheats on girl anyway, realizes he shouldn't have cheated on girl, it's too late, he loses girl, he copes with the loss, and for the grand finale...he has an epiphany about taking care of his own shit after a friend fixes his tv and in turn, finds his 1000 quid. Much like Love Island, I didn't feel terribly invested in his romantic escapades because he sounded like kind of an idiot, and she can clearly do better. I felt slightly more invested in where this money went, so I was pleased that story line wrapped up neatly. And until the epic repair, I didn't realize the television would be such a centering element of our hero's journey. Another full circle moment in our tale of tragedy, acceptance and growth. In conclusion, the album was rather dumb, but his accent is charming to listen to, and some of the songs were pretty catchy. And this is certainly out of the ordinary. While I'd never listen to this again, it cracked me up enough to earn a 3 (just barely).
Interesting story, would be easier to follow if the poor quality of music wasn’t so distracting
Some critics called this guy the British Eminem. Pfffffttttt …
I can see why the first album was so lauded, as Skinner's schtick - at the time - was fairly unique in its simplicity and embracing of a DIY sound. If you ignore Dizzee Rascal, that is. But unlike Dizzee, Mike seems to keep saying the same thing, in the same style. I'm probably too old to relate to the 'flawed-but-alright-really' young geezer that seems to be the main character here, but I did find it a bit wearing after a while. Just not really my thing, I guess. I get it, but I didn't particularly enjoy it.
I love the oddball story behind this. Writing an urban concept album based around losing £1k [SPOILER] down the back of a telly, shows that we have moved on from the days of 70's prog. This was so fresh when it was first released. There wasn't anything like it around at the time. It does sound a little dated now, but only with the song references, and not the style. C-Mone steals the show. I rinsed this to death back in the day. I wouldn't have hesitated then in giving it five stars. I paused a little this morning. But yep - it still stacks up. So ambitious, so cocky, so bloody young.
I don’t mind this album but it’s more a dip in dip out than a full listen! After a while his voice and cod philosophysing gets a bit tiresome.
Really enjoyed this one. It had a good vibe and lots of interesting lyrics. Not my standard go-to but I liked it a lot.
It's a great record and a very poetic one. For those with any relation to the UK and London it'll probably strike a chord. To others it might sound a bit flat and less compelling. But it's rap as storytelling at its finest, on a UK backdrop. It mostly falls on the more conscious rap side of things than the hip-hop one. Musically it's very varied, although it feels quite minimalist in a way. But that's its strength, it allows for the words and the stories to shine. Get Out Of My House was a standout for me, C-Mone, the rapper on the track, is phenomenal.
I might be too American to enjoy this. He raps so conversationally that it sounded more like spoken word much of the time. Concept albums are cool and I like a good story but man, this did not work for me. I acknowledge its ambition but will not revisit. The critical rapture around this album is actually baffling to me. I guess some of the hooks are fine. But boy howdy are the raps rough and beats inert.
Brill album.
This is more or less unbelievably bad. If it was a satire, I wouldn't be surprised. The beats are derivative, and the rapping is terrible. I will give it two stars because they clearly put some effort into it, but this is bad bad bad. I save one stars for things... well, actually, I'm giving this one star.
This is fun and is certainly a fresh sound among all of the classic rock on this list. I love the spoken word approach and the beats are on point. Also seems like a caricature of British rap.
I love hip hop, but that's not what this is. This has no flow and the storytelling on this "concept album" is sad and ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and listen to Prince Paul’s A Prince Among Thieves if you want to hear a “day in the life” hip hop concept album executed and performed 1000 times better. And that came out in 1999. Any chance The Streets heard it and was “inspired”…? For the life of me, I can't see why this is on the list... 1⭐️
I'll start by saying that it should've been "Original Pirate Material" on this list as it's a better and more influential album. That said, "A Grand Don't Come for Free" does have its share of top songs. I totally understand this not being everyone's cup of tea. It's so unapologetically talking of a working-class English life and it's not something I expect everyone to relate to. Not to mention the fact that by the very virtue of being so idiosyncratic it's going to rub some people the wrong way. If it does appeal to you, though, then it scratches an itch that you'd be hard pushed to find elsewhere or done better.
