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The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living
 
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The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living [CD]

The Streets | Format: Audio CD
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
Price: £3.79 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Biography

It’s all of one minute and fourteen seconds into the fifth and final Streets album before you realise that Mike Skinner has found a way of pushing things forward at the same time as bringing The Streets’ story full circle.

Computers and Blues crams everything Mike Skinner has learnt in the course of his very personal five album odyssey into a package as irresistibly box-fresh as his game-changing… Read more in Amazon's The Streets Store

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The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living + Original Pirate Material + A Grand Don'T Come For Free
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  • In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
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  • Original Pirate Material ~ The Streets Audio CD £4.70

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  • A Grand Don'T Come For Free ~ The Streets Audio CD £3.49

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Product details

  • Audio CD (10 April 2006)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: CD
  • Label: 679 RECORDINGS
  • ASIN: B000EQ5IG6
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,955 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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1. Prangin Out
2. War Of The Sexes
3. The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living
4. All Goes Out The Window
5. Memento Mori
6. Can't Con An Honest John
7. When You Wasn't Famous
8. Never Went To Church
9. Hotel Expressionism
10. Two Nations
11. Fake Streets Hats

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

When hedonism tips into overindulgence, when the champagne fizz of pop stardom goes stale, that’s where you’ll find The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living--the third album from Mike Skinner’s The Streets. We fall in at the deep end with "Pranging Out", the sound of a spiky Mike "fresh" off tour and trying to booze his way out of a five-month hangover, contemplating that "the rock’n’roll cliché just walked in and smacked me".

As ever, though, the music here is thoroughly individual and frequently hilarious: the Mission Impossible-tinged "Hotel Expressionism" sees trashing a room raised to the status of artform, while the reflective "Two Nations"--an open letter to deceased rapper Notorious BIG--sees Skinner swell with pride as he recalls the UK giving America the legacy of John Lennon, "Even though you shot him as well". Meanwhile, two gospel tracks, "Never Went To Church" and "All Goes Out The Window", make a bid to be this album’s "Dry Your Eyes".

All in all, it’s Skinner’s most bitty, fractured album so far--not quite the gobsmacking state-of-the-nation address of 2002’s Original Pirate Material and lacking the immersive narrative of A Grand Don’t Come For Free--but no one makes a record like Mike Skinner makes a record, and even going out of his head, he’s never less than entertaining.--Louis Pattison

BBC Review

In a world obsessed with the minutiae of D-list 'stars' and their tragi-comic dysfunctionalism, who needs another autobiographical album whinging about the hardships of success? Luckily Mike Skinner, the man who is The Streets, has a more perceptive and honest eye than most.

Filled with tales of self-loathing, drug abuse and the creative wasteland of fame, you might expect The Hardest Way... to be devoid of laughs. Not a chance; songs like "When You Wasn't Famous" (don't snort coke in front of the camera phones, starlets!), and "Memento Mori" (the best retail therapy song, ever) show Mike can still find comedy among the chaos.

His serious points - particularly on "Two Nations" and "Never Went To Church" - seem a little at odds with the very (self-imposed) disposable nature of his work, and his Eminem-style use of nursery rhyme tunes can pall over a whole album. Yet at 39 minutes Skinner's already learned that less is more. And that honesty is still the best policy in the fight against mediocrity. --Chris Jones

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By boyo
Format:Audio CD
When I first heard Has it come to this I hated it, a few months later I had the album and thought the streets were amazing. When I first heard fit but you know it I hated, a few months later I had the album and loved the streets even more. And when I first heard when you wasnt famous I hated that but now got the new album and at first..............hated it!

3 days later I love it and just feel people dont get it. Theres some class songs on this album; 'momento mori',and 'cant con an honest john' being my fave. Hes rich and famous now and tells his stories that at first may sound like he's showing off really just say its not all its cracked up to be.....

