P!nk-"M!ssundaztood" Review

Although she was a solid R&B/dance artist, Pink couldn’t avoid being thrown into the mold with Britney and TLC. These comparisons angered Pink, so much to the point of a transformation. “Can’t Take Me Home” was a necessary move to make, now that she’s had her coming-out party, she can take her career into her own hands and fulfill her true musical ambitions. So, after bringing Linda Perry back from the dead, she worked over-time to create a genuine pop/rock record, one that would make a true artistic statement, not a commercial one. Did it work?

Kind of. While there’s no denying that Pink has found her voice and artistic style, there are problems in her execution. The first is that while she was smart in bringing in Linda Perry to craft her pop makeover, not much benefits from this collaboration. Tracks written solely by Perry, the excellent club anthem “Get the Party Started” and the ok slow-rock number “Lonely Girl”, work as Pink delivers them with conviction. But, their collaborations, mainly “Dear Diary” and the saccharine “Eventually”, drag the album down. The title track is satisfactory, but not ingratiating enough, and “Gone to California” is filler disguised by excellent production. And in fact, the sleek and calculated production is what ultimately works against “Missundaztood”. While you have surefire hits like “Don’t Let Me Get Me” and “Just like a Pill”, the second half of the album doesn’t have the same thrill and is heavily weighed by the cleaned up glossiness of the music. “My Vietnam” is good, as it is also laborious to listen to, but the second half of “Missundaztood” completely eclipses the momentum of the first. Pink’s duet with Steven Tyler “Misery” is simply no match for her duet with Scratch on “Respect”. “Numb” pales in comparison to “18 Wheeler”, and “Family Portrait” (no doubt the most heartfelt track off the album) is sort of caught in the middle between the dueling halves. When all is said and done, “Missundaztood” is a record that promises so much, delivered by a songstress who has so much to offer, but in the end is better for what it promises, rather than what it delivers.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:

1. Missundaztood                     2. Don’t Let Me Get Me       3. Just Like a Pill

4. Get the Party Started        5. Respect                                6. 18 Wheeler

7. Family Portrait                   8. Misery                                  9. Dear Diary

10. Eventually                           11. Lonely Girl                        12. Numb

13. Gone to California              14. My Vietnam