I thought I had a video playing in the background while this started but nope. just completely off beat 😐
It’s a concept album
I have always enjoyed Dry Your Eyes. The rest...wasn't awful, but wasn't great either. A little too talky.
This was a unique album, not sure of my thoughts. I don’t think I would choose to listen again, but if I heard it again that would be ok
Not quite a 5 for me but a nostalgia trip for sure
This is kind of interesting but deeply flawed. This is basically a narrative spoken word/UK rap concept album/opera. The plot of A Grand Don't Come For Free is that our hero, Mike has a shitty day, culminating in him losing 1000 British Pounds. And on his quest to get it back, he falls in love, attempts sports betting, falls out of love, gets drunk, falls in love again, and more. The sound of this thing is kind of a mixed bag. First, the beats are generally good, if a little clunky. One of my favorites is the beat on Blinded By The Lights. Now, moving past that, let's discuss the real sticking point for a lot of people, the delivery and lyrics. The Streets' delivery is kind of baffling here. I said this was a rap and spoken word album, but I'd really like to emphasize the spoken word aspect. In fact, it's almost all spoken word. The delivery is low energy and conversational, and the flow is choppy and weird, which comes across as clunky. The lyrics are also weird, instead of more conventional hip hop poetics, the skew here is towards *very* literal storytelling, which again is clunky at times. And, this all compounds with the occasionally clunky beats. The overall project is so clunky, it's almost *blocky*. Like it damn near sounds stylized. And I could imagine this being a draw for *someone* but I'm just usually not into it. Although this has some positives, mostly related to the narrative and storytelling. The "common man's adventure" slant really adds something weirdly relatable. Like there's a mundanity here, but it very much works in favor of the album. And something else interesting about the narrative is how, without thinking, 1000 pounds, doesn't *feel* like that much money. But, really, most people wouldn't bounce back easily if they lost it. Like, I certainly just couldn't shrug off 1000 dollars. And the presentation of this idea almost gets to a kind of class consciousness that was pretty cool. I will also say that I liked the ending. The final song of this album has two endings to the story. First, we are presented with an ending where Mike is overcome with bitterness and gets into a fight with the TV repairman without learning a damn thing. But then we are shown another world in which he makes up with his friends, and they open up the TV themselves, discovering that the 1000 pounds fell into it. It's kind of obvious, but the presentation of it genuinely feels kind of sweet and I had a good emotional payoff even though I didn't love this whole album. Like I said, this is interesting but *deeply* flawed. And while I didn't love it, I am glad I heard it. And I am excited to hear more music by The Streets. I could even see this growing on me a little. But as of now, I just can't see myself giving this any higher than a 2.
this record made a huge splash when it came out. i didn't get it then but i appreciate it now
A concept album that's as indicative of the early 2000s vibe as any other, The Streets' Mike Skinner delves through the never-ending lows of a situation gone wrong and grows more and more unpredictable by the minute. A Grand Don't Come for Free, from start to finish, is a throughly engaging set that takes the listener through a variety of emotions, from cringe to concern to anger to relief. A pinnacle of the resurgent and bustling hip-hop genre in the UK and worthy of whatever praise comes its way. Favorites: It Was Supposed to Be So Easy, Could Well Be In, Blinded by the Lights, Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way, Get Out of My House, Fit but You Know It, Empty Cans.
4.5+/5
7.5/10
C’est cool d’écouter un album de rap à l’extérieur du genre gangsta rap qui prédomine aux États-Unis. On est ailleurs et c’est très rafraîchissant.
Fit but you know it and dry your eyes mate saves it from getting a 1. I wish the rest of the album had more life like these songs.
Sound is a bit flat, mate; however the hilarious and poignant narratives do get by on their own momentum.
I kept thinking that this album was a joke they were playing on us. This was terrible
I tried to give this as open-minded of a listen as I could and came away thinking it was actually pretty good. As with Pulp, there's something about overwhelmingly British music that I sort of gravitate to and I liked the way this captures the mundanity of a slice of working class life in a sort of endearing way. His flow is atypical and almost qualifies as spoken word rather than hip hop but I think you sort of have to take this as a whole narrative sweep with the overarching story. Boy loses money, finds girl, loses girl, finds money, but along the way wrestles with alcoholism, gambling addition, crappy friends. Blinded by the Lights really stood out to me as capturing an uneasy night out at the bar not sure if his friends were going to show up, taking drugs by yourself just for something to do, and eventual paranoia leading to euphoria. Some pretty catchy choruses throughout. Probably one I'll come back to!