I think street fans'll love it but if you werent a fan before then this wont change your mind!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Skins In 10 April 2006
Format:Audio CD
If you were hoping for a repeat of 'A Grand Don't Come For Free' you've come to the wrong house, but if you were looking (as I was) for a repeat of some of the poetic insight of 'Original Pirate Material then this could well float your boat. The Streets third studio album combines much of the winning ingredients of the first releases and certainly appears to have recreated some the magic of 'OPM'. While 'A Grand...' combinbed numerous themes, the common thread here is fame and fortune aren't all they cracked up to be, and while there's nothing particularly groundbreaking, there are certainly some catchy tunes. As with the previous albums, listen to it at least three times before making a call either way.

From the opening pain of 'Pranging Out' (charting the hell that is a Grade A comedown), through to 'Fake Street Hats', there is no real 'Dry Your Eyes' remake anywhere, although Skinner has produced some edgier material and appears to be having a dark night of the soul...he does tip his hat to Johnny Cash in 'Two Nations', and so this may have something to do with it!

While I loved 'A Grand...', I have always thought 'OPM' to be the superior record, and so for me this album delivers in more ways than one. Listening to 'Can't Con An Honest John' there is certainly plenty of the original charm and innovation. It's a tough call but the best track is probably 'Never Went To Church', a heartfelt ode to Skinner's dead father.
The two previous albums have undoubtedly been a hard act to follow, and from the sound of some of the material, Skinner was lucky to get this far!

Despite the criticsms Skinner is still streets ahead (no pun intended) of the competition on either side of the Atlantic, and if you're already a fan, you won't be dissapointed. If you're new to Mikey then check out the earlier material first.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Its Quite Good 10 April 2006
Format:Audio CD
I used to hate the streets when the first single came out, but i was given a grand dont come for free as a joke by a freind as they knew how much i hated them, and i listened to it out of boredom and it was amazing. this album is no where near as good as AGDCFF but it is still quite good, the lyrics are well thought out and funny in places, the beats are fuller than in other albums and it does have decent moments of seriousness like in other albums, this album has become less of a tale of trying to become famous and make money, this album is about having money and the troubles that come with it.
go buy it, you be dissapointed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Skinner's Worst Moment
Having loved the previous 2 albums, I bought this on advance purchase back in 2006... I tried and tried, but I really can't enjoy it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Richard Hall
Great CD
I bought all of the Streets' albums. I would have rated 5-stars, but a number of the CD cases were broken when they arrived.
Published 10 months ago by Ed Byrne
AMAZING
Yet another instant classic from the best of the british rap/garage/R&B scene. Its a must buy. Mike Skinner just gets better and better. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2006 by C. Pelleymounter
disapointment
i dont really like the new album

they all sound kinda like when you wasnt famous

if u liked that song then you should buy it

but i thought it was... Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2006 by Ms. S. A. Franklin
Tough being famous
I'm a big streets fan after "A Grand Dont Come For Free" and this didnt dissapoint. Although this lacks the excellent narrative story telling of the previous albumn and doesnt... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2006 by S. Johnson
A downward slide
Now having read all these reviews i wasnt suprised at the variance of opinion. This album is OK. Hardcore Streets fans like myself will love it, because Mike Skinner is a genius in... Read more
Published on 31 May 2006 by Rat M'Scrat
Ignore the negatives
I read all your reviews before beuying this album and im glad i ignored the majority because this album is classic Streets. The lyrics actually mean something. Read more
Published on 3 May 2006 by Mr. R. T. Burns
Lazy Skinner
This album is weak! He must have just made it to pay his bills. Gone are the real street references we can all relate to. Read more
Published on 1 May 2006 by William Burroughs
The Streets are back
Mike skinner is back for the 3rd time and i am a bit dissapointed to be honest. From the commercial 'success of dry your eyes' (even though it was great) mike sings to many... Read more
Published on 28 April 2006 by Mr. Blue R. Oconnor
Good, but shame to see a slight drop in standard...
Coming off the back of two hugely successful albums, it was always going to be difficult for Skinner to pull out a third of such a high standard. Read more
Published on 25 April 2006 by Mr. Nigel M. Chown
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