Detailed item info | Track listing | 1. Pranging Out 2. War of the Sexes 3. Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, The 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 Hat
| | Details | | Producer: | Mike Skinner | | Distributor: | Alternative Dis. Alliance | | Recording type: | Studio | | Recording mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
| | Album notes | The Streets (UK): Mike Skinner (vocals). Additional personnel: Leo The Lion, Ny, Ted Mayhem, The Wayne Hart Singers, Example, Jackie Rawe, Teddy Mitchell, Laura Vane (vocals); Morgan Nicholls (guitar); Eddie Jenkins (keyboards); Johnny Drum Machine (drums). Recording information: The Shed, Bristol, England (2006). As much as Mike Skinner's first two albums chronicled the life of a young working-class British lad struggling to make it in contemporary England, the Streets' third album THE HARDEST WAY TO MAKE AN EASY LIVING is a quasi-concept album about the vagaries of fame and fortune. Rather than rapping about pints, geezers, and Playstations, Skinner's conversational, slang-laden lyrics here are about girls who wouldn't look twice at him before he was a star (the single "When You Wasn't Famous"), the difficulties of coming up with new material ("The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living"), and record company battles ("Fake Streets Hats"). A mere three strong albums into his career, Skinner's Everyman delivery and stripped-down, basement beats have come to exemplify British hip-hop.
| | Editorial reviews | 4 stars out of 5 -- [T]his is a fast-moving set of vignettes which rides its giddy hooks hard....He remains one of Britain's great storytellers. Mojo
4 stars out of 5 -- The lad may get up to no good, but his oeuvre comprises acts of supreme redemption. This is Act III. Uncut
EASY LIVING undercuts potential mo' money, mo' problems cliches with a cheeky self-awareness that transcends national borders. -- Grade: A- Entertainment Weekly
Ranked #18 in Spin's The 40 Best Albums of 2006 -- [The lyrics] retain the warm, intimate vibe of his earlier stuff. Spin
3 stars out of 5 -- Skinner is still a singular rhymer, mixing up soused spluttering, joke asides and change-on-a-dime rhythm patterns with witty narrative detail... Rolling Stone
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