Only enjoyable if you imagine Roy Kent rapping this. Awful. Whiny. Terrible flow. One of the worst things I’ve heard.
This British fuck! Couldn’t do it.
Not opposed to comedy/parody, but this did not get a lot of laughs from me. Maybe this is some super cultural humor for the brits
It’s kind of crazy this has a 9 on Pitchfork. What is going on over there?
While I don't think I would listen to this again, I have to give props to the storytelling.
4- Stars (10/15)
Had a rough time getting through this one.
whose idea was it to put british rap on this list
Mesmerizing voice, lyricism
this person is not very good at rapping.
just not for me at all
I realize it intentionally sounds very amateurish, but the bad singing chorus’ are grating more often than not. The story telling is pretty good though, I didn’t expect the entire album to tie together and it kept my interest all the way through.
0.4 I think I said out loud, "this is fucking dogshit" at least three times and skipped at some point in every song. If that doesnt make it a 1 star, I dont know what will
I really enjoyed this at the time for its catchiness and for putting whatever that accent is called front and center. It also had a massive impact on the scene - and it's the album where Skinner got the balance between catchy tunes and his spoken word delivery and storytelling just right. Lad-culture was a big thing at the time and this sort of came from that but really disected how shitty ladness (is that a word?) really is/was. Having said all that, the more removed I am from that point in time and that age in my life, the less I am able to connect with it.
surprise! i love this album. i hope he managed to sort out the difficulty with his tv.
"A Grand Doesn't Come For Free" by The Streets is a rap opera. If you now expect a comprehensive story line or at least songs that build upon each other you will be badly disappointed. Basically, all the songs are about a guy that's mostly either drunk or stoned and thus is not sure whether the girl he's dating is into his buddy. Oh, and his savings fell behind the TV, damaging it. That's about it. Mike Skinner calls this shallow story a concept and even manages to sell an album around this. Another admirable achievement from a commercial point of view.
Boy the beat was kicking his ass. He was chasing that damn best for the entire project smh. The flow is choppy, the background vocals are doing their best to carry, the content is regular but is terrible rapping is taking me out if it. Yea this is just not good.
This is commercially inaccessible "music" that critics see as "art" and want to be successful, regardless of how much people ACTUALLY like it. Cause, let's face it... no one really likes this shit. This is niche art-rock that's totally focused on a "vision" rather than making a good record.
Very odd and brash. I liked few but others were hard to find its flow
This is kinda good, but I'm not sure if it's just the English accents.
k this ones gotta be joke. How british do you have to be to think this is at all good. Is this enjoyed ironically? Will I listen to again: 0%
Brits don't rap right.
Imagine if British people were real.
- Enkele dikke platen, enkele echte zaag nummers - 0 nummers toegevoegd aan MMMM - 1 nummer al toegevoegd aan MMMM
Jag gillar inte rap, även om det här inte outhärdligt, dessutom tjusas jag av dialekten.
Dry Your Eyes is a really good song, the rest of the album isn't something I was fond of.
Hip hop as a genre evolved out of desire for an african american sound in urban cities like NYC. Western pop music often passes back and forth across the pond, but it isn't often we see the genre starting here in the states. Hip hop was intended to be by and for working class people. By 2004, rappers were as big as rock stars. For those of you born in the 90s and after, I promise this is a notable thing to say. So suffice to say, hip hop wasn't only being mad by working class americans anymore. Moving onto to this album, the nicest thing I can say about it is that it seems like a genuine application of the genre to tell stories from his perspective, for a specific working class audience in the UK. The music itself is interesting from a cross cultural perspective, but I can't really say I enjoyed this album. It was interesting enough, but it didn't really get any feelings out of me. This album is long and doesn't have a lot going on musically that I enjoy, but I appreciate the rejection of "posh" english.
Still sounds sharp, funny, lively. Good album
this is the equivalent of 80's corny rap from the U.S.A. but put to serious beats making for a terrible english breakfast of music.
