The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 10 April 2006 | |||
Recorded | October–November 2005 | |||
Genre | Alternative hip hop, electronic | |||
Length | 37:18 | |||
Label | Locked On | |||
Producer | Mike Skinner | |||
The Streets chronology | ||||
|
The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living is the third studio album by Mike Skinner, under the music project The Streets. It was released on 10 April 2006 in the United Kingdom and 25 April 2006 in North America. It is also the shortest The Streets album released so far, with a running time of just 37 minutes and 12 seconds. The Mitchell Brothers and Ted Mayhem, two of Skinner's protégés, make guest appearances on the album.
The album deals with the ideas of celebrity and success, partly in relation to Skinner's greater fame after the success of the first two The Streets albums. [1] There are several references to recreational drug use.
The final track, "Fake Streets Hats", is about an incident that happened during the 2004 edition of the Dutch Lowlands festival, where a drunk Mike Skinner openly protested against the handing out of white hats with "The Streets" written on them, because he thought they were fake, and thus illegal merchandise. The hats actually were promotional material from his label, Warner. [2] Mike Skinner also sees the song as a personal reflection on plagiarism in general.
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 72/100 [3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [4] |
The A.V. Club | B− [5] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [6] |
NME | 8/10 [7] |
Pitchfork | 7.0/10 [8] |
Q | [9] |
Robert Christgau | A [10] |
Rolling Stone | [11] |
Slant Magazine | [12] |
Under the Radar | 9/10 [13] |
Critical response for the album was generally positive, scoring 72/100 on Metacritic. However, this score is lower than his previous two albums, scoring 90/100 and 91/100 respectively. In a mixed review, Prefix Magazine said "With about half the tracks on this record falling short, Skinner would seem to be teetering on the edge of irrelevance. But even the failed tracks here sound interesting, and if he's lost his way somewhat thematically, it's all in the name of searching for his new voice." In a much more positive review, The Village Voice Consumer Guide said "His comic timing and mixture of slangs--not to mention his musical conception... are all so much more fully developed that he's actually made a record that's fun to play in the background." Spin named Skinner "the perfect poet for this snooze of a topic." In a negative review, Stylus Magazine described the album as "an exercise in empty nothingness. But it’s not Bacchanalian coked-out excess nothingness, it's the joyless hollow-eyed actions of a man who is waiting for the next fix and doesn't care what bullshit has to come out of his lips in order to get paid."
All tracks are written by Mike Skinner
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
The Streets is an English musical project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner. The project was founded in the early 90s, while Skinner was still a teenager; however, no music would formally eventuate until the early 2000s. In the initial run of The Streets, the project released five studio albums: Original Pirate Material (2002), A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004), The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (2006), Everything Is Borrowed (2008) and Computers and Blues (2011). The Streets also released a string of successful singles during this time, which reached the Top 40 on the UK Singles chart – including "Has It Come to This?", "Fit but You Know It", "Dry Your Eyes", "When You Wasn't Famous" and "Prangin' Out". After disbanding The Streets in 2011, Skinner pursued several other musical projects before ultimately reviving the moniker in 2017. A mixtape, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive, was released in 2020. The Streets' sixth studio album, The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light, was released in September 2023.
A Grand Don't Come for Free is the second studio album by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the music project the Streets. It was released on 17 May 2004 and is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It is a rap opera and concept album that follows the story of its protagonist's relationship with a girl named Simone, alongside the mysterious loss of £1,000 from his home.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on March 23, 2004. Released by Geffen Records in part because of the delay in the making of Chinese Democracy, the album was subject to lawsuits by band member Axl Rose and former band members, in an attempt to block its release due to its track listing.
Eat to the Beat is the fourth studio album by American rock band Blondie, released on September 28, 1979, by Chrysalis Records. The album was certified Platinum in the United States, where it spent a year on the Billboard 200. Peaking at No. 17, it was one of Billboard's top 10 albums of 1980. It also reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in October 1979 and has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
A New Day at Midnight is the sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter David Gray, released on 28 October 2002 in the UK by East West Records and IHT Records and November 5, 2002 in the United States by the former RCA imprint ATO Records and iht as well. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1 upon its opening week, and spent a total of 49 weeks on the chart.
