1001 Albums Summary

Reviews The Streets - A Grand Don’t Come for Free This is an album that I’ve listened to a lot but never listened to properly until now. I hadn’t realised it was a concept album and that has literally blown my mind, it wasn’t until the last song ‘Empty Cans’ that I’d even noticed it was a concept album and then everything knit together in my mind and I love it when that happens! Concept albums are my fave. This one is about the protagonist trying to recover a grand to try and get his TV fixed, finding a relationship in the meantime and dealing with the ups, downs, and eventual dissolution of it. It’s very matter-of-fact and clear in the lyrics what the narrative is. Highlights of the album are ‘Could Well Be In’ - a song about analysing the behaviour of a woman to try and determine if she’s into him. Simple and a bit sweet. ‘Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way’ - About wanting to stay in with your girlfriend instead of a night out with the lads. Both quite sweet songs, very unique for ‘love’ songs. There’s no need for big gestures or loud proclamations, just enjoying the reality of life as it goes by. I also think ‘Not Addicted’ is a really cool song. It’s quite an easy listen album, the music itself is quite fun. Some of the songs are a bit janky though. I was speaking to Jack about it and he wonders how much of that is intentional. It’s usually the songs that are about him being angry or upset that are a bit unrefined or have moments that are out of time, so you have to wonder if it’s meant to be a reflection of the protagonists mindset. Jack put forward an interesting point that the album is likely presented from a character point of view; a young guy who doesn’t really know what he’s doing with his life, with his DJ decks in his bedroom, writing songs about his girlfriend and his broken telly. Which makes me warm up to the jank a bit more. Definitely a couple of skip songs which are on the album for the narratives sake rather than for being good songs in their own right. 6/10

Another album I’ve heard a lot and grew up with. Very neutral on Linkin Park in general. They are objectively good but really overplayed to the point where I listened to this album and felt nothing. Which makes it really difficult to review because the songs are good, but just illicit no response from me. I like the song Cure for the Itch, really cool song, but otherwise I would never put this album on.

10/10