Upgrade your drugs on the streets (The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living: Parental Advisory - The Streets)

Member Name: freediveheaven

Product:	The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living: Parental Advisory - The Streets
Date:	26/10/08 (210 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some excellent lyrics

Disadvantages: Three weak tracks in my opinion

In my not very humble opinion A Grand Don't Come for Free was the best of the four Streets albums produced to date however The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (Easy Living from now on) runs it a close second. In A Grand the whole track list tells out the story of a relationship Skinner (the main writer and singer in the group) had and how he came to question some of his friendships, this was against a back drop of his usual vices, drinking, gambling and drug taking which is mostly focused on grass and E's, now in Easy Living you have a more successful Mike Skinner, a man who has had two successful albums under his belt and is now able to talk about the trappings that success brings, namely sex with celebrities and a better grade of alcohol and drug with Columbian marching powder more in evidence in the lyrics of this album.

Indeed there is a more jaded feel to this album in the form of the lyrics and it reflects a time in his life before he made efforts to clean up his life and move in a healthier direction something that has seen a more socially aware fourth album being released recently. The Street have a garage style of music with the focus on the lyrical poetry of Skinner, this album is similar to previous albums in that it incorporates a range of musical styles with some hard hitting tracks interspersed with some more humorous asides. Drug references and swearing run throughout the album hence it comes with a parental advisory warning.

Prangin Out is a hard hitting opening track detailing the fall out after a recent tour which has seen Skinner reeling from the fall out of a bust up with his management team and the effects of too much cocaine, hence the title of the single, and the repetitive chorus lyrics running under the main rap from Skinner, this is an impressive starting track with a range of samples running through it which helps recreate the sense of emotional imbalance he is experiencing.

There are a couple of weak tracks on this album and War of the Sexes is one of them in my opinion, it starts with a simple repetitive six chord sample and a lead chorus from Leo the Lion that fails to grab my attention and the whole track sort of drifts into a sort of nothing that I'm most likely to just skip while listening to this album. The same cannot be said of the title track which comes up next, an opening drum beat with a whistled riff lead into some fast delivered lyrics that tell the story of the music industry and money problems in Skinner life, the chorus tells how money is spent producing a new album against a back drop of drug taking, the listener gets the feeling that some of the fun of being in the music industry is beginning to dim and the pressure of remaining successful are becoming apparent.

All Goes out the Window starts with a simple piano intro and harmony lyrics from Leo, this is a smoother more harmonious track with some sharp lyrics that are well constructed. Unfortunately this is followed by another weak track in the form of Momento Mori which is a track that fails to work in my opinion, it is too similar to some of the tracks that have gone before and in the end sort of merges with the others and does not stand on its own two feet.

The fist of two slightly more humorous tracks comes up next, Can't Con an Honest John has a lads feel to it, a snare drum beat provides the back drop with electronic synth sounds and guitar riff, it tells the story of a con and moves away from the themes expressed in the other songs other than making a link between the con that Skinner believes exists in his songs, this is not on a par with classics like Fit but you Know It but is an amusing song that is well constructed. When You Wasn't Famous is probably my favourite track on the album and was inspired by a secret celebrity relationship that Skinner had, part of the fun is trying to work out which celebrity he is talking about, it has a fast upbeat thread running through it with a sort of kettle drum effect and pipes providing a buoyant beat to the whole arrangement.

Never Went to Church reminds me a bit of Dry Your Eyes, a slower more heart felt lyric about the loss of his father and introduces a religious theme to his lyrics, something that is carried forward into the current fourth album. A simple track it has some nice clear lyrics that usually have me singing along in the car oblivious to the stares from other drivers, it makes use of a choir feel to deliver the chorus which works really well on the track.

Hotel Expressionism has an electric guitar feel to it wit the opening riff and is not one of my favourites, there is an annoying over voice at the start that I do not like and the rest of the track fails to engage me as a listener. Thankfully the final two tracks on the album provide a good finale, Two Nations has some biting lyrics and probably the best couple of lines in the whole album when highlighting the differences between the US and UK music scenes, a laid back opening vibe helps to emphasise the differences and this tracks strengths are drawn entirely by the descriptive quality of the lyrics. The final track Fake Streets Hats has a live feel to it as the story is played out while the band wait to go on stage at the end of a European tour, I love the urban feel to this track and the energy that the record creates.

Overall this is a good solid album, there are some very strong garage tracks that far outweigh the three weak ones and Never Went to Church is a great anthem style song in my opinion. There is a slightly more polished feel to this album however it is certainly not over produced, there are enough jagged edges to the music for Streets fans to recognise and appreciate.

Released in 2006 it is currently available on Amazon for £7.97 new or from £3.22 in the new and used section.

Thanks for reading and rating my review.

Summary: Good solid Streets album.