its good

A modern day flaneur, creating a philosophy upon the most mundane of daily activities. His concept is simple; it just a day in the life of Mike Skinner.

Brilliant!!! let all the naysayers eat a D$#@. We love you M.S. keep it comin.RESPECT

Doesn't have the stand out tracks of Original Pirate Material, but still is a great collection of musings. "Empty Cans" is a brilliant record.

Pure Quality! Great story on top of good beats. Dry Your eyes is by far The Streets best ever song.

its of the hook

The album that follows a successful debut LP presents a significant problem. Do you rinse, wash and repeat the previous formula, hoping that it will sound just as good the second time round, or do you attempt to explore new territory with the risk of alienating old fans and failing to acquire new ones? A copy-cat album would most likely have seen The Streets branded as a one hit wonder parody and this undoubtedly played on his mind as he attempted to conjure up an album that would stay true to his everyday UK style roots whilst, at the same time, charting new waters. This he has achieved by producing an intoxicating mix of old and new. There are many thematic similarities between 'A Grand Don't Come For Free' and 'Original Pirate Material'. For 'Blinded By The Lights' read 'Weak Become Heroes'. For 'Fit But You Know It' read 'Don't Mug Yourself'. For 'Dry Your Eyes' read 'It's Too Late'. But it's here that the similarities end, for unlike its predecessor, 'A Grand Don't Come For Free' can be loosely termed a concept album. But unlike the pretentious art-rock efforts of years gone by, AGDCFF is not a po-faced attempt at communicating the meaning of life to a mentally … Expand

great albumn and even better when hes live!!

This CD is incredible. I can listen to it all the time and get something new from it. To Trust or not to Trust that is the name of the Game.

This album is difficult to define. It's like "The Office" meets "The Wall" or something. The quality of the rapping (or talking) and music is usually nothing to write your homies about, but somehow the end result works great. I've listened to it about five times now straight through, and I rarely listen to albums straight through. Great piece of work they made.

Some of the most unique beats I've ever heard. This album is well put-together. An enjoyable story that gets better with each listen. Get this album any way you can! A must-hear.

Mike Skinner took a lot of risks to make this album. The first time I listened to it, I thought that is was less than Original Pirate Material, but the more you listen to it, the more the pieces fall together. Briljant album; if this is the best album of 2004, I think we have no right to complain.

master pece for the first time in a long time it's an album thats moved me

Bloody Superb!!!!

Brilliant!!! let all the naysayers eat a D$#@. We love you M.S. keep it comin.RESPECT

Brilliant!!! let all the naysayers eat a D$#@. We love you M.S. keep it comin.RESPECT

GRAND DONT COME FOR FREE is a really majestic album. I find The Strees a great new breath of good shit. Keep it up, yeah.

This Cd is one of those that gets better and better with each listen. A Grand Dont Come For Free sounds completely original and moving on from the made for schoolgirls poppy hip hop and garage scenes. This Cd isnt about the music or skinners vocal talent, which arent tewrrible but not outstanding, but his delivery is spot on, moreover the lyrics are honest, funny, witty and expressive. Its more like looking into the mind of the average british teenager, listening to his thoughts and events. This is what makes it stand out as a modern classic. Some may not get how listening to someone talking is music, and maybe it isnt exactly, but I just cant get enough of the humour and intelligent lyrics. And pretty much anyone can relate to the lyrics. Skinner isnt the British equivalent of eminem, its nothing to do with him being white or anything like that. The Streets is in a class of his own, and this album is a classic.… Expand

this is a great album that holds a hidden story if listned to correctli

Best album I've come across in about a decade. Well, five years at least.

yea!!

at the end of the record, you feel as if you have reached nirvana

This album is amazing. Mike Skinner talks about the most normal things in the most minute detail that really makes you think. If you pay attention, the songs all together also tell a story, which is something I've never heard before. Much more polished and together than "Original Pirate Material."

Great Album. Even better in concert. Although for me Original Pirate Material is still my favorite Skinner album.

I am AMAZED!

the whole album story is greatly depicted, very nice tracks and awesome beats, esp "blinded by the light" and "dry your eyes"

Better than OPM. MUCH better. This album is a true storytelling classic

The spirit of Ian Drury lives on .

mint

this album is truly original and uniqe i give it 10 out of ten because i am totally in love with this album.

