Best Ever Albums

Re: User Pick of the Day (#18): Original Pirate Material

HigherThanTheSun — Thu, 3 Apr 2014 17:49:57 GMT

Author: HigherThanTheSun

Posted: 04/03/2014 21:49

I wrote something for this for the 1001 albums thing that never happened, so you might as well have it now. I listened to it just now to see if it's all still true and it is. Don't listen to this enough these days but it's still one of the very best albums ever made and I'll never get bored.

First heard most of Original Pirate Material a couple years after it came out, when I heard Don’t Mug Yourself on the radio and particularly on my Brit Awards 2003 cd, ha. Was back in the limewire days though so I just downloaded about half the tracks that I could actually find, and enjoyed them quite a bit. I found tracks like Geezers Need Excitement and Sharp Darts to be entertaining to me when I was 13/14ish, but mostly I didn’t really connect to what was being said on most of it, and half the tracks on the album I just found pretty dull.

As I grew up though the album just seemed to gradually make so much more sense to me, and I loved having it to pretty much soundtrack my entire teenage years. Songs which used to just confuse me like I didn’t know what was going on were suddenly so on point, like they written for exactly what I was doing with my life. Like when I discovered alcohol suddenly Too Much Brandy just makes so much sense, or when I hit my MDMA phase suddenly Weak Becomes Heroes isn’t just a song it’s the most perfect description of the experience I’ve ever heard. Then for times when I was down, Stay Positive was just the perfect thing. Basically, everything he raps about on this album I understand and agree with completely, almost like me and Mike Skinner are the same guy, like I just get completely his perspective on everything he talks about here, it’s unreal. There are so few albums that I feel a closer connection to the lyrics than this.

More than any other album this makes me nostalgic about when I was younger, I can’t help it taking me back to certain times and places. Even though I don’t really miss being a teenager post-school, this album is one of the only things which makes me wish I could do it all again.

Re: User Pick of the Day (#18): Original Pirate Material

Norman Bates — Thu, 3 Apr 2014 17:36:33 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 04/03/2014 21:36

alelsupreme wrote:

GEEZERS GEEZERS GEEZERS

I tried making a file with every utterance of the word geezer in this album once, too much of a pain in the arse compiling them though.

Try with "Oi!"

A masterpiece of a debut. The soundtrack to my life back in '02/'03 - and I'm quite older than Skinner, still totally relevant. Playful, moving, clever, perfect. Alas, Skinner has never found that type of inspiration afterwards, even though he has some great tracks later on. Nothing of that level though.

Re: User Pick of the Day (#18): Original Pirate Material

Anonymous — Thu, 3 Apr 2014 17:22:22 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/03/2014 21:22

You forgot to add the album comment from his chart in the OP; one of the best things lethal has written IMO

Re: User Pick of the Day (#18): Original Pirate Material

SuedeSwede — Thu, 3 Apr 2014 16:48:47 GMT

Author: SuedeSwede

Posted: 04/03/2014 20:48

It's a rollercoaster of an album. It's juvenile and silly in parts, and then it's a total emotional trip in some parts. It all adds up to become incredibly awesome, the beats are some of the best I've heard in hip-hop & garage.

Re: User Pick of the Day (#18): Original Pirate Material

alelsupreme — Thu, 3 Apr 2014 16:38:37 GMT

Author: alelsupreme

Posted: 04/03/2014 20:38

GEEZERS GEEZERS GEEZERS

I tried making a file with every utterance of the word geezer in this album once, too much of a pain in the arse compiling them though.

This album is pretty much brilliant. Obvious highlight is Weak Become Heroes. I'd chat some shit about how this album is definitive of the early 00's British youth, but I was like 5 at the time so I'll let Nezzle do it. He's far better at it than me anyhow.

User Pick of the Day (#18): Original Pirate Material

Anonymous — Thu, 3 Apr 2014 16:11:55 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/03/2014 20:11

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Original Pirate Material by The Streets

Chart: Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by lethalnezzle
Rank on User's Chart: 3
Year: 2002
Rank on BEA Overall: 524
Average Rating: 77/100
Summary Info: Debut album of the English hip hop artist, Mike Skinner, who says that the album was inspired by the UK garage scene of the late '90s.

Details on the implementation and chart selection process of "User Pick of the Day" can be found here and here, respectively. A chart documenting the previous picks can be found here.