One Love is the second studio album by English boy band Blue, released on 4 November 2002 in the United Kingdom and on 21 October 2003 in the United States. The album peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart, where it stayed for one week. On 20 December 2003, it was certified 4× Platinum in the UK.
Rocky IV: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the original motion picture soundtrack to the movie of the same name. It was released on November 27, 1985 by Scotti Bros. Records.
These Streets is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini, released by Atlantic Records on 17 July 2006. Preceded by the single "Last Request", the album debuted and peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified six times Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for domestic shipments in excess of 1,800,000 copies. It also entered the charts in many other European countries, and in 2011 it was certified double Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for sales of over 2,000,000 copies in Europe.
The Road to Escondido is a collaborative studio album by J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton. It was released on 7 November 2006. Contained on this album are the final recordings of keyboardist Billy Preston. The album is jointly dedicated to Preston and Brian Roylance.
Skin and Bones is a live acoustic album by Foo Fighters released on November 7, 2006.
Minutes to Midnight is the third studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on May 14, 2007, through Warner Bros. Records. The album was produced by Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin; it is Linkin Park's first studio album produced without Don Gilmore, who had produced the band's two previous albums. Minutes to Midnight is the band's follow-up album to Meteora (2003), and features a shift in the group's musical direction. For the band, the album marked a beginning of deviation from their signature nu metal sound. Minutes to Midnight takes its title from the Doomsday Clock symbol. It is also the band's first full-length album to carry a Parental Advisory label.
Everything Is Borrowed is the fourth studio album by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the music project The Streets. Released in the United Kingdom on 15 September 2008, and in the United States on 7 October 2008, Skinner describes the album as a "peaceful coming to terms album" and as containing "peaceful positive vibes" which stand in stark contrast to the previous album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, which Skinner has described as a "guilt-ridden indulgence".
Computers and Blues is the fifth studio album by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the music project The Streets. It was officially released in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2011; at the time Skinner said it would be the last Streets album although the project did subsequently relaunch in 2017 and 2020.
This is a comprehensive listing of official releases by the British music act the Streets. The Streets released six studio albums, three mixtapes, one EP and thirty-five singles.
Making Mirrors is the third studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Gotye, released in Australia on 19 August 2011.
Sinatra: Best of the Best is a 2011 double compilation album by American singer Frank Sinatra.
Living Things is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Linkin Park. It was released under Warner Bros. Records and Machine Shop Records on June 20, 2012, in Japan, and throughout the rest of the world during the following week. Production was handled by vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, who both co-produced the band's previous two studio albums, Minutes to Midnight (2007) and A Thousand Suns (2010). Living Things was their last album to be produced by Rubin and recorded at NRG Recording Studios.
The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on Legacy Records in November 2015. The tenth installment in the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, it comprises recordings from 1965 and 1966, mostly unreleased demos and outtakes from recording sessions for his albums Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. The standard set peaked at #41 on the Billboard 200.
Skin is the second studio album by Australian electronic musician Flume. It was released on 27 May 2016 by Future Classic. The album was Flume's second full-length release following his self-titled debut in 2012. It features guest appearances from Kai, Vic Mensa, Kučka, Tove Lo, Vince Staples, Allan Kingdom, Raekwon, Little Dragon, AlunaGeorge, MNDR, and Beck.
I Am Easy to Find is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band The National, released on May 17, 2019, via 4AD. The follow-up to the band's 2017 album, Sleep Well Beast, it was supported by the lead single, "You Had Your Soul with You", and accompanied by a short film of the same name, directed by Mike Mills and starring Alicia Vikander. Vikander is also featured on the album cover. A trailer was released for the companion film along with the announcement of the album. A tour promoting the album began in June 2019.