Naaa bruv this ain’t for me
I had heard some Streets stuff before but never listened to a full album. "It was supposed to be easy" is pretty silly. "Not addicted" is sorta wild too. They are kinda chill and pretty relatable. They don't take themselves too seriously but still manage to make their tunes interesting. I can see why people might find them gimmicky or annoying but it hits the right spot for me. It's not this masterpiece album, but it is fun to listen to.
Not bad.
Not my style a couple songs were okay, but as a whole didn't think it was that interesting
I feel like most people who like this guy like his accent. Anyway, it’s not bad. Just a little monotonous but I dig the concept.
Rap opera. Occasional moments of impressive lyricism and good beats, but otherwise a lot of it felt really forced. Standout is "Fit but You Know It"
Must be the 1001st album on this list. Woof
Chav rap. Much more tolerable than gangster rap.
1960s jazzy. Medium for my taste. I dont like very much but i dont hate as well.
If Love Island was rapped? This is crazy.
Doing my bit for the global rating.
maybe its because I'm not british, but just not digging it at all
2.7ish?
What is this? God awful hip hop. I’m not one to think that anyone should be discouraged to participate in any style of art, but maybe The Brits should stay out of hip hop.
I am such a sucker for this album. I loved Mike Skinner's first album, and this album just hit me in the right way. A lot of it is pretty dated, but with "Blinded By The Lights," "Dry Your Eyes," and a masterpiece like "Empty Cans," I can deal with some relative early aughts cheese. 8/10
this was very cool, why am I just learning that I love the operatic subgenres of my favorite media?
1.
Utter shit
Thoughts before listening: This guy is always interesting. British rapper with a very cockney accent and lazy, slurred conversational delivery. I like it fine. Review: Not much else to say here. I understand why this is getting a bunch of negative reviews, but I enjoy it. Despite his unconventional approach, there are hooks here in these songs. I haven't listened to this in a long time, so its been nice to refresh my memory. This is a 3-star album.
Heard some of this album over the ages but been more drawn to his debut LP. Love the man's simple melodic, repetitive beats. "Dry Your Eyes" might be the standout. I like when guitar is in the mix on this album. Not surprised that folks participating in this absolutely hate the Streets. Easy 3.5 for me and Original Pirate Material would be a 4.
Extra star for being different, but the flow is bad, the choruses are annoying and the story sucks.
Sometimes you encounter a twist on a genre you either didn't know existed, or maybe just forgot. I really dug this album. It doesn't has a healthy mix of human emotion that doesn't hyperfixate on any one thing.
This is really not my groove. No hatred for it and some of it was ok but not my thing.
Interesting style, mixing London accented "chat" with smooth vocals & classic instrumentals with beats
Utter shite
Do you remember how completely original and fresh this album from The Streets felt in 2004? Mike Skinner wasn’t rapping like anyone else. He was just talking, storytelling in his everyday Brummie accent, and that made it sound even cooler. It was like eavesdropping on a night out in the UK and it kept getting funnier the more it spiraled. And of course, Fit But You Know It was an instant classic. It was rowdy, cheeky, catchy as hell. But the whole of A Grand Don’t Come for Free worked as one big story, a concept album about losing a thousand bucks, chasing love, and trying to sort your life out. The beats were sparse, almost barebones at times. It was grime, garage, hip-hop, kitchen-sink drama, and soap opera all rolled into one. And for a minute there, The Streets felt like the most original voice in music. He didn't quite launch the way some of us expected or hoped, but he sure made of helluva legacy with this one.
Bad rap with basic beats
# 569 : A Grand Don't Come For Free A Grand Don’t Come for Free - If this is what a grand sounds like, I’d rather keep the change. A two-line bio, an opaque album cover, and a wave of lukewarm reviews should’ve been the warning signs. Alas, I pressed play anyway. What followed was a masterclass in disappointment. This album doesn’t just fail to live up to its hype—it makes you question whether there are even 1,001 albums worth hearing before you die. The concept? Supposedly clever. The execution? Flat. The production? Barely there. The vocals? More diary entry than performance. It’s like someone tried to rap their way through a mundane Tuesday and called it art. When your only claim to fame is that you're on this list, then congratulations. One star—because I can’t give it zero. Verdict: When hype meets reality—and reality is a letdown. Best Track (if you must): [None worth mentioning.] Listened: 16/09/2025
ruwere hiphop UK NIet heel slecht, niet mijn smaak
I can see how this would be kinda revolutionary and influential for Uk hip hop. Just not necessarily my go-to vibe for everyday listening as a personal preference
Never let white Brits rap again.
