Let me know what you think of the video - which is your favourite track from the album? I've always thought Empty Cans was totally underrated personally. That said, I think Computers and Blues is the most underrated Streets album in their canon. Let me know your thoughts and check out some of the other videos on the channel!
Empty Cans hands down the stand out track... Listened to this album literally over 100 times, and whenever I make it to the end is always like, wow man!
I can’t remember the track name, but the lyric “I heard on ITV the other week, that if she plays with her hair, then she’s probably keen, she’s playing with her hair well regularly, I reckon I could well be in.” - good advice, that scored me my American girlfriend back in 2004
The last track "Empty cans" is nothing short of absolute beauty. I genuinely cried my eyes out hearing that last track, I was going through some really bad personal stuff and the lines "The end of the something I did not want to end, Beginning of hard times to come. But something that was not meant to be is done, And this is the start of what was." It hit me like a freight train, but it helped me realise what I needed to do to make things right.
I'm a metal head, but I love The Streets, this album just captured the zeitgeist of the 00's. So relatable to things we were doing at the time, pills, lads holidays, relationships. They were also great live.
those first two albums will always be timeless because virtually all the lyrical content is still just as relevant now than it was 22 years ago. every few years there’ll be a whole generation who can relate to the stories he’s telling and the pictures he paints
I was born in 85 and grew up in the 90s listening to grunge, britpop and indie. I saw The Streets in Leeds festival 2002 (their first UK gig) and was instantly hooked and instantly broadened my musical taste. OPM is a masterpiece.
This album was a masterpiece. Every type of person I talk to, chav, hippy, goth, rocker, normie, pub geezer, geek, raver, all think it’s a masterpiece.
I love this album. A few years ago my daughter was born ten weeks premature so I was building furniture and getting the house ready in a rush and I had this album playing on repeat while doing it. Listening to the story through it helped take my mind away from the stress I had at the time.
I just listed to A Grand Don't Come For Free front to back. Takes me back to my early 20s how real it is and how much I related to it and still do now. Thanks for the reminder.
I love it and admire it for entirely separate reasons. Musically, it's got brilliant riffs and the rapping and narrative style are innovative and impressive. But I love it for the way it takes you straight into his world and you can feel it. He's so good at telling a story that it envelops you. It's a masterpiece.
The Streets and Mike Skinner… absolute Legend. Love all albums, but sure „Original Pirate Material“ and „A grand…“ are special. Best from Germany with highest appreciation of the British music scene. Incredible and accompanied my entire life… 🆙
Great video mate. You deserve more subs that you've got. Your style reminds me of 'Trash Theory' a bit. I'm sure if you keep doing what you're doing your channel will blow up soon.
My first gig was the original pirate material tour, I think I was 14 at the time and ‘Wouldn’t have it any other way’ was the soundtrack to my GCSE’s, being 16, not a care in the world, smoking weed and feeling so free. Such good times with my mates!
It was all so relatable. The specificity of the references made it somehow more universal. I was a 23 DnB kid from New Zealand and it was, and still is, a hugely emotional and poignant record. I listen to it now 20 years later and am still close to tears on so many of the lines. Genius
I've lost count the days I've went through the full album in one sitting. By the time it gets to Empty Cans I'm in complete awe. Top 5 album all time for me. Great video!
I was 17 when this album came out and it shaped my formative years more than any other. Big shout out to the track Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way too, so so underrated!
Great video and thanks for sharing rare footage on one of my favourite artists. Would love to see something on Travis. Or also any of the later The Streets albums, like how his next album felt all over the place. :)
Thanks a lot for the view mate! I'll definitely do a few more on The Streets. Just uploaded a new one today on The La's which I think you might enjoy too! Thanks again
I'm a yank and I absolutely love The Streets. Its his accent, the way his delivery combines with the garage beats, and of course the rhymes that make it so unforgettable. That being said I kinda did forget about it. I'll have to dig out the old mp3 player and give it another listen.
It truly is. I don't think anything since has really captured the sound The Streets nailed on the early albums. Thanks for watching and hit the subscribe button if you haven't already, and let me know what future albums I should cover.
Thanks for the view man - let me know what you think of the new vid I've just dropped, and hit the subscribe button if you haven't already. Are there any albums you'd like to see covered in the future?
Really enjoyed this. Great job! As for The Streets I wonder what happened after AGDCFF? Instead of being a launchpad for even bigger things he seemed to stall on the 3rd album, even though I loved the first 2 albums, I didn't buy it, I don't really know why.
