Pink came into the music world halfway through 2000 with her groundbreaking debut single There You Go. A multi-platinum album Can’t Take Me Home soon followed and spawned two more hits - Most Girls & You Make Me Sick.

After this, Pink decided to take control of her music career and in late 2001, she released her best album to date (it’ll probably stay that way too) M!ssundaztood. As soon as the fourth amazing single Family Portrait had done it’s dash, Pink fans were left anticipating a third album. By that stage, I was one of them.

Around the middle of 2003, fans were ecstatic to hear Pink was to have a cameo in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Not only did this mean a glimpse of our favourite star, but it was also expected there’d be a song on the soundtrack, and with the third album not expected until November, some were getting desperate. The song, Feel Good Time was the only true indication of what was going to be on the album. It was lighthearted, a bit of fun with a catchy tune and lyrics. Fun for a while but not much worth talking about after the movie did its dash.

Then Pink started to get into some serious Trouble, with an appropriately named single, released a few weeks before the album. This was not at all what fans were expecting. Sure, the first couple of times I heard Touble I thought it rocked, but after that it sort of became boring. It was bland. The lyrics were repetitive and hard to understand. When I saw the video I was shocked. All she does is ride a horse into a town from an old western movie and cause some Trouble. It was not the creative, innovative Pink I was expecting. The worst part was how she was dressed. She looked so skanky. I couldn’t believe it. Could this really be Pink?

The album, Try This, arrived and I wasn’t at all sure about spending money on it. Well, not my money anyway. Sure, it was Pink and I definitely wanted a copy, but something told me it wasn’t going to be good enough to spend $30 on. However, a chance came for me to pick up a free copy so I grabbed it. Initially, I thought “maybe I was wrong – this is pretty good”. Had I reviewed it back then it possibly would’ve got five stars.

After I listened to it a couple of times, I wasn’t interested in it as much. I still say it’s a good album, but it’s missing that je ne sais quoi that made M!ssundaztood so good.

Early this year the video for second single God Is A DJ came on TV screens. The song itself was pretty good – a basic party anthem with some good beats and somewhat intelligent lyrics. It would’ve been a better choice for first single. The video, however, shows Pink running about in even less clothes and wearing a bra that made her breasts bounce all over the place. Should we be losing respect for Pink?

Yes, if third single and third track Last To Know is anything to go by. Pink, if you’re reading, please do not make track four the fourth single. By this stage I’m getting sick of listening to single after single after single. If I wanted to hear that, I’d buy a greatest hits collection. The song is about some guy who said he was going to be at her concert, so she saved him a ticket and told her mother it was sold out. Then he didn’t come and didn’t call so Pink’s pissed off. The music rocks, but her language has gone downhill. Personally, I don’t care if people swear, I’ve got nothing against it so long as there’s no kids around and its not in a church or anything. However, this isn’t what we’ve come to expect from Pink. Her language for the most part has been pretty good, so when she repeatedly drops the f-bomb, it just leads me to further believe Pink is going downhill. Surely she could’ve found something else to rhyme with “luck”?

Watch Kelly Osbourne in her video “Shut Up”, then watch Last To Know. Pink and Kelly look eerily similar, except Kelly wears more clothes.

Based purely on the track order, God forbid Tonight’s The Night becomes the fourth single. It’s an OK song, half rock, half party. She talks about trying to get out of somewhere but not having the money to do it. The aspect that saves it is Pink’s voice, especially in the chorus.

Last To Know features the line “if I was a ho”, implying she isn’t. Hmmm. Somewhat hypocritical that, considering Oh My God with Peaches. A lot of heavy breathing, quieter music and dirty lyrics make this the perfect song to play during sex. Anyone looking for a song to feature in their next porno? Here’s one.

Catch Me While I’m Sleeping (finally) sounds like it has some M!ssundaztood influences, particularly from tracks like Eventually and Numb. It’s that kind of mellow rock music, and some deep, emotional, personal lyrics. It’s about time too!

This trend continues through Waiting For Love, a song about the past and learning from mistakes. However, the chorus gets very repetitive, as it’s basically just the line “Waiting For Love” over and over. Pink used to have more originality than this.

The tempo is kicked up a little with Save My Life , which isn’t exactly sure what it’s trying to be. Compared to other songs on the album, it’s not rock, but it’s not mellow like Sleeping and Waiting, nor is it dance like God Is A DJ. It tries to be some kind of mix of all and doesn’t sound too bad.

Try Too Hard comes around and my first thought is “now we’re getting somewhere!” This is the next truly rocking song after Last To Know, which was track 3. We’re now up to track nine, which means the middle of the CD is a bit of a lull in comparison. However, Try Too Hard more than makes up for it. Not only does it rock, but it’s one of the first songs on here that fits Pink’s voice.

Then we get Humble Neighborhoods (or Neigbourhoods if you spell it right), which continues the rock theme. It’s a great song to air guitar to, or possibly air drum. Listen to this and try not to dance. I tell ya, I find it damn near impossible. It’s about coming from nowhere to being a huge star, but remembering where you’re from… kinda like J.Lo’s Jenny From The Block, but a lot edgier and rockier.

Walk Away is a bit of a disappointment. There’s not a lot to it aside from a slightly repetitive chorus and an OK beat.

Then Pink starts to Unwind and finishes up the album with a couple of slower songs. Unwind is another emotional number. It kind of catches the essence of M!ssundaztood, but doesn’t quite feel right on this album.

Love Song is exactly that. Pink’s not used to writing them (I’ve never written a love song that didn’t end in tears) and she does a fairly good job here. She pours her heart and soul into it and it shows. Very deep, very emotional, very soft music. The mood of the song is captured nicely.

Then, however, we come to the supposed hidden track, which is simply track 15. Not hidden at all, just not listed on the back of the case. I haven’t found anywhere that makes it official, but a lot of people call the song Hooker. Basically, Pink directs this song at hookers, saying it’s not necessary to sell your body, there’s other ways to make money. Umm, have you seen any of your latest videos recently Pink? Are you really in a position to criticize?

Try This is not a bad album. It’s a fairly solid effort, but in saying that it definitely has moments where you can see Pink’s career going downhill. There’s moments when it rocks (Humble Neighbourhoods, Last To Know), moments that would’ve been better on the last album (Unwind, Catch Me While I’m Sleeping) and moments that just seem hypocritical (Oh My God, Hooker). It’s worth buying, but it’ll probably be the last Pink album that is. Pink, my advice would be to release a Greatest Hits collection and quit while you’re still making good music.

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