Product Description

'Alright Still' is the debut album from comedian Keith Allen's daughter Lily Allen. Taking inspiration from her London surroundings and the music collection of her parents, Allen delivers a mix of ska, punk, hip-hop and rock with a hefty dose of pop. The album includes the extremely limited 7" single 'LDN' as well as 'Smile'.

Track Listing

1. Smile
2. Knock 'Em Out
3. LDN
4. Everything's Just Wonderful
5. Not Big
6. Friday Night
7. Shame For You
8. Littlest Things
9. Take What You Take
10. Friend Of Mine
11. Alfie

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1806 in Music
• Released on: 2006-07-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
Being, as she is, the daughter of prominent British actor Keith Allen, the cynics could easily dismiss the rise of Lily Allen as an act of backroom nepotism, talent-free starlet helped to the stage by the right connections. One listen to her debut album Alright, Still, dispels any doubts about young Ms Allen’s star quality. Possessed of a feisty wit and taste for urban storytelling that should see her compared to Mike "The Streets" Skinner, these eleven tracks of sunshine-friendly reggae pop cover topics including frustrating potential closing-time suitors ("Knock ‘Em Out"), being happy when your ex is having a bad time ("Smile"), and having a little brother who likes a bit of a smoke--and not just of the tobacco variety ("Alfie"). Wisely, however, Allen doesn’t let the grittiness of the subject matter tarnish the golden pop suss of the songs, a suite of gleaming productions by names including Mark Ronson and Gwen Stefani collaborator Greg Kurstin that take inspiration from at the lighter end of reggae and vintage rocksteady. Doubtless some corners of the press will pillory her as a poor role model, but there’s an engaging honesty to the likes of "LDN" - a love song to a city filled with teenage muggers, pimps and crackwhores, narrated by someone who’s cycling because "the filth took away my license". Like father, like daughter .--Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

decent but held back by childish rants
When it came out i felt at the time it was an album that signalled the start of the summer with sunny pop kissed tracks like "Knock em out", "Smile" and "LDN" and the cheesy catchy "Alfie" but i felt someone should have been there to rub the rough edges off her lyrics which started to be downright childish with the potty mouthed swearing and veering on the malacious especially on the track "Not Big" whilst making a poor attempt at an rnb/ballad in "Littlest Things".

If she is to do any better on her second album whenever it sees the light of day she should start growing up a little and be more precise with herself and the lyrics instead of repeating a tried and tested formula that has long gone past its sell by date!

Reggae-lite chav pop with a dirty mouth
I'm in two minds about this album, as indeed I am about the artist. Bright young talent? Or spoilt little rich girl slumming it for street cred? Hmm it's a tough one. Here's my gripe with the album: on one hand, it opens with 3 gloriously catchy, sharp, sunny pop songs: the ubiquitous 'Smile', 'Knock 'em Out' and 'LDN'. After that, it all goes downhill a bit; her potty mouth and jibes soon get not only old but rather mean-spirited ('Not Big' is just plain nasty), and the pop-reggae-electro backing gets tired too. Whilst there is some wit on display here in the lyrics (mainly the first 3 tracks again), too many numbers rely on choruses repeated ad infinitum (tracks 9 and 10 being major culprits here). The last few songs in particular I found really disappointing: 'Littlest Things' is a lame attempt at some kind of R&B piano ballad, and capping it all off with a silly tune about her brother really ruins it. So overall, there are flashes of greatness here, but the general impression is that Lily Allen is a bit of a one-trick pony, and whilst her big mouth+swearing+pop/reggae hooks formula works brilliantly in short doses, it's far less effective when stretched over a whole album, even one that runs barely to 40mins. And what's up with the mastering? The sound is very distorted, reading elsewhere this seems to be a common complaint. The bottom line: if you can get it cheap I would do so just for the first three songs, they are great.

Chav Reggae Pop for the NOW moment
It's clever, contemporary and coarse, but where does Lily Allen's debut album fit in? My over-riding irritation wasn't the music but the poor recording standard - it was 'over-blown' which makes it sound loud when it's not, and makes it near impossible to actually turn up the volume because it sounds as if the speakers will be damaged. I guess that's not the performer's fault (is it?) but it was a severe distraction for me. Other than that there was a hint of Gwen Stefani about the lyrics, albeit London-ified, and if truth be told without some of the American girl's real singing ability. I think you either like Lily Allen or you don't, and I can understand both sides. Favourite track: Littlest Things. She's different, but I can't help but feel that Amy Winehouse has done a much better job of turning urban angst and personal issues into songs that stand up on their own whether you actually listen to the words or not. It's a different style, of course, but there's a rawness that Amy can call upon if she wants to that - in my humble opinion - isn't in Lily's locker. Sharp-witted and observant? Yes. Will I be listening to it a few years from now? I doubt it.