P!NK: THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE (RCA, 2012)
OVERVIEW: A fun but forgettable mixed
bag of tracks that fans will no doubt eat up.
Over the span of her impressive twelve-year career, Alecia
Moore (known better by her stage name, P!nk) has gained a reputation for being
somewhat of a badass, the “I hate this dance shit on the radio” type. Which is
rather odd when you remember that P!nk’s debut (Can’t Take Me Home) was the 2000
equivalent to Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream record. Not to mention her biggest
hits are helmed by non-other than Max Martin and Dr Luke. Still, her strongest
material has always been her more personal stuff. Unfortunately, the majority
of tracks presented here fall into the former. But more on that later.
The album opens with a weird chanty
number, “Are We All We Are”. It comes across as one of those “we are the world”
things, but if I’m honest I’m not too sure what she’s even talking about half
the time. ‘We are the people that you'll never get the best of / Not forget the
rest of, rest of” before some girl who isn’t P!nk starts charting the title. It’s
definitely an interesting opener but not really appropriate considering the hot
mess, made-for-radio first single “Blow me” which follows. All is seemingly up from there
though, second single Try is nothing new but it is what “Who knew” was to “I’m
Not Dead” and one of the better tracks on the album. Next up is what should be
the third single, a duet with fun. singer Nate Ruess. It’s basically a ‘fun.’ Song
though, and sounds nothing like what P!nk would do on her own. Another problem
this album seems to have. Nether the less, Just Give Me A Reason is a beautifully
delivered and cleverly written duet between the two about a relationship that
no one wants to accept is over. “We’ll come clean!” P!nk belts over silence
during the albums middle 8. By far the best track on the album and possibly one
of the best pop songs that 2012 has given us.
Unfortunately, all is downhill from
here. The highly anticipated Lily Allen duet turns out to be a fairly-nice-but-bland
generic record where Lily pops in for about four lines during the middle 8,
realizes the track is crap, and quickly runs away, leaving P!nk to deliver the
final chorus solo. Once again, this doesn’t really feel like a P!nk song. Oh
well.
Sticking close to her winning formula,
then comes this albums Max Martin hit. I could probably deal with an album full
of these, if the quality was up to the standard of U + Ur Hand/Bad Influence/So
What, but unfortunately producing standout tracks is where this album falters. The
sarcastic ‘Slut Like You’ reads like ‘Stupid Girls’ 2.0, which might be kinda respectable
if was not for the generic made-for-radio production and the catchy-as-hell
hook. It’s like Paris Hilton calling Kim Kardashian out for the way she broke
into the industry. Much like the rest of the album, it falls flat and fails to
live up to be this album’s Bad Influence/U + Ur Hand as hoped. Starting to lose
interest …
Walk of Shame however, is irresistible.
It’s a shame it comes so late in the album, don’t be surprised if you start
hearing this on radio early 2013.
Don’t get me wrong, there are
definitely personal tracks on here – Beam Me Up is practically a diary entry that
addresses her miscarriage a few years ago. She talks about another universe where
“nothing breaks and nothing hurts”. Easily one of the strongest and most
effective cuts on the record, it’s a shame (and a surprise) that producer Greg
Kurstin couldn’t muster up a better song than Blow Me for her big first single,
considering he’s also the guy behind Kelly Clarkson’s megahit “What Doesn’t
Kill You/Stronger” as well as “Dark Side”, and Lily Allen’s “The Fear”.
When we finally get to
the Eminem track, you don’t really know what to expect. The Truth has gone from radio friendly to other peoples song and
comes full circle during the records final quarter. Eminem just about saves
what would otherwise be a dull filler track (Here Comes The Weekend), before
the R&B influenced standout “Where Did The Beat Go” and closing acoustic
ballad “The Great Escape” – which is about as memorable as whoever won American
Idol last year.
Overall, its essentially
her worst release since her debut, although the four albums inbetween may have
set the bar higher than most which makes that sound harsher than it is. It's decent.
3.5 / 5
3.5 / 5
Download: Try, Just Give Me A Reason,
Walk of Shame, Beam Me Up
Youtube it: Are We All We Are, True
Love, Where Did The Beat Go
Skip: Sl*t Like You, Here Comes The
Weekend
"The Truth About Love" is out monday in the UK, tuesday in the US.
I want to hate this review since I love P!nk....but sadly I can not since it pretty much is true.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy Where Did The Beat Go though so I think thats the only part I don't agree with
I love P!nk too! I just don't think it's up to her usual standard.
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