The Streets - “A Grand Don’t Come For Free”
General Description
Artist/Band: The Streets
Album Title: A Grand Don’t Come For Free
Year: 2004
Just a nice and interesting discovery.
How I Got Into This Music
Well.. A coupla months ago I saw the video for “Dry Your Eyes“ and like a lot of people, I got hooked on the incredible mix of classic moody blues combined with English slang rap. But what really turned my head around was when I even heard the song on the radio over in Curacao during my vacation last August. After that I kept telling meself to have a listen, but of course, I got distracted by Life In General ;o)
Then the second single “Blinded By The Lights“ came out and I knew it was time to get serious with The Streets aka Mike Skinner.
“Mike Skinner is still a major and original UK talent and, two albums in, genre freaks still won’t be able to decide where to file him. Which can only be a good thing.“ - BBC Music
Tracks that got my attention:
It Was Supposed To Be So Easy
Life where everything can go wrong. Takes getting used to the vocals, but the beat is incredible!
Could Well Be In
Funny and intelligent lyrics, great song
Blinded By The Lights
Great skill in lyrics: a night out with the lads can be a bit eventful and now we can take a peek into what’s going on in their heads
Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way
Chorus is haunting me brain for days!
Get Out Of My House
UK Garage at its best! Bloody great insight into relationships
Dry Your Eyes
Incredible song. I’m enjoying the image of people buying the album because they loved this single (I called it the RHCP effect)
Conclusion
What can I say? The album is a soundtrack to a small story about a small soul in a small world: urban mediocrity and how to live with it. Which wouldn’t be that impressive if it wasn’t for the great lyrics and sometimes incredible sound production. What I like about the album is the fact that it’s fresh, a word sodomised by record execs and underground wannebees, but in this case it’s justified. Mike Skinner’s made an album that takes different musical styles and genres and combines that with a great narrative that appeals to most people even if they don’t like UK Garage or Slang Rap.
Rating: 
May 18th, 2006 at 11:38 pm
[...] Terrible Child.. How I Got Into This MusicWell, about a year and a half ago I discovered this band and I reviewed their previous album. So, now I thought I’d review this one.. [...]