Thank you for watching. The first two albums are always talked about as their best, but I think there are glimpses of this quality on the following three records too. I've always had a soft spot particularly for Computers and Blues.
i find it amazing that blinded by the lights also seems to show an influence from the early dubstep sound, a year before the genre really started to grow
Fantastic doc mate, found the first part really interesting not growing up in the UK but having lived there and become obsessed when Original Pirate Material came out. It's interesting finding out about the influences and scenes that came before. Gave me some new tunes to hunt down too! I don't know if it's possible to have a favourite. They're both incredible but sit in such different beasts - which I think you pointed out well too! They also sit in such different parts of my life it's awesome to be able to re-live both with these two albumns.
Thanks a lot for the comment Ben, glad you enjoyed the video. All of The Streets albums resonate for me for different reasons. I stopped listening around Computers and Blues, must pick up the newer records at some point to get through.
One of the best albums of all time. I remember the first time I notice that the songs were referencing past songs and events in them. I felt so smart that I'd figured that out lol
Let's push things forward. Street's Skinner cannot come close musically to sample thievery arranged by the 1989-1993 USA East Coast de la Soul (Say No Go) , or Tribe Called Quest (Electric Relaxation) , but Mr Skinner's bangers match the genre with lyrics that stretch through the whole song or more. Twenty years later, the Streets sound like anthems.
Thanks for the view mate - it's a classic isn't it? 20 years old too this year! Hit subscribe if you haven't already - planning more Streets videos in the future!
Absolute classic album that made a mockery of music cliques and genres. This one drew listeners in from all angles, regardless of their normal musical tastes / preferences. A special, kind of universal album
Original Pirate Material was released on my 17th birthday. To say it was a defining moment in my youth might sound a bit over the top but it really didn't sound like anything I had heard before. Zane Lowe, Gonzo on MTV2 was the first place I heard Let's Push Things Forward and this rock/indie kid quickly moved on to electronic music and hip-hop. A Grand Don't Come for Free pushed the boundaries of British hip-hop to a height I honestly don't think will ever be topped. So many good tracks but Blinded by the Lights tops it for me. Great doc, subscribed.
haven’t watched this video yet but i’m gonna comment my thoughts on the album i love it. there’s a strange comforting feel to the album that i didn’t get from Original Pirate Material. it’s somehow nostalgic for me, even though i was like 5 when this came out. the sound of it just feels so refreshing but intimate, as if you’re actually experiencing all the things he’s saying and the emotions he gets across as if it’s one long night. the sound is more polished and mature than before and it just encapsulates that time so well, like lightning in a bottle. i can’t believe i’ve only just found this video
I bought both albums when they came out. I was a couple of years younger than him, but I could totally relate, moving to a new town, getting, wih birds, kebab shops, puffin the erb, sex, drugs and on the dole. Oh yes, , classic albums.
Have there been many other concept albums since these? Hard to imagine the streets getting as big now everything is streamed. These were albums you just wanted to listen to in full time and time again
This is a great documentary (even if I agree with some other commentators that his first album was his best). Now going to binge all your other videos!
I remember seeing them play at Reading in 2004. They had an extra long set because they had to fill for 50 Cent and the G Unit who were on briefly before and got bottled off stage. The Streets were awesome.
"Blinded by the Lights" still to this day is the only song I can think of where I can picture myself or someone else doing what is being narrated in the music as I'm listening to it. I don't know why that is because I've been listening to music my entire life and I'm 37 and like a wide range of genres of music. The even stranger thing as well is obviously everyone knows the person gets into the club and comes up on the LSD pill or whatever it is he's taken. But even with that being the case every time I listen to "B.B.T.L.L" I'm still wanting him to get past the bouncers and into the club even though I know he does!! The other thing is I think it's relatable for a lot of people the feeling of feeling like your night out has gone to shit and then out of nowhere your somehow able to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. I'm referring in this instance to the fact that Skinner in the song is wondering where his friends are and is annoyed because he thinks whatever he took was a dud and THEN it kicks in.
It’s the best concept album in 25 years. There is very few albums anymore that need to be listened to in the whole but this is an album that’s greater than the sum of its individual songs
Boy thinks he's trash theory or something! Loved the video. Deserves far more views than it's got - I hope it picks up man! People send me his new stuff and I don't get it, this is probably his best work - Well In & Blinded By The Lights move me every time I hear them, even after all this time.
