The front cover of the album features Skinner posing in a bus shelter at night, taken by British photographer Ewen Spencer. [4] Singles [ edit ] Is stood up at a nightclub by Simone, but passes the time drinking alcohol and taking ecstasy. He thinks he sees Simone kissing Dan but the drug-induced high distracts him before he can think about it properly. ("Blinded By the Lights") Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

Petridis, Alexis (7 May 2004). "A Grand Don't Come for Free, The Streets". The Guardian Friday Review. p.17 . Retrieved 4 February 2014. Critical response for the album, like for his previous album, was near universally positive. It currently scores 91/100 on Metacritic, [5] slightly higher than his previous album, which scored 90/100. [16] The first single from the album, " Fit But You Know It" reached number four on the UK Singles Charts with the second single, " Dry Your Eyes" entering the UK Charts at number one. The album itself reached number one in the UK Album Charts, number eleven in Australia and number eighty-two in the United States.A Grand Don’t Come For Free’ emerged two years after their breakthrough debut album and The Streets had already become an international phenomenon. This time around, Mike Skinner constructed an album with an on-going narrative that was by turns hilarious, touching and energising. ‘Dry Your Eyes’ became The Streets’ first #1 single, while ‘Fit But You Know It’ and ‘Blinded By The Lights’ both hit the Top 10. Goods that are faulty or sent in error must be returned to Crash Records Limited, 35 The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 6PU within 7 working days of the item being received by the customer. British album certifications – Streets – A Grand Don't Come for Free". British Phonographic Industry. In his book The Story of the Streets, Skinner explained his decision to create a story that ran through the album: On first listen, ‘Fit But You Know It’ is the obvious single. Nothing else is as immediate as ‘Don’t Mug Yourself’ or ‘Weak Become Heroes’ from his debut. A great first single, it takes a guitar chug and a boozy rant and combines them to joyous effect. Close your eyes, put four moptops in suits in the picture, and you could easily imagine it as an early Beatles song. It captures the naivety of tunes like ‘She Loves You’ or ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ but transplants it to an era when ‘innocent’ means not yet having your brown wings.

ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2004". Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved 17 July 2020. Adrien Begrand (14 May 2004). "The Streets: A Grand Don't come For Free Popmatters Music Review". Popmatters . Retrieved 10 March 2010. But comparisons with drama aren’t too far off the mark. ‘Get Out Of My House’ is as much an audio drama as it is a song. A thrilling argument between girlfriend and boyfriend, Skinner reveals with a dramatist’s cunning that Mike’s contentious stash of pills isn’t ecstasy but medication for his epilepsy. fit but you know it suffers badly from clipping but to be fair, if it was skinners own decision to employ such a sound, (I conject it was to bring out the "snap" in the drums, often to disturbing levels) i'll respect that and quit moaning, because this album is essentially storytelling, an audiobook if you like. and it was a story showing that, no matter how hard things get, there is always more than one way to go about something. and that is a timeless moral. Snodgrass, James (1 May 2004). "The Streets: A Grand Don't Come For Free". NME. p.47. Archived from the original on 4 June 2004 . Retrieved 15 September 2015.Plagenhoef, Scott (17 May 2004). "The Streets: A Grand Don't Come for Free". Pitchfork . Retrieved 4 February 2014. Starts seeing a girl called Simone who works in JD Sports with his friend Dan. ("Could Well Be In") Kuipers, Dean (23 May 2004). "A striking kind of storytelling". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 5 December 2015. as much as i adore this album, time hasn't been fair, not because of lyrics referring to nokia's or the nonsense that was often offensively referred to as the 'chav lifestyle' but because it was released in 2004, a time when loudness was a desired thing in the latest records.