THE STREETS - A GRAND DON'T COME FOR FREE

Heralded by many critics as one of the best albums of 2004, The Streets\' A Grand Don’t Come For Free left me feeling extremely frustrated. Ultimately, the bad outweighs the good for me.
I have to admit that I’m not the biggest rap fan in the world. But I know what I like, and don’t really care about genre when it comes right down to it. At first listen, I had this album pegged as a turd. Experiments in music and beats that some call \"genius\" I found grating, tuneless, and annoying. And Mike Skinner\'s \"rapping\" seems to be missing rhythm and flow. The cockney accent (\"with\" becoming \"wif\", and so forth) is fun at first, but gets old, fast.
So, bad music and annoying vocals. Where’s the good?
Well, once I started listening to the lyrics I heard some great storytelling. This album is one interesting, twisty story about an average bloke, his girlfriend, his mates, and a missing $1,000. If I’d just read the lyrics, I would’ve loved this. And Skinner, though I said I didn’t like the vocals, has a great way of telling the story. He really acts well.
But, one out of three elements isn’t enough to make me recommend A Grand Don’t Come For Free.