[.ca] Try This

From Amazon.com:
While detractors may grouse that Pink's third album doesn't have a dance floor anthem on it like the incendiary "Get The Party Started" from 2001's Missundaztood, some prefer their Pink straight up and damn the paper drink umbrellas and crepe paper. She's at her very best raiding her own troubled autobiography for inspiration, spitting out vituperrious vocal epitaphs like seeds from a ripe watermelon instead of the angst-ridden confessional romp she took through Missundaztood. Maybe she's worked all that out on a psychiatrist's couch, because this time out her anger is much more arch and entertaining; likely due to her pairing with Rancid's Tim Armstrong, who co-wrote and produced most of the disc and certainly knows the value of turning rage into a well-crafted musical punch line. As unlikely as the collaboration looked on paper, it works perfectly because the Pennsylvania native has always brandished a punk sneer beneath the corsets, gaudy hair color, and naughty girl demeanor. Armstrong and his Rancid cohorts (Lars Frederiksen and Matt Freeman) inject feral rock action into the disc with their truncated guitar sounds and trash can drumming and provide a perfect foil for Pink's foul-mouth rants and backstage laments like "Last To Know." But Pink hasn't shaved her spiky coiffure into a Mohawk. She still smolders on a soulful ballad like "Catch Me While I'm Sleeping" or trades vitriol with raps' redoubtable sex kitten, Peaches. --Jaan Uhelszki

Oh, dear:
I suppose it's best to be up-front here: I've never particularly paid much attention to Pink before, or her music. Sure, she's got a great voice (although it's grown to irritate me now), and her debut was kinda fun. (And man, I loved Most Girls and Hell Wit Ya) And while I didn't find M!ssundaztood to be the masterpiece everyone else regarded it as, I thought it was pretty nice all the same. But then... well, something happened. In-between all this, Pink's attitude turned cocky, and she seemed to be trying to convince everyone (including, it seems, herself) that she was some sort of bad, cool rebel chick who didn't give a crap about the who, what, when, where, how, and why of any or everything. Unfortunately, the rebel-chick-in-training rears her head all over and album that should've been good. The music's decent for the most part - if you're into energetic pop-rock (like I am), then if you ignore the lyrics (in which Pink tries to shove her new attitude into our faces), then you'll be in paradise. Possibly. Unfortunately for me, the songs on Try This either drag on far too long (Trouble, Catch Me While I'm Sleeping), or are too loud and screechy, and the lyrics are often too eye-rolling (Humble Neighborhoods, in which Pink declares "We're bad people and we do bad things") or hypocritical (the amusing Try Too Hard - in which Pink chastises someone for trying too hard to be percieved as different and special - never mind that Pink seems to have befallen the same unfortunate fate - and the crass, just-plain-dumb hidden track, Hooker, which finds Pink calling someone... well, a hooker, although I'm pretty sure Pink won't be the demurity poster child anytime soon) There IS one bright spot through all the muck and suck, however, and - surprise surprise - it's a dance track (God Is A DJ) which is just plain fun if you ignore the, once again, "I'm-a-bad-chick" attempts on here ("cigarette smile," "daddy, I hate you," "lover, hey, \oFornication Under Consent of King\c you") I tried to like it. But, in the end, it just failed to grab me. Plus, Pink's attitude does nothing to help my opinion of the album itself, so there's another strike against her. Hopefully, though, soon she'll just stop trying so hard to come across as cool and bad and just be herself. (And let THAT speak for her - subtly, though, not bash it into our heads with the lyrics like on here) (Although I'm glad to see others are enjoying it, at least)

