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A Grand Don't Come for Free
The Streets
Retail Price (not our price): $12.98
Release Date: 2004-05-18
Manufacturer: Vice/Atlantic
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
With beats that mix hip-hop, R&B, and UK garage, A Grand Don't Come For Free, like its impressive predecessor Original Pirate Material (2002), transforms the everyday and the mundane into the terms of an epic. British rapper Mike Skinner captures the simple details of a simple existence that inhabits the lower levels of the middle class. But whereas Original Pirate Material was more about everyday life on the streets, this follow-up is more about everyday life in the flat--mom's kitchen, my mate's living room, my girl's couch. The Streets has fallen in love, and his raps narrate the adventures and misadventures of this romance. In all, it is a concept album that places greater emphasis on storytelling rather than on the music, which is often spare with little or no enhancements. With some songs expressing the beauty of love and others expressing the pleasures of drugs, the Streets is still holding it down for the UK. --Charles Mudede

2) Album Description
Mike Skinner, the musical mastermind behind The Streets, once again melds hip-hop, dub, ska, UK garage beats, and his unique rhyme style to deliver a sound like nothing else. Instead of the snapshot imagery of the last album, "Original Pirate Material", "A Grand..." is one continuous narrative, following Skinner through a day of victories, defeats, and battles.

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5

1) Interesting...   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
When i first listened to this CD through a friend i was intrigued, after carefully listening and being open minded i found myself being bored. Overall its a decent CD but nothing overly special or unique.

2) A Real Musical Treat   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This work is original and very good. I recommend it to anyone interested in unique talents like Streets. I have noticed a trend with English groups that represent a poetic sense coupled with a feel for Anglo hiphop.Dry your eyes mate!

3) Funny, fresh, different   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
I like The Hardest Way album even better but A Grand is very good, too. Some songs made me laugh out loud and still I can't help but grin when I hear them. I appreciate it when an artist has a unique way of looking at everyday experiences and Mike certainly does that.

4) Excellent CD transcends genre boundaries   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
The Streets, effectively rapper Mike Skinner's vehicle, come into their own on "A Grand Don't Come for Free". While Skinner's debut, "Original Pirate Material", got by on unique beats and Skinner's unusual delivery, "A Grand Don't Come For Free" works just as well on a song-by-song basis, but is also a surprisingly cohesive and moving concept album about relationships and friendship. The album tells the story of the beginning and end of a relationship, matched thematically by the loss and search for a thousand pounds. Sound dull? Quite simply, it isn't. Skinner's take on the mundane is both familiar and insightful. Highlights abound, from the humorous and catchy "Could Well Be In" to the heartbreaking (and only single) "Dry Your Eyes". Trying to characterize Skinner in a particular genre (hip-hop, garage, etc.) is useless - no CD in 2004 was as funny, melodic, or moving as "A Grand Don't Come for Free". No music lover should miss it.

5) Ain't that the truth   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Some of my friends really like it, some really don't. Good stories in the songs. I like it.