The first song I heard off of this album was What Is He Thinking...I was drunk off a couple of forties, and my brother and I were making a jingle for the top twenty underground music count down in Wisconsin...we thought the song was terrible, and an hour later we were kind of curious and went back and played track one. We listened to every word from track one to the last track, and didn't really say anything about it because we'd spent ten or twenty minutes dissing it earlier, saying how we rap a billion times better, and blah blah. Over the next few days, we kept finding each other listenening to a song and quickly closing the window when the other walked in. This album, we eventually decided, was the best hiphop album in a fukin' long time. His rhyme's suck, his flow is a bit off, and a lot of thug types we played it to said it was crap, but the guy's a poet. He's not the "Eminem Of British Rap"--he's Guy Ritchie of rap music. Everything about this album is perfected, as far as I'm concerned. When he sounds as though he's reading off a piece of paper, it's as though he has formed a picture and wants us to appreciate it word for word, not ride along to the crappy beats. I was surprised by how many people liked this album; I thought no one would understand the story and the real life shit that went into this. Everyone I play it for, though, is hooked. Whatever. Its a hell of an album, and it ranks on my top ten favorite albums, and will for a long time. Anyone who's bit fucked over once or twice, and is paranoid about life, knows about empty cans. Seth of the 12 Professors.… Expand

Great album... nobody and i say nobody makes this kind of music.. inovative and extreem. Lyrics that people can relate to and maybe even some phylosofie in the tracks Brilliant

just 1 word for this album BRILLIANT !!!

One of the best CD's released in the past few years. It doesn't matter if you like rap or not, you should listen to this album.

This disc is brilliant.

Mike is a class above everyone else.Brilliant album.Get it.

exceptional album.

It took guts to make a concept album in the genre, great stuff

At first listen i didn't think this record was beter than "Original Pirate Material." I was wrong...Mike has showned me a side of him i didn't think he had in him. Good job mate...keep up the good work.

Genius. Make sure you listen to it from start to finish.

cool

I love it!

This album requires some time and some attention, but if a listener is willing to spend enough of both, he or she will be able to appreciate an album that better captures the importance and significance of everyday events than any other I've ever heard. Mike Skinner simultaneously rejects and worships a wide range of musical genres in order to combine them into whatever will capture the part of his story he is sharing with us at the time. Truly a transcendent work.… Expand

If you are expecting Original Pirate Material then you are expecting too much. What Mike Skinner did with his debut is not repeated here wit A Grand Don't Come for Free. A Grand is it's entity, chalk full of narative, a great lead character in the pill popping s Skinner himself, and a ssupporting cast full of turncoat mates, angry birds and fit as all hellll beeyatches. Skinner is telling a tale of woe that we all go through from time to time . He has given a voice to the self aware youth that reside in the urban landscapes of not only London but NYC ,Chicago, LA, etc. A Grand is a triuphant narrative that is mixed into a personal soundscape of pots and pans beatss, machine-gun fire guitars, chilled out after party grooves, and a doubled up surprise ending that is not only told once but rewound and told again. From which perspective do ou believe is purely upto the listener. The Streets are the shiznitz. hands down one of the best albums of the year.… Collapse

A great album and so special becuase MIke Skinner truly is making music like no one else. Original Pirate Material was, song for song, probably a better record, but this one is so intriguing and works so well becuase Skinner's ability to tell a truly engrossing story over the course of this cd's eleven tracks. great stuff.

1 of the best albums ever skinners jus wicked and it was the best concert ive bin 2 an its great music 2 get lost in

This album is definetly best when listened to in it's entirety. Definetly unique and innnovative.

Skinner is lyrically amazing. His songs flow is great, and is accent while rapping is an amazing asset to his songs. He can take really normal situations, and relay them in a perfect sence.

A great follow-up album and depicts a young-single man's life with his mates, girls and money excellently

i love this album its great. blinded by the lights is awesome

I hate rap, and I mean REALLY HATE. But this album? it's absolutely fantastic - It's just plain unique, Skinner has created an absolutely amazing, unique and creative album that has nothing else to compare with. Some nice easy background music. 100% recommended - and just to reiterate, I _HATE_ rap, but BUY THIS!

