P!nk Album: “I'm Not Dead (Explicit)”

I remember reading an article when Pink was recalling the mini-disaster that was Try This, and how she knew she was spitting out really lackluster songs (save for Catch Me When I'm Sleeping). Pink has really made up for that by releasing I'm Not Dead. Each and every song has Pink's personality all over it, and if you like it, you won't be disappointed. From Pink's radio-driven Stupid Girls, where she attacks our society and its adjoined stupidity, to the thoughtful, convicting "Dear Mr. President", which is deep enough to make the strongest Republican melt. I'm glad that Pink wrote that song and didn't portray herself as an "in-your-face know-it-all". But she is very educated, and it comes through in an honest attempt to put all the jokes and the sneering aside and really face the issues that plague our country.

Through listening to the latter song, as well as "Conversations with My 13 Year Old Self", "Runaway", "The One That Got Away" and "Long Way to Happy", Pink's songwriting chops have obviously gotten stronger, and their muscles are flexed throughout the CD. One cannot help but stop and rewind certain phrases - her honesty leaves her vulnerable, but she has put herself and her opinions out there on the table, and it's up to the listener to take it or leave it. But it's not debatable that Pink has bared her soul on this record.

It's been a long time since the industry has really come face-to-face with such a poignant, fun, thought-provoking album. Classic? It's way too early to tell, but it definitely has the makeup to be one.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM. OK, so I can't play all of it around my 5 year old or at work...details. I heard clips of her previous work and wasn't all that impressed but this one I have to play over and over. I love "Leave me alone I'm lonely" (does any married woman not feel that way sometime?), the song with her dad makes me weepy, the attitude on some songs is so fun but mostly the girl can write and she THINKS and there's just something very real about her and she touches something very honest in me. I bought it for "Dear Mr. President" and I'm glad I did. I love this.

I'm old and not really into the pop scene. I saw P!nk on Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards and didn't really understand the song and just thought "oh great, now my 5 year old boy has a song to sing about not wanting to be a stupid girl" I put her in my little box where I put the other teeny bopper rockers, you know, the Avril Lavignes and Ashlee Simpsons of the world.

Then I saw her on Oprah (which I also don't usually watch) and they were discussing the discussion thats been started by the song. And she impressed me...not typical...smart girl. And then I heard a clip of Dear Mr. President and thought "she's really ok" and then I heard she recorded it with the Indigo Girls I took notice. (I'm an Indigo Girls fan). I'm glad I did. Its been a long time since I've been excited about an album.

Such a talent! Her lyrics are unbelievable! If you like Janis Joplin, you will like Pink! I urge those x-hippies to try this album--you won't be disappointed.

`I'm not dead' sees Pink returning in her angry rock chick persona, first heard on her breakthrough sophomore disc `M!ssundaztood' on which she finally came into her own. If you loved the hits `Just like a pill', and `Don't let me get me', then you'll love this CD.

Lead off single and opening cut is the ska inflected `Stupid girls' which pokes fun at the obsession with being skinny, with lyrics like `They travel in packs of two or three/with their itsy bitsy doggies & their teeny-weeny tees'; Paris Hilton anyone?

`Who knew' is a mid tempo rocker about the shocking (to her) end of a relationship. It starts off gentle with acoustic guitar, which builds up to a catchy rocking chorus, a format much of the disc follows.

Other standouts are `Long way to happy', `Runaway' (a melancholic tale of a runaway), the introspective `Conversations with my 13 year old self', the Joan Jett like `Cuz I can', and the awesome angry dance rocker `U & Ur hand'.

For ballads, there's the lovely soulful `I got money now', and the acoustic almost folk protest song `Dear Mr. President' questioning Mr. President about poverty, homelessness, war, and gay rights. It has faint Alanis Morissette overtones. Closing is a hidden acoustic track; `I have seen the rain' which is a duet with her father who penned it while in Vietnam.

There isn't a single dull/weak track on this disc. Yet another superb offering from Pink.

Pink had been on a haitus since the Mizunderstood album. "Try This" was a failed experiment, and Pink pretty much disappeared from the charts for a number of years. Pink went back to what worked for her in the past, a more pop oriented sound, with catchy hooks. It worked this time around, more so than it has ever done. During the "Try This" album, Pink started cursing for the first time and continues the trend with this album. I like it. It shows the type of person she really is, which is a no holds barred, strong female type of individual. She's her own person, and does what she wants to do, regardless of outside influence.