The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living

The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
Studio album by The Streets
Released	April 10, 2006
Recorded	October–November 2005
Genre	Alternative hip hop Electronica UK garage
Length	37:18
Label	Locked On 0927435682
Producer	Mike Skinner
The Streets chronology
A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004) The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (2006) Everything Is Borrowed (2008)

The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living is the third album by The Streets, released April 10, 2006 in the United Kingdom and April 25, 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 proteges, make guest appearances on the album.

Track listing

1. "Prangin' Out" – 3:49
2. "War of the Sexes" – 3:26
3. "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living" – 3:13
4. "All Goes Out the Window" – 3:32
5. "Memento Mori" – 2:36
6. "Can't Con an Honest John" – 3:40
7. "When You Wasn't Famous" – 3:18
8. "Never Went to Church" – 3:32
   • Contains a sample from The Beatles' song "Let It Be"
9. "Hotel Expressionism" – 3:33
10. "Two Nations" – 3:05
11. "Fake Streets Hats" – 3:12

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(72/100) [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	(A)[3]
NME	(8/10)[4]
The Observer
Pitchfork Media	(7.5/10) [5]
Q
Rolling Stone	[6]
Slant Magazine	[7]
Uncut	[8]
MusicOMH	[9]
PopMatters	[10]
Spin	[11]

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."

References

1. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/the-hardest-way-to-make-an-easy-living
2. ^ [http://www.allmusic.com/album/r836018
3. ^ http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=13304
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ [2]
6. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/9940887/rid/9961175/ 05/04/06
7. ^ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=797
8. ^ http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/the_streets/reviews/8745
9. ^ http://www.musicomh.com/albums/streets-3_0406.htm
10. ^ http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/the_streets_the_hardest_way_to_make_an_easy_living
11. ^ http://www.spin.com/reviews/streets-hardest-way-make-easy-living-vice

Preceded by Ringleader of the Tormentors by Morrissey

UK number one album April 16, 2006 – April 22, 2006

Succeeded by Shayne Ward by Shayne Ward