Okay, this album is VERY funny to me, but the execution as music is not as there as I'd like. In that way this kind of reminds me of how I thought of The Slim Shady LP; funny, not bad, but nothing I'd want to listen to more often.
I'm sorry, but this one is not at all for me. Both the main rapper's flow and the amateurish-sounding beats, especially combined, are like nails being driven into my brain, to the point I genuinely couldn't focus on any narrative beats. I had to keep my volume low just to not get a headache, which is REALLY rare for me.
UK rappers be like she suck on my willy it’s quite delightful if I catch you in west Gloucestershire you’ll catch the rifle
It's 'good kid, m.A.A.d city' meets 'The Wall'! It did take my full attention to keep up with the UK accent and flows, but it was worth sticking with it to the end -- the payoff on the money stash storyline left me with an absolute GRIN on my face. The Kendrick fan in me also couldn't help but get hyped when the closing track pulled a narrative trick reminiscent of the way DAMN. loops back on itself. Honestly, I'm very pleasantly surprised here -- especially after seeing both anonymous reviewers and even my own associates tear it apart. The Brits win this one!!
Man, I love the concept of this but I despise the execution. The idea - getting into the head of a regular guy who also happens to be a huge piece of shit - as he goes about his day is very interested. I would be willing to forgive the wack-ass flow or lack thereof if they pulled this off. However, I have two major issues with it. My first is that he goes for the easiest, most obvious rhyme every time. You are never wondering what he will say next. You are never surprised by an excellent couplent and you will never find yourself going OH SHIT as he makes words fit together. Instead, you will find yourself slowly applauding when he makes a sentence come out without interruption. This is a big weakness because he is trying to deal with complex emotions using the vocabulary of an eight year old. My second problem is that we are ostensibly listening to someone's interior thoughts, but he spends the majority of the time talking about things that are happening. For example, in Such a Twat he is mainly focused on his actions but not his feelings. Dry Your Tears hints at it a little with the chorus encouraging the protagonist to give up and walk away, but the verses are really preoccupied with telling us where everyone's hand is and where they are facing. Lastly, on Empty Cans, he spends more time telling us there are fifteen screws on the back panel of the TV than letting us now how the money could be back there. A great idea ruined by poor execution and focusing on the wrong stuff.
Not for me. I still listened to the whole album. I can respect the artist, but it was kind of boring to listen to.
Concept rap (more like spoken word) album with a strong English accent. This is pretty goofy sounding but I got more invested the longer I listened. It has an air that someone has enough money independently to hire a producer and create an album. I will admit the idea is good, and the journey was harrowing with a breakup and losing that 1000 quid.
I like a lot of rap artists, I even like a few UK based rap artists, but found Blinded by the Lights to be the first good one on this release, which is four tracks in on the version I listened to. It'll be hard to rate this release above average with that W\L ratio. A couple of good hooks, a couple of good songs. Dry Your Eyes is a nice rap\pop song, it might be the standout song for me. The best thing about this is the continuation of the narrative throughout the songs, so that later songs have more emotional value.
Cooles, interessantes Konzeptalbum auf britisch. Hat mir gefallen, trotz der Musikrichtung. Die einzelnen Tracks sind an sich von der Idee fett, allerdings dann doch immer ziemlich repetitiv.
I love this, I've always loved this. Easy 5 stars. It's hilarious, so completely inconsequential but beautifully told at the same time. Blinded By The Lights is incredible, and the tracks with guest voices just make the whole album better. I love love love it Agree that Original Pirate Material has aged better and should be on the list, but as well as this absolute classic not instead.
very good album
This was awful, actually almost painful. I didn't like it at all
Laughably bad. The Streets has absolutely zero flow. Uninteresting lyrics The song with the most potential is Wouldn't Have it Any Other Way. The singing has potential but The beat has this sound throughout the whole song that is 100% a chicken pecking corn kernels off of a metal trash can lid. 0.4 outta 5
Is Original Pirate Material on this list too? I enjoyed that one much more.