Image Vs. Content, Growth Vs. Immaturity:
When Pink broke out of the pack with her sophmore effort, 2001's brilliant MISSUNDAZTOOD, she seemed destined for greatness, someone who could be leading the pack versus someone who was content to merely follow. Sadly, that greatness is nowhere to be found on TRY THIS, a mish-mashed muddle of styles and attitude that ultimately falters beneath the weight of it's own self-indulgence. The disc opens promisingly enough, with the snotty, in-your-face "Trouble." All crunchy guitars and snarling vocals, this is the kind of song Joan Jett would have had a hit with twenty years ago. "God Is A DJ" tries to blend hard rock with dance grooves, failing miserably. With it's oh-so-deep lyrics - "If God is a DJ/Life is a dance floor/Love is the rhythm/You are the music" - this was expected to be one of the big singles off of TRY THIS. The fact that it completely bombed shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. "Last To Know" is a high energy thrasher about a first date that doesn't turn out so well, while "Tonight's The Night" has a comfortable R & B groove to it. Picture a more laid-back "Get The Party Started." "Oh My God" is a sultry slice of steamy funk, featuring a slammin' rap from Peaches. Pink's breathy yet firm vocals are probably the hottest on the disc, resulting in one of TRY THIS's best cuts. In a more perfect world, this would have been a great third single. "Catch Me While I'm Sleeping" has a nice retro soul vibe to it, but at the same time it also sounds like everything else producer Linda Perry has written in the last year or so. "Waiting For Love" is a trippy blend of 60's sitar, 70's guitar and stirring lyrics ("She prays to the Gods/Telling how she needs someone/Help me find where I am today/Life is looking very grey"). The track proves Pink can rock with the best of them, especially when she reigns her vocals in at just the right moment. "Save Me" features some thoughtful lyrics and a strong percussive punch, but the song is ultimately so light weight that it just kind of floats away. It's at this point that things start to get really rocky for TRY THIS, continuing thru most of the last third of the CD. "Try Too Hard" does just that....it tries too hard. With it's punky sk8ter boi thrash and cliched lyrics, this song about a pathetic poseur backfires on Pink. By the time she's singing the bridge of "You try too hard/You just try too hard" you want to scream back "YEAH.....ya do! Knock it off!!" "Humble Neighborhoods" is brilliant, though. Picture the big, marching vocals of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall" mixed with one of the Runaways best tracks (say, "Queens Of Noise!"). Add a nice touch of keyboards and a breakneck rhythm section and you have what's missing from a lot of TRY THIS...rock & roll attitude that's real, but never seems posed or over the top. "Walk Away" is classic pop, one of Pink's five best songs to date. Punctuated with sassy horns, there's a Philly soul meets 70's So Cal rock groove going on. In all fairness, both of these songs should have been huge hit singles. The same can't be said about the rest of the CD. "Unwind" is a noisy, whiny piece about rock excess, resulting in a major pity party. The celebration continues with "Love Song", a treacly ballad that's probably meant to show the deep, human side of Pink, but instead comes across as hollow and calculated. The CD ends with the hidden track "Hooker", a profanity-laced, god-awful piece of garbage that does nothing more than A) rob three minutes of the listener's life and B) just reminds us of how young Pink still is. I mean, I remember how fun it was to curse and get away with it....in third grade! Here's hoping that lack of maturity is only a minor stumble, and that between now and her next release Pink will once again experience the kind of growth seen between her debut disc and MISSUNDAZTOOD. Said growth should help her to realize that content is much more important than image, something she fails to grasp on much of TRY THIS.

I must say...:
.....that I resisted giving Pink and her music a chance for a long time, mostly because of her moving from R & B to alternative to rock/near-punk. I am not particularly a big rock & roll fan, after all; R & B is more my style. But I am glad I broke down a couple months ago and got all three of her CD's, because I was wrong-she is great! 'Try This' is just a great, feel-good album with a great mix of upbeat rock songs and pop ballads. It is a great party album (like her first effort, 'Can't Take Me Home') and it definitely has a much more positive feel and direction than her personal form of therapy 'Missundaztood' (though that was a good CD too). So in spite of my usual musical taste, I love this album a lot and I definitely recommend it to all fans who already own 'Can't Take Me Home' and 'Missundaztood'.

A Change But None The Less...A Success:
When I First heard that Pink had a new album in stores I was very specticle.Her Last Album "Mizzunderstood" took a very long time for me to get used to.But I kept in mind that the "Cant Take Me Home" Pink was not her at all.Once I got passed the Rock & Roll/Punk sound.I finally noticed this is the real deal.This is not "Pink" per say but this is Phelica Moore.She's actually talking about something other than the usual "you Did me wrong I want you dead and your girlfriend out my bed" songs. When I heard Try This being used to the new and real Pink,I understood this album and it's sound.I actually loved this album.If she didn't prove her vocal abillity on "Lady Momerlaud" then she most definetly proved it on this album.With such songs as "God Is a Dj" sparking some contriversey and "Unwind",where Pink strikes a very noticable vocal simularity with the great lengend Janic Joplin.The is even aparently suppose to be baised around the original white girl with soul,the legend miss Janic Joplins life.I wouldnt be surprised it's known that Pink is a huge Janic Joplin fan,and not by many but that next summer of 2005 Pink will be portreying the legend in a biopic of her life.Even though Rene Zellwegger will also in the highly anticipated "Piece Of My Heart" (Witch is a Janic Joplin song,for those who dont know). But all in all Pink proves with this album that she is and will always be a force to be recond with.

"TRY THIS" don't even!:
I have liked Pink before when her image at the "Can't Take Me Home" album is still being patronized. The songs are good as well... "You Make Me Sick" and "Most Girls". Now she has matured and certainly went away from being dirty to FAR MORE DIRTY! In her "Trouble" video, the whole point of the clip was to make chaos in which Pink would enter a western bar and beat everyone up, then she ends up truimphant. She just wants to show that she's tough! a tomboy I must say! Almost the same attempt was done for the video of "God Is A DJ". First of all, Pink can't sing and that's a fact. I'll give her a star for she's a good dancer and that's basically about it! YUCK!

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