This album is a let-down compared to Original Pirate Material. Skinner's schtick wears thin early on when all he does is gripe about poor me type sh!t. At least with OPM there was some edge to the beats and his delivery was refreshingly different and varied between tracks. Now he seems to have shifted to cruise control, making some kind of "concept album" using presumably an episode of his own life as the muse. The result- listenable but unimpressive. The critics have been jizzing over this album but I can't believe they've actually listened to it, or if so they must not have heard OPM first. Anyway, they've got me scratching my head, cause I don't get all the fuss.… Expand

I can't stand this cd. Theres a few good parts but the majority of the cd is incredibly difficult to listen to. The tracks sound good but the british accent totally works against getting a flow going as far as word-play goes.

You can't have but high expectations for this eagerly anticipated second installment from The Streets. Original Pirate Material rang out promises of originality, marrying an unusual blend of 2-step/British garage, hip hop and lucid lyrics, and you?re led to believe that at last, British hip hop is capable of coming all unto its own. You thought that if someone?s going to do, it may as well be Mike Skinner. A Grand Don?t Come Free is a severe disappointment. All at once, the album is bland, elementary, repetitive, and a waste of time. The lyrics are watery and boring. Skinner is locked into some moronic quest to make good his mediocre, day-to-day existence, which quite frankly is not ?street?. It's not clever nor is it artistic. It?s dreary and I am not sure Skinner really tried that hard. More astonishingly, it?s garnering overrated and bloated reviews coast to coast from many of music?s fiercest critics. I can only reason that reviewers (mostly the Americans) who like Skinner's style may find his social commentary on Brit youth culture more fascinating than what whinging poms like me feel about this album, which is as appetizing as pig tripe. … Expand

I hope my vote brings down the overall score for this terrible album. It's a shame I beleived waht was written in these high-score reviews for A Grand.... after listening to it, I 100% disagree with all of them. Come on people, you made me waste my money on a crap album. You're suppose to critics, not lemmings.

Will never top the first album, especially not with this effort.

This is the epitome of awful music. His ryhmes, or lack thereof, are a mindless dribble of nonsense. II admit that nothing else sounds like this; but to many people are influenced into thinking that it is good because of that.This is bad music; there is no flow, there is no good content, and there is only a slow, lethargic and rough stream of noise. I think that the beats are good but to put such rubbish over the beats is sacrilege. Not one critic has given a good reason as to why he believes that this is a good album. The fact that this album got such high reviews just goes to show how biased these pundits are towards new concepts. Critics laud those who make new extreme, albiet awful, music while critizing those who make good rock or hip-hop albums. A Grand Don't Come For Free is just cut and dry bad music. Do yourself a favor and pick up some good music.… Expand

I'm pretty sure I could also make an album that sounded "like nothing else..." unfortunately it would be total garbage, just like this one. Call it lost in translation, say Americans just don't get it, whatever you want....this is annoying to the ear right off the bat, and it doesn't change the 2nd time around, either.

he's talking, thats it he's talking with a slight hint of a rythm plain bollocks

How people can listen to The Streets in the first place baffles me! He doesn't sing or rap, he just talks! Who cares about listnening to stories about fast food and complaining about his broken TV, etc. The Streets for me, are overrated and just plain boring. And for his comparison with Eminem, he's not even in the same league!

this is just some bloke talking over elevator music ain't it. the 1 is for fit but don't you know it vid, but the album is shit

I just didn't get it. It's highly-rated, but it seemed more like talking over electronica than music to me.

too sweet

Reminds me if David Brent from BBC's The Office made a rap album. mike Skinner can't rap, he just speaks in a brit accent over crappy beats. How does this get such great reviews? Just awful

Excruciating. It may be supposed to be a parody of Eminem - it sounds a lot like Jilted John, which was definitely a parody of punk - and if so it's grimly hilarious. Otherwise...

This guy is pretty terrible. Sorry. The white critics just love it when they find a white rapper who is unique but still inoffensive. Sure he is different, but seriously, his rhymes are elementary, the beats are sparse (and simple beats is not a progressive niche, hip hop has had that since the beginning), and while he does weave a somewhat interesting story for each track you must realize that when you have unrestricted lyrics due to simple or even nonexistent rhymes it's pretty easy to tell a story over a beat. At least he is not as bad as Dizzee Rascal, jesus that guy is shit. You want some progressive hip hop? Go check out the Anticon label, Atmosphere, or Sage Francis.… Expand

This album is not an album. It's not even music. There's no harmony, no tune, and they don't actually sing. Not once. At all. Zilch. And at the times when they attempt to do so they are way out of tune. In short, S**T.

What the hell is this crap? What is it that I don't get that everybody else seems to? I don't see any musical insight in here at all. In fact, this CD actually was painful to listen too. Odd tempos, bad timing, tuneless singing (when there is any). This CD is amazingly bad. I always thought I had an open mind about music. Now I'm not so sure.

Please. This man is single-handedly making 'chavs' (a new form of human street rat) accepted in my country. We must wipe these people out before they steal our precious time and money. Culture will judge you if you like this