Just brilliant. The storytelling, the concept, the character building and the songs. It lands just as well as it did back when Mike Skinner released it.
Day612 - everything about this is bad
Hated this album until I reached 'dry your tears'. I still am not a fan but i realize it's elevated beyond its contemporaries and should be regarded as highly as it is despite my personal view. The final track elevates it even further and holds a message that should resonate easily with the listener.
One of my all time top 3 albums. Everyone should listen to the story telling on this album.
Right there with you
Definitely a case of the wrong album being included. Original Pirate Material was far superior in every way to this album. A few good tracks but plenty that are embarrassing to listen to (the opener It Was Supposed To Be So Easy and Fit And You Know It which has aged very badly).
Bad
Wish we could leave 0s or half stars at least for garbage like this. Dude’s rapping sounds like a parody of hip hop, and not in a haha funny type of way, but in an absolutely insulting way. This has taken this 1001 album list to a whole new level of Brit bias, because there is no other way this album would have been included without that bias. Skip this excrement.
3,9 väldigt ojämn skiva, kan inte ge 4.
Brummie legends did disappoint :(
sorry i know theres classics on here but i did not enjoy it lol
The bops bopped but the rest...meh.
Youth, and angst, and banality bumping up against life.
Just bad, not even deserving of another listen. What significance could this album possibly have? None I say.
Classic. Instantly recognizable hip hop. Easy listen.
En arbejdeklasse opera som blander UK-garage/2 step, rap og spoken word, grime og brit rap. Det er en lang sammenhængende historie om en normal britisk dude som misser busser og ser tv om aftenen drikker øl og bliver sorget og skal deal med sorg. Vokalerne er nærmest talt (spoken word) det blev lavet i en tid hvor UK garage stadig var ved at finde fæste så jeg formoder det er derfor det er sådan alternativt/eksperimentalt. synes egentlig det er meget sjovt og godt, men det er ikke mig. Jeg ville ikke sidde og lytte meget til det her tror jeg. Så det får en 2'er for opmærksomheden fordi det teknisk set er bedre end en 3'er.
There was no flow at all and was hard to listen to. I may not like rap, but putting my feelings about the genre aside, this was still objectively terrible. 0/5
Ganz cool
Odlično!
It is remarkable how bad this given the amount of coverage it got at the time. Perfectly possible to produce songs about mundane aspects of life but this is not the way 1.5*
Good but not as good as Original Pirate Material
Never mind the mysterious loss of £1,000, I'm more concerned about the mysterious loss of quality control following The Streets' promising debut. Sample lyric: "She pulls away my arms that tightly clamp around her waist Gently pushes me back as she looks at me straight Turns around so she's now got her back to my face Takes one step forward, looks back, and then walks away" Jesus - where to begin? There's an anecdote in Hunter Davis' Beatles biography where he sits in on a songwriting session and, long story short, Lennon and McCartney are stuck on a particular lyric, trying to make the phrase fit the melody they have written. Davis (I believe) suggests just padding out the line with the word "just" to give it an extra syllable, but the pair explain how they avoid words like "just" in this context because it is a redundant word, it adds nothing to the lyric. Well, every Streets lyric sounds like Skinner did the exact opposite, taking a load of redundant phrases and connective words to pad out simple ideas. And the lines often still don't marry up with the meter and rhythm of the music anyway. The results are cringe-worthy. One star.
I loved this
🎵 Album #50 / The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come for Free 🗯 A concept album about a missing £1,000 shouldn’t work this well — but Mike Skinner turned it into a captivating story that plays like a film. Skinner’s gift here isn’t just in the beats or the hooks (though Dry Your Eyes, Fit But You Know It, and Blinded by the Lights are all killer singles). It’s the way he narrates — half-rap, half-conversation — like you’re sat next to him in a pub while he unspools the drama. Lost money, lost love, heartbreak, and the tiny victories of everyday life. It’s proof he could write a screenplay if he wanted — the detail, pacing, and character work are that sharp. And as much as it’s rooted in early-2000s UK life, it still hits with honesty and humour now. Verdict: Excellent (storytelling that still slaps) For fans of: Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys’ kitchen-sink realism, spoken-word diaries with a beat
I try to be conscious of the fact that not all music is for me, nor will I get it every time. With that in mind I found this a painful listening experience. I found it difficult to either identify with the content, or be curious to know more. It just sounded dumb, but not in a fun way.
