Track Listing

1. Prangin' Out
2. War Of The Sexes
3. 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 Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4125 in Music
• Released on: 2006-04-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

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

CD Description
Third studio album from Mike Skinner aka The Streets. This is the follow-up to 2004's critically acclaimed triple platinum album 'A Grand Don't Come For Free'. Self-produced by Skinner, the majority of this album was recorded whilst touring during 2005. Includes the singles 'When You Wasn't Famous'and 'Never Went To Church.'

Customer Reviews

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 his time (much like Eminem, but thats a different story).

However this album is not better than "A Grand dont come for Free" or better than "Original Pirate Material" which if you havent got either is WELL WORTH THE PURCHASE!!

This album is a great album, with some great tunes, however it doesnt flow, some of the songs are Ropey and i feel they have slightly lost their way.

As a whole the album is worth a buy!!
I have enjoyed it in my car for the last few weeks!!

why dont you actually try listening to the thing.......................
from where i am sitting it seems that the majority of people reviewing this album have bought the new Streets CD, listened to it on the way home, and judged it. The Streets have never been about that, not with regard to thier albums any way. If you want to get the full value of the entire album you must invest your time in it, and just like all the other streets albums you will reap the rewards.
Take the time to listen again, a few times, and you might notice that Mike skinners skills have moved on fairly dramatically since a grand dont come for free, story telling, lyrical delivery ,and the loops in the background are far superior to most of his previous stuff. Yeah, and i think that i will just back-up what some other observant reviewers have noticed, HE IS SINGING ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HIM AT THE TIME, JUST LIKE HE ALWAYS HAS!!!!!! what, you want him to start lying??!!!
i like this album, in fact, the album as awhole is a hell of a lot better than a grand dont come for free, granted it doesnt have any songs that can match 'dry your eyes' or 'blinded by the lights' but on the whole it is a much more complete listening experiance. You just have to give a little of yourself to it to get all the benefits.
Of course, if its instant pop gratification that your after, i agree the Street new album is rubbish and i would probably go and buy the new McFly album, but then you probably already have that......

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 quite hit the same dizzying heights this is still quality. Mikey Skinner impresses again with the ode to his Dad in "Never Went to Church" and lets rip in "When u Wasnt Famous". This is typical streets Mikey banging on about life and fame and the changes it brings - the mans still a genius and hasnt sold out just yet.