Original Pirate Material: The Streets: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Turn the Page

2. Has It Come to This?

3. Let's Push Things Forward

4. Sharp darts

5. Same Old Thing

6. Geezers Need Excitement

7. It's Too Late

8. Too Much Brandy

9. Don't Mug Yourself

10. Who Got the Funk?

11. The Irony of It All

12. Weak Becomes Heroes

13. Who Dares Wins

14. Stay Positive

Product Description

From Amazon.com

In a thrilling UK Garage scene, blighted only by a reliance on drippy soul cliché and tiresome braggadocio, The Streets' eminently quotable Mike Skinner may just be the voice to take it to the next level with Original Pirate Material. This debut is a staggeringly eloquent and fearlessly honest snapshot of gritty street-level existence, as experienced by an ordinary bloke. At first listen, the Birmingham-born Skinner's cheeky cockney affectations grate slightly. But for every line that makes you squirm, there are 20 that drop your jaw. "Has It Come to This?" is "A day in the life of a geezer," a seductive encapsulation of London lifestyle, presented raw as a bootleg, but bulging with sharp wit and feverish detail. "Stay Positive" weaves a fearful tale of heroin addiction, while "The Irony of It All" makes a beguiling case for legalization, presenting a fictional exchange between a beered-up, self-righteous lager lout and a fey student weed enthusiast. Original Pirate Material is a milestone, the real voice of British youth set down on record. Don't miss it. --Louis Pattison

Album Description

2002 debut is enhanced with the videos of 'Weak Become Heroes' and 'Let's Push Things Forward'. The album is nominated for this year's Mercury Prize, alongside luminaries David Bowie and Doves and was certified Gold in the UK. Vice.

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Customer Reviews

173 Reviews

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(22)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (173 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Ha ha!, Nov 23 2002

By

Angela M. Healey "AngelaMHealey" (Hull) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Original Pirate Material (Audio CD)

I don't actually have the album but I have downloaded 'Weak Become Heroes' and 'Don't Mug Yourself', and I think The Streets are hilarious. I know they're supposed to be a serious band but I think they're a joke. I have given this three stars because it's so pathetic it's funny. It's a cockney guy (Londoner) trying to rap but the songs don't make sense, it's got no rhythm and it's just plain pathetic. I would definitely download a few songs, and if you have some money you can't decide what to spend on, buy this because by the looks of the other reviews all the songs are like that. He's not even rapping, he's just talking with some enthusiasm in his voice. Some of the lyrics are hilarious "The name's European Bob, sorted.", "Grab a bite to eat. KFC or Maccie D", "Buying diamonds and pearls, never seen so many fit girls.", the list goes on. I think I will get this album in the near future, not because I like it, but for a laugh every now and again. I just think it's funny a London Townie trying to rap, and the funniest thing is people actually like it. He's not doing it for a joke, he's a serious rapper but his chorus' suck, and he's basically the most pathetic rapper in the world.

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5.0 out of 5 stars This disc is sick, July 8 2004

By

Devin K. Potter (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Original Pirate Material (Audio CD)

I really enjoy this album. Although I thought that the newest album "a grand.." was far different a style and more about girls. Which made me dislike it some. But "Original pira..." has a real hip hop feeling, the feeling I got at old graf shows with heiro and Souls of Mischief. The beats are real underground and brought back a lot of memories from the writers meetings I used to go to. The lyrics are sick, and the english accent reminds me when I partied in London,. I liked that place so much I want to go back there and marry the girl that works at munchkins, a fish and chips place on Bloomsbury st. But that is besides the point. If youre into real hip hop and not all the mainstream club trip, than I gaurantee you will like this album.. Chur

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2.0 out of 5 stars Streets fans need educating, July 7 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Original Pirate Material (Audio CD)

For the reviewer Shep 691 below: since when has Run DMC been "typical hip-hop / rap / bling blink pimpin badness". These guys collaborated with Aerosmith for Chri'sake. They did rap about their trainers a lot, but this is hardly the grossest example of capitalist excess. Remember John Lennon - "Imagine no possessions"? Well Saint John of Liverpool used to rent out a whole floor of New York real estate purely to keep Yoko's fir coats at the right temperature. In my opinion, that makes Lennon far more bling bling than Run DMC.

It would seem that the views of Shep 961 are representative of many Streets fans. Hip Hop is all about big pimpin' black men rapping about their byatches and hoes. If they looked a bit deeper than MTV/Chart bling bling trash - mostly purchased by whites, may I add - , they'd soon discover that black people can actually rap about more cerebal issues. See, for example, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Digable Planets, Jurassic 5, Boogie Down Productions, Mr Lif, Outkast, Public Enemy...etc. Of course, none will ever dig that far, prefering to buy into the cultural stereotype of the aggressively macho black man. In a state of blissful ignorance, these same music "fans" will blindly worship any overhyped white rapper on the front of NME/Rolling Stone.

This state of mind cannot be blamed on Mr Skinner himself, who I'm sure doesn't strive to be compared to the afforementioned artistes. Nonetheless I find Mike Skinner rather annoying - "oh yeah, oh yay" indeed. For a brummie he sure sounds like a cockney wideboy - more Del Boy than Ozzy. His lyrics are worshipped by the same lame ass squares who think Eminem is a lyricist of Shakespearean magnitude. However, I do not truly hate this album because at least Skinner is trying to do something different - marrying bedroom/garage beats with sardonic cockney/brummie rapping. For this he should be applauded. However, the execution could have been far better.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Some people are SO dumb
I'm glad there's some people who understand what this CD is. I mean, there is actually someone on here who is saying that The Streets don't have a patch on Jamm Master J from... Read more

Published on July 5 2004 by shep691

1.0 out of 5 stars You have got to be kidding me....
I can't believe some of the reviews I am reading. I WILL agree however that people can't be close minded and that rap is open to anyone. Its colorless and genderless. Read more

Published on Jun 24 2004 by J. Mack