Product Description

This is the debut release from The Streets, aka Mike Skinner. Tales of inner-city life are mixed with garage beats and rumbling basslines - but Skinner offers a different take on the urban garage style made popular by So Solid Crew. The single, 'Has It Come To This' is included.

Track Listing

1. Turn The Page
2. Has It Come To This
3. Let's Push Things Forward
4. Sharp Darts
5. Same Old Thing
6. Geezer's Need Excitement
7. It's Too Late
8. Too Much Brandy
9. Don't Mug Yourself
10. Who Got The Funk?
11. Irony Of It All
12. Weak Become Heroes
13. Who Dares Wins
14. Stay Positive

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9542 in Music
• Released on: 2002-03-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
In a thrilling UK Garage scene, blighted only by a reliance on drippy soul cliché and tiresome braggadocio, The Streets' eminently quotable Mike Skinner may just be the voice to take it to the next level with Original Pirate Material. This debut is a staggeringly eloquent and fearlessly honest snapshot of gritty street-level existence, as experienced by an ordinary bloke. At first listen, the Birmingham-born Skinner's cheeky cockney affectations grate slightly. But for every line that makes you squirm, there's 20 that drop your jaw. "Has It Come To This?" is "A day in the life of a geezer", a seductive encapsulation of London lifestyle, presented raw as a bootleg, but bulging with sharp wit and feverish detail. "Stay Positive" weaves a fearful tale of heroin addiction, Skinner sneering "I ain't no preaching fucker/ An' I ain't no do-goodie-goodie either/ This is when shit goes pear-shaped". And "The Irony of It All" presents a beguiling case for legalisation, presenting a fictional exchange between a beered-up, self-righteous lager lout and a fey student weed enthusiast. Original Pirate Material is a milestone, the real voice of British youth set down on record. Don't miss this.--Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Brilliant - Buy it.
Heard a track off this album on late night radio - I was hooked.
This guy is a genius - can't get enough of it.

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"This ain't a track, it's a movement"

This ain't music, it's vicious observation. While the likes of Lily Allen and Kate Nash rely on trite "say what you see" lyrics and try to pass it off as social critique, Mike Skinner dissects what he sees with the skill and precision of a surgeon. Pasty, middle-class chav or glorious poet? Bit of both, really. I nod my head through the entirety of Original Pirate Material, both to the beat and in agreement. You see, I live this album; whether it's just me looking at the world around me or through personal experience, every lyric hits home. This is the sound of modern-day Britain in 45 minutes. Yeah, Mike, I know too well the hypocrisy of the government's law on weed, and I also see dodgy, violent guys on those rare occasions that I bother to go out clubbing. No wonder this completely flew by most Americans. Skinner isn't a rapper; he's just a man in a pub, approaching the listener as if he was trying to sell you a dodgy Rolex. This stands alone. "Stay Positive"? Aww man, that's just emotionally crushing.

This is easily the most honest and truly British album released in years and, as a result, it perhaps the realest experience I've ever had with music. Sharp darts, sharp wit. Without shadow.

Long awaited breath of fresh air
At last, something ORIGINAL to emerge from the UK music scene! Clever, dynamic and infectious! I hadn't classed myself as a true blue urban music fan, however, there are a couple of gems on this album: 'Has it come to this?' and It's too late' are particularly inspired.
The biggest change has to be the sense of truth and raw admission. Mike Skinner has finally broken the silence. Perhaps not the album to play during a family Sunday Lunch, but I think we could all learn alot from Mike Skinner.