I have all his stuff up to Computers and Blues and Cyberspace and Reds (mixtape). I think all the albums have their merits and are sufficiently different to each other to show progression. Also, both The D.O.T. albums (his side project with Rob Harvey) are awesome. I listen to them more than some of The Streets Albums. It's criminal that they didn't do much better.
Superb analysis on a classic album. Have you considered doing a retrospective on _The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living?_ It’s undoubtably an overlooked album, and regardless of whether or not you enjoy it, I think it’s worth examining it’s role as a turning point in Mike Skinner’s critical and cultural standing.
Thank you! I love Hardest Way, and I would argue from that album through to Computers and blues are all overlooked. I may do a video on other Streets albums in the future, let me know what else you'd like to see beyond The Streets too! Thanks for watching.
The end of the something I did not want to end, beginning of hard times to come. But something that was not meant to be is done, and this is the start of what was.
Sweet like Chocolate came towards the very end of the Garage scene. There were commercial hits 2 years+ before this. Straight from the heart by Doolally (aka Shanks & Bigfoot) was also over a year before this. So much of this scene is lost outside of those that were there and know how many big tunes there were. So few are ever played on radio / available online etc. Real shame. Raves and mixes rarely ever focus on the depth of the music available for whatever reason. Literally many hundreds of great UKG tunes were released.
I suppose it’s the same for D&B, House etc as well outside of the undeniably huge tunes. Garage was just so short lived that it doesn’t have as many of those and most are overly commercial side of things.
This was true to the time in the same way the kinks and especially the specials wrote songs people could relate to .Kids have fuck all now my 16 year old daughter listens to the smiths ,specials,streets ,happy Mondays etc
Never got into the streets, I can appreciate why people do like it but it never clicked for me. Having said that in the last few years I revisited Original pirate material and did enjoy it a lot more but still struggled with AGDCFF. What's more surprising is despite it's success there weren't many copycats (may be wrong), I can only think of jamie t and plan b as someone i'd say sounds a bit like the streets. and maybe Sleaford mods ish. Though i'd also say you can hear massive attack, blur and stereoMcs influences in there too.
In my opinion he only did one good album and that’s because the influences came from his friends in Birmingham that had written most of the lyrics he stole and took to London. It was common knowledge on the underground UK hip hop scene but in the commercial market it wasn’t so well known. Here’s a quote from his pal that he shafted Now hospital theatre nurse Chris is alleging more shocking betrayals. He claims Mike: FOUNDED The Streets with him and two pals - then signed a solo record deal; PROMISED contracts to the three musicians but then moved to London and refused to take their calls; BORROWED dozens of lyrics that Chris and his two pals had penned; And GROPED his girlfriend after jumping into bed with her while he was asleep in another room. Angry Chris, 23, told the Sunday Mercury: 'I'm through with Mike. I thought he was my best mate but he played me for a fool. 'I put so much blood and sweat into The Streets but he conveniently forgot about that once he'd signed a deal for himself. 'I even saved his life once but he repaid me by trying it on with the one girl he knew I truly loved. 'I used to think he was a decent bloke but now I see that he doesn't give a damn about anyone.' Chris first met Mike at the age of four when they attended the same nursery in Kings Norton, Birmingham. The pair quickly became best pals and shared a passion for music. By the age of 10 they were making tunes and they eventually formed The Streets with fellow rappers Adrian Whyte and Chris Hill, in 2000. Chris said: 'The three of us came up with different lyrics to go with the garage beats Mike had created. 'Mike put together all our lyrics and some words that'But as the weeks passed and Mike failed to answer my calls it became apparent that he'd cut us out of the equation. 'It made me sick because Mike may be good at making beats but the lyrics he produces are all second hand. 'He talks about life on the streets when really he lived in a nice part of West Heath.' Despite his friend's behaviour, Chris decided to give his friend one more chance and went to visit him in London. But it was then that Mike committed the ultimate betrayal - by making a move on his girlfriend Hannah. Chris said: 'He'd promised to take us out to the best clubs but when we arrived he said he was going without us because he'd forgotten to put our names on the guest list. 'While we were sitting in his room he waved a wad of pounds 20 notes and said; 'I just asked the record label for this and they gave it to me.' He knew we were broke but he wouldn't even go out and buy us some booze. When he came back he was really drunk and we sat up talking in his room. When Hannah said she was tired Mike said she could sleep in his bed and he'd kip on the sofa.