I didn't listen to this back when it came out but I remember there was a lot of hype and praise around it. I was pretty ready to not like it and was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed this one. It started to feel pretty same-y to me so the different voices on "Get Out of My House" and instrumentation on "Fit But You Know It" were really welcome change-ups. I'd listen to this again, maybe more in chunks than the whole thing though.
It’s ok
I had this album in my early 20s on CD. I don’t enjoy his flow and most of the sounds just are… noises. Like it’s not pleasant to listen to.
Really funny and unique. Savage social commentary, with a sense of humour, in the guise of a story: what a brilliant idea. I see him as the rapping, noughties heir to the Specials, ramped up a few notches. It was an unedifying tale, to be sure, but I emitted several snorts of laughter. The backing could have been a bit more interesting: when it was more musical, like in Dry Your Eyes, it added a lot for me. Overall - a tale with two endings. I'll take the happier one, of course.
Apparently the only hip hop I can stomach, although why this is on the list and not Original Pirate Material escapes me.
Would need to listen to it again, and again and again, but the texture, the feeling of specificity that cut through this provided an escape to south London that was really welcome.
Need to finish listening. Honestly, really fascinating. As a piece of music, I do not find this pleasant to listen to. But I love the lyrics and this hyper local, small stakes storytelling. Slice of life rap. It's kinda incredible.
This is a UK classic, and i imagine other nations are going to struggle with its message. It perfectly personifies being skint and a bit chavvy in UK culture (pub references / gritty club references / TV on the sofa / shit small talk). He's not rapping either it is more spoken word but you just dont expect spoken word to be so ordinary! Everything in this album is intentional and it's bloody brilliant.
I can’t believe I actually liked this at the time, I’ve not listened in a good 20 years so I guess it was fleeting. It was popular and a bit different at the time, and being a concept album made it stand out a bit more but in listening now, it’s a poorly executed mess of an album where he loses a grand and finds it again whilst in between that, portrays a character that you simply don’t care about. So revisiting this and yep, it’s not for me - I generally hate garage and a lot of the “singing” or “rapping” here as it’s terrible. Blinded By the Lights is just about the only decent track. Overall I’m not sure it has stood the test of time.
That one fucking guy from your high school who tried to sell you his demo CD for $10. Before eventually dropping out. And then 6 years later you look him up on Facebook to see what the fuck happened to him. He's opening for someone else at a pop-up dive bar cabaret in Fort Collins. He also works a day job as an assistant manager at Buc-ee's. Fave songs:
firstly, the delivery is so flaccid. even if it's an artistic decision, it sounds so unenergetic. secondly, the lyrics are dogshit on so many levels. i know the 1001 list overrepresents british music by a lot but how did THIS make the cut?
very interesting, I feel like its more comedy or concept over the music actually sounding great, which sort of shocked me at the start, but you get used to it and its actually very interesting. The story is quite a loose tie of the songs, but it feels like each song relates to the story, but really specifically. I guess this dude was ahead of his time with rap concept songs, as the one where they are arguing is just the same as for free or we cry together by Kendrick, but I highly doubt he was inspired by this. Quite a lot of the lyrics are really funny, and I hope that's intentionally. The singing is quite bad, but I really think that's on purpose, as it seems to me that he's trying to write this from a totally normal British person's perspective. Favourite songs: all I guess, but dry your eyes is really good, I love the string part. Overall around 6/10
Bleh 2/5
This was… dumb. The whole “concept album soap opera” thing ended up feeling more childish than the children's movie soundtracks I was actually listening to back in 2004. Instead of clever storytelling, it just came across as flat, whiny, and juvenile. Not every journey is a hero’s journey—and certainly not every journey is interesting to others.
bonus star for the laugh
Not my style
Nah
ok british english slays
7/10…uk hip hop / indie disco
This must have made the list to remind the world that white British rappers are awful.
I have interesting feelings about this. Firstly, I don't really like the music; it seems very primitive for the genre. I'm also not keen on the artist's voice or sense of rhythm. However, I'm genuinely interested to hear how the album ends – it's rare to come across something so cohesive and complete.
