The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
Third Streets album addressing celebrity and drug use.
The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living is the third studio album by Mike Skinner under the music project The Streets. Released in April 2006, it is the shortest The Streets album to date, with a running time of 37 minutes and 12 seconds. The album features guest appearances from the Mitchell Brothers and Ted Mayhem.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- The Streets
- Released
- 10 April 2006
- Recorded
- October–November 2005
- Genre
- Alternative hip-hop, electronic
- Length
- 37:18
- Label
- Locked On
- Producer
- Mike Skinner
Facts from the source article.
Content
The album addresses themes of celebrity and success, partly reflecting Skinner's increased fame following his earlier albums. References to recreational drug use appear throughout. The final track, "Fake Streets Hats", recounts an incident at the 2004 Lowlands festival where Skinner protested against hats bearing "The Streets" that he believed were counterfeit; the hats were actually promotional merchandise from his label, Warner. Skinner also views the song as a personal meditation on plagiarism.
Critical reception
Critical response was generally positive, with a Metacritic score of 72/100, lower than the scores of 90/100 and 91/100 for his previous two albums. Prefix Magazine offered a mixed review, stating that about half the tracks fall short and Skinner seems near irrelevance, yet even the failed tracks remain interesting and his thematic searching is for a new voice. The Village Voice Consumer Guide gave a more positive assessment, praising his comic timing, mixture of slangs, and musical conception as making the record fun to play in the background. Spin called Skinner the perfect poet for this topic. Stylus Magazine was negative, describing the album as an exercise in empty nothingness, not from excess but from a joyless, hollow-eyed waiting for the next fix.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living released?
The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living was released on 10 April 2006.
What genre is The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living?
The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living is classified as Alternative hip-hop and electronic.
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