Dead, floating or back on top? (I'm Not Dead - P!nk)

Member Name: Jark

Product:	I'm Not Dead - P!nk
Date:	04/08/08 (102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some of the best moments of P!nk's career to date

Disadvantages: A couple of filler tracks near the end

In 2003, P!nk returned fresh from her mega-selling worldwide #1 album M!ssundaztood with a brand new single Trouble (her best-ever in my view) and an accompanying album, Try This, suitably full of attitude and raunch. However for one reason or another Try This failed to take off in a big way, with underwhelming sales in most countries and poorly-performing singles, especially in the US where she was close to being written-off. 2006 comeback album I'm Not Dead, then, was quite the big moment - regardless of whether she was breathing, was P!nk's career really dead? This was the decider.

The album starts out with Stupid Girls, a guitar-assisted uptempo pop track about the desperation of celebrity. The lyrics are refreshing indeed, as P!nk (real name Alicia Moore) shakes her acid tongue at 'paparazzi girls', and the video is equally topical, P!nk pushing up her breasts at the gym and fake tanning far past perfection. The song certainly can't compete with her finest career moments - her previous two lead singles are both much superior in my opinion - but certainly it announces that P!nk is back with a bang, ready to speak her mind and make her mark on the scene once again, and so it works well as the album's opener.

Who Knew comes next. The album's hugely-successful second single, it boasts an uplifting guitar riff and hugely evocative strings to create a melodic and memorable piece of midtempo pop. It's certainly one of the highlights of P!nk's career and almost an anthem for the broken-hearted; 'i keep your memory, you visit me in my sleep' she muses whilst posing the rhetorical question 'Who knew?'. Next is Long Way To Happy, which opens with a rock-infused tinkling back before exploding with the chorus into a huge pop-rock number so typical of her collaberations with Butch Walker. The track boasts a huge hook ('keep on rolling like a stone, cos its gonna be a long long way to happy') and is an undoubted highlight on Im Not Dead. It's not hard to see why P!nk reportedly wanted to name the album after this gem, although perhaps the final title fits her comeback intentions somewhat better.

Nobody Knows is the first real downfall; a slightly dull and uninspired ballad-esque number without a very memorable tune or hook, it acts merely as a space-filler on the record and losing it would be no big loss. Shockingly the song became the UK's 4th single and, unsurprisingly, only managed to scrape inside the Top 30. Things improve with Dear Mr President, on which ms Moore poses a series of questions to the current US president George Bush ('How do you sleep whilst the rest of us cry? Can you even look me in the eye?'). The track is an acoustic piece of heaven, and such brilliant lyrical content in such an appealing package can only spell good things for listeners, especially those willing to keep an open mind and perhaps think about the issues P!nk is concerned by. The song, a big hit in the countries where it saw a release, finishes with P!nk affirming to the President that she knows he'd 'never take a walk with (her)'. It's another career-highlight.

The title track comes sixth and is another midtempo pop-rock track; clearly the album is a work of cohesion. This is no bad thing by any means though, and in fact Im Not Dead is, for me, the best song on the whole album. The verses are bouncy and typical and truly bursting with emotion; when P!nk states that 'just like the changing seasons, I know you'll be back again', we know she's singing it from the heart and not a lyrics sheet. 'You're my crack of sunlight' she cries as a huge, europhoric bridge kicks in which even the most miserable of audiences could barely fail to stand still during. It's simply perfect, as if P!nk has tapped into the heads of her fans, found the formula they want and given it to them on a fabulously pretty plate.

'Cuz I Can features a handful of ridiculous lyrics and a truckful of boastful ones; 'I could fit your whole house in my swimming pool' scoffs P!nk, before letting out a slightly evil chuckle. 'Im fucked, because I live a life of sin', she muses. Does she care? No, apparently she'll do what she wants simply because she can. And why not? Of course, the lyrical content doesn't reflect P!nk's mindset; even behind the ballsy attitude it's perfectly obvious that P!nk is not the kind of girl to rub in the fact that she has a large pool or can do whatever the hell she wants, but it's a rare and welcomed moment of fun where romance takes a back seat. That back seat becomes a front seat next, for on Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely), P!nk requests a little space from her lover ('All I ask for is one fucking hour!') before concluding that by tomorrow she'