She's hotheaded, tomboyish, blunt, rude, cross, explicit, gruff, and any other adjectives you can find - and yet she's hugely popular. She has discarded her name and opted for the wild-n-wacky title of 'P!NK'. And, according to her latest album, she's vastly misunderstood.
Ladies and gentlemen...meet Pink/P!nk/P!NK/however you want to spell it. She's a semi-rock, semi-punk, anti-pop artist, born and brought up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. You might be wondering why she calls herself Pink. Well, her real name's Alecia Moore, but being the tomboyish anti-normal person that she is, she decided to dye her hair hot pink and change her name to correspond. She's not always pink-headed - depending on her mood, she goes with blonde, brown, green, blue, and every other colour of the rainbow...
Anyway, enough about her. Let me tell you about her music. She's a solo artist, with two albums to her credit. Her latest album, Missundaztood, has gone quadruple platinum last time I checked. It's kind of odd, because she has a very raspy, rough voice, and her songs are usually quite harsh, dealing with anything from drugs to depression - and yet, they're termed quite appealing. I decided to listen to her album and see what everyone was raving about. Here's a breakdown of it:
1. Missundaztood
Let me get on my ranting box again - don't butcher the English language! I guess I can pardon her this time, though, because the title does create some interesting word play (Ms. Understood vs. Misunderstood). But still, yeesh.
Right from the beginning, the beat in the background drags you into the song - and it's oddly complementary to her raspy, coarse voice. The first half of the song is kind of semi-talking, semi-singing, but not enough to qualify as rap. Then comes the chorus, where it gets more musical. It's very amplified and manipulated - a very 'techno' song. The lyrics are not really understandable - just something about her being willing to do 'it' again, and that she's just one big misunderstood blob. Yep. The song ends with her imitating some weird commercial, and she sounds really weird, and she keeps going 'Unh!' in some kind of high-pitched voice. No idea what that was about.
2. Don't Let Me Get Me
The BEST song on this album. This song is just so catchy, it kills me. It's about how she's a 'hazard' to herself - and she wants to be somebody else. Firstly, she's really 'singing' in this song - especially in the bridge/chorus. That part will just suck you in - so great. I definitely recommend the album if only for this song.
PS: There's a great line in there: ''Tired of being compared/To damn Britney Spears/...'' Heh. Gotta love that.
3. Just Like A Pill
The second best song - I love it! Another recommendation from me. It has another super-catchy chorus like 'Don't Let Me Get Me'. It's about her boyfriend being 'just like a pill' - he keeps making her 'ill'. It's sort of a bittersweet song, no pretenses. Very nice.
4. Get This Party Started
If you listen to local rock/pop stations, I'm SURE you've heard this song at least once. The video shows her spinning around crazily on the dance floor. It's just such a great party song - very catchy, very dance-able, and just fun. It's a great picker-upper if you're feeling miserable - very lighthearted.
5. Respect
This song is all about the https://lyrics. She's singing about how certain men show no respect to women. The chorus is hilarious - talking about how a woman's body is not out there for free. It's catchy, and the sarcastic lyrics will make you smile. My only complaint is that it's reminiscent of her previous tracks.
6. 18 Wheeler
This song is quite depressing, yet uplifting. That's a paradox, I know, but I can't describe it any other way. It's about her being kicked down by her boyfriend (some pretty brutal things), but she just keeps popping back up. It's a harsh song - don't listen to it if you really concentrate on the https://lyrics.
7. Family Portrait
This is a very real song - very depressing, very sad, and very well performed. It's about a household that's split apart - mom's crying, dad's leaving, the little girl's scared. She sings in a really pained manner - tugs on your heartstrings, or at least makes you depressed for a while. The song closes very sadly...make sure you listen to the lyrics carefully if you listen to this song.
8. Misery
Quite an unusual song, to say the least. I was quite suprised when I heard it - it seemed so unlike Pink. It features Steven Tyler - who joins her in some parts of the song. It's rather odd because the background music is kind of slow and then there's some kind of drumbeat on top of it - and then their voices, which sound really screechy and cacophonic. Sorry, Pink, but this one's bad.
9. Dear Diary
First of all - Dear Diary is such an incredibly common, mundane, redundant, repetitive title, that it gets on my nerves. I can think of at least 4 different singers who've used this. I would've expected more of Pink. Anyway, the song is a little boring. It never seems to end - and it features the same lyrics, over and over and over again. With this and 'Misery', the album has dropped a few notches.
10. Eventually
Continuing her flop streak, Pink presents us with Eventually. It's not a bad song, but it doesn't fit in with the whole mood created by the other songs. I mean, it really sticks out. It's a slow song, enough to put you to sleep, and her raspy voice is kind of lost in the lovey-dovey music. Blech. Don't like it.
11. Lonely Girl
A somewhat 'bleh' song - nothing special. It's about her being a lonely girl (duh). The lyrics are pretty nonsensical, the music okay but redundant, and she sounds like she's yelling instead of singing. Bleh.
12. Numb
Finally - Pink picks up. I personally don't care for the lyrics and their connotations - but the song and the general singing is great. The chorus is kind of 'pyramidical' - don't know how to put it, but it kind of increases in tempo and then reduces, and then increases...fluctuating, I guess, would be a good word to describe it. Very rocker-ish. Nice.
13. Gone to California
This song is so agonizingly slow that you're going to whack the CD player and beg it mercilessly to speed it up. It's not a 'lovey-dovey' slow, but more of a 'techno-slow', if you catch my drift. It talks about how she's running away to California because Philadelphia is full of 'pain and hurt'. It's an okay song, I guess - just kind of 'blah'.
14. My Vietnam
With a 'war sounds' background track to open, this song is an analogy - one where she compares Vietnam to her life. Basically, she loves her dad, and hates her mom. It's a repetitive song, and her voice sounds horrible (screechy). The lyrics don't really make much sense, and the vocals and music don't complement each other. Not too good.
The Verdict
Out of 14 songs, here's the data:
Hits: 8
Misses: 6
Pretty close, no? I think she did a pretty good job with this album, and I realize that a lot of the songs here will appeal to other people - just not me. On the whole, I like the album. It's a fresh perspective, albeit a sometimes repetitive one.
Don't listen to this album if you can't stand depressing songs or songs about drugs and violence and the lot. I'd give this album a 3.5 out of 5, but since I can't choose decimals, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and make it a 4. Good going P!nk.
If you want to listen to samples of her songs or simply see what she looks like, she has a website at:
http://www.pinkspage.com
Comments and criticisms always welcome. :)