First off, THIS IS NOT HIP-HOP OR RAP! THIS IS NOT your normal music. So for all of you who expect that and can't handle a truly new form of music, move on. This is for those of you that GET music, that recognize someone that is not only good for creating something new, but also for the genious it. It's a form of spoken word over overly complex programming...mostly off beat. This album is a story. It's emotion. It's human. The beats are random at first, but organized and structured perfectly to complement Skinner's delivery. A Grand creates a world for the listener to drop into. It's not your life, it's not what you're used to hearing, and that's the whole point. It's a reflection of experiences, of maturing, but still maintaining one's identity. From the unknowing opening to the retrospective conclusion, most people should be able to relate to this. A stellar follow up to Original Pirate Material, and one count the days until the release of The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living and see how Mike's perception of life has changed.… Expand

Incredible, unique, - a genius is born.

It's at least as good as his first album.

Americans don't get this record. LOL at Americans.

Really cool album! People who say that they don't get it just don't listen to the words or even the music. The story is really cool and the beats are backing vocals are great. (Try out Dizzee Rascal's Boy In Da Corner if you like this) It may at first be a little hard to get used to (being American, it's hard to at first get past the accent) but it's ultimately rewarding!

Incredible record. When I first listened to it, years ago, I was vaguely impressed, but not engaged. After a few listens some songs started sticking out, I began caring about the narrative more and more. Songs I hated became incredible, all leading up to one of the best closing songs of all time, Empty Cans. If you don't care for it now, give it a listen every 3 or 4 months, you may come around to love it.… Expand

This album was great!

this is what hip hop COULD be, but instead we have to listen to Petey Pablo.

A Grand... ...the answer to hip hop with meaning

Masterpiece.

Truly extraordinary. Like a difficult novel, it bears repeated readings, each of which reveals more of a story, each layer of which is increasingly complex and substantially more satisfying.

complete original anybody who slates this album will be eating their words in years to come, a sure classic!!!

This almost seems as a sort of homage to the narritive form that one would find in such rock opera's as Quadrophenia or Tommy. Yet, this seems to be executed much better than that. Yes, it's a story, but its a wonderful piece of music as well. It is good to know that someone in the hip hop genre still has innovation on their side. Mike Skinner does not dissappoint.

Crackin album, And wicked live act!

This isnt just an album here; its a story. Mike Skinner transforms simple mundane daily activities into something smart and relevant without comprimising musical content.

Although not as revolutionary as OPM, AGDCFF still impresses the mind. It's obvious that Mikee hasn't lost his skill of master storytelling, but at some points the flow gives way to the story. Still, an album I will be listening to for years to come. Cheap too, making this as essential as the pricier OPM.

Wow. From the first word I was swept off my feet into the middle of London, watching the world pass by with a new, fresh perspective. Who knew simple speech could be so profound?

Shit man! awsome : )

Now, I know a lot of you think that this album is shit.. but you're all wrong! There's no-one else I have heard that can make an album that tells a story the way Mike does on this. I also don't think that this is only an album for hip-hop lovers cos anyone who loves good lyrics, tunes and catchiness should love this..... but thats only my opinion!

A refreshingly contemporary, listenable hip-hoppish, gen Y Everyman. My daughters played it this week and this baby boomer was instantly engaged... bought a legit copy of the CD for myself

A simply brilliant album. Has to be heard to be believed. Great story

Got this for

One of my favorite albums of all time. When I first got this album I didn't really understand it. Then the song 'Empty Can's came up randomly on my shuffle on my MP3 player about six months later. I was absolutely blown away by the lyrics and immediately played the entire album from start to finish the way it was met to be. A fun and moving album that really relates to pretty much any of us who fell in love at an early age, made a ton of mistakes, and eventually needed to pick themselves back up again.… Expand

One of the best albums I have listened to in a long time.

brilliant from beginning to end,that all I need to say.

This album is big in the game! Tells a quality story throughout and tells it from an average person's point of view from getting high to heart break. Quality stuff!

Such an amazing album with such an amazing title. This is such a unique album and deserves a lot of good reviews, in this album was most of their greatest songs including blinded by the lights and fit but you know it.