I can’t tell if I like this or not. It’s original and all, but I am not sure there would be a time where I say “I need to listen to this”…but at the same time, I enjoy listening to it. Weird
I was too weak to not listen to the whole thing hoping for something, but I'm strong enough to give this my first 1 star
Gran forma de contar una historia y dar el mensaje que necesitamos todos: Solo tú estarás para ti, todos tienen sus propios horizontes, pensamientos y problemas, a quién más le debes importar es a ti mismo. Cuídate La producción es buena y experimenta con varios ambientes para darle sentido a la letra y que combine con la música de manera intrigante. La fluidez del artista es muy incómoda, no va tan bien con las pistas, pero siento que es a propósito, es una persona que en la mayoría de la historia está bajo los efectos de bebida o algún tipo de droga, los que suenan más conscientes o "mejor" son las colaboraciones de artistas. En resumen, el proyecto tiene un objetivo, me gustaron 4 de las 11 canciones para escuchar de vez en cuando, no creo que escucharía todo de nuevo, pero no me arrepiento de haber escuchado este tipo de música experimentando con ese tipo de flow algo forzado pero con una idea detrás.
This is not to my taste at all. 2⭐ "A Grand Don't Come For Free" was critically adored upon it's release. Aside from "You're fit and you know it" and "Dry Your Eyes", I didn't understand the fuss then, and I don't understand it now. The remaining tracks just don't match up to those two songs. Perhaps its charms are lost on me? I think it's meant to be understated, with just enough musicality to hold the vocal narrative together. But to me it is just uninspired and repetitive. The biggest issue, for me, are the vocals. They just don't appeal to me. Vocally, it's a guy (Mike Skinner) talking in an accent like mine, and I don't even like my voice when I hear it played back! The lyrics/rhymes are largely hackneyed. Musically, it lacks imagination, is one paced, and dull. There is little melody. Would I buy this album? No. Would I listen to this album again? No. 1 "It Was Supposed to Be So Easy" - 1 2 "Could Well Be In" - 1 3 "Not Addicted" - 1 4 "Blinded by the Lights" - 1 5 "Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way" - 2 6 "Get Out of My House" (featuring MC C-Mone) - I much prefer MC C-Mone. - 2 7 "Fit but You Know It" - The best song so far. Some humour matches his vocal styling much better. This has a whiff of New Wave about it, in the style of Jilted John. - 4 8 "Such a Twat" - 1 9 "What Is He Thinking?" (featuring Wayney G) - 1 10 "Dry Your Eyes" - This was the other hit. There's actually some melody, both vocally and musically. - 3 11 "Empty Cans" - 1 Total - 18 Average - 1.64
I remember when this became a thing. He changed the rap game - at least in the UK, totally different style and cadence, very relatable and often funny blue collar British. A whole album of him hmmm. Mad props he plays like 8 instruments but after 3 tracks I felt like, 'Dude, shut it.' On a separate note, Stu, your reviews are awesooome I enjoy them so m uch : ) I lol every time you mention Pretzel Logic/Steely Dan
OMG. Absolute trash. Why on earth is this on here. This may be the worst album I’ve listened to. 0 stars.
I’m not sure what I think. It felt amateur. But by the end I was getting into it a bit. Dry Your Eyes…that one had me cracking up. It’s all got a Lily Allen vibe, no? Adding a star for catching my attention 300 albums into this project.
Never fully understood The Streets. It's so British but not in the way things are normally "too British" - Kinks, Blur, Kasabian - even the Smiths. This is such a an odd mix of things - off kilter spoken word detailing the minutiae of daily life - it ends with a laundry mishap - with minimalist soundscapes and beats. It's takes a while to get into the world but was you do - if you are able to give yourself over - it is truly a unique work of art. Nothing extraordinary which is maybe what it's effective. The problems that occur throughout are the problems we all wrestle with - the mundaneness of life, the occasional win, and most importantly love/love lost and moving on. This is not intended as a collection of songs. It is a true cycle. Presented with a unique voice. And ultimately - if you let it in - it hits pretty hard... The end of the something I did not want to end Beginning of hard times to come But something that was not meant to be is done And this is the start of what was Who can't relate the that. Sometimes you don't get what you want but what you need. And for some reason - I needed this today. One of the biggest surprises this far.
Not good at all, maybe "for the time" but not now
Not a fan.