I ain’t ever gonna change - are you ever gonna to realize?

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts.

25/07/10 : Alive Til I'm Dead - Professor Green

The Prof is an odd one - he's not really my style, but he has flashes of skill and humour that mean I'm intrigued as to whether there's something there for me.  And you can't argue with "Read All About It", his duet with Emeli Sandé (which obviously isn't on this album) - so let's see what we've got.

Yeah, we've got flashes but not really enough to convince me, I'm afraid,  It's hip-hop-pop, I guess - with an admittedly good line in guest artists.  The delivery is very Eminemesque, but less angry and considerably more Lahndan - I can imagine that it could get quite catchy and sing/shoutalongable if you were into this sort of thing and gave it enough listens, but that will not be happening, I'm afraid - although I did like "Just Be Good To Be Green" and "Monster".

We're at #2 this week with a new entry at the start of a 17 week run, after which it took two weeks off and then came back for another 17 week run - which is nicely symmetrical, if nothing else.  The rest of the top five were Eminem, Plan B, Kylie Minogue and Eliza Doolittle and we've got one more new entry which is an Earth Wind And Fire best-of (which is a nice coincidence given that I just wrote something on one of their singles).

Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say on the album. basically just walking us through the singles.  It does tell us all the guest artists though - Emeli Sandé, Lily Allen, Ed Drewett, Labrinth, Maverick Sabre, Example and The Streets are the ones I've heard of, which is quite the collection for a debut album.  The critics quite liked it - The Guardian referred to him as an "estuary Eminem" which is spot on imho.  It most certainly didn't make the break over the Atlantic though - it only just made it over the Irish Sea, getting to #18 over there.  His entry is quite interesting - the man ain't had an easy life, to say the least.  I mean, imagine having to be married to one of the Made In Chelsea stars...

"Customers also listened to" Plan B, Wretch 32, Devlin and Tinchy Stryder - not exactly my specialist subject on Mastermind, it probably won't surprise you to hear.  And neither is Prof Green - he remains someone who I'm intrigued by, whilst not being interested in.

25/07/10 - Not exactly essential
01/08/10 - An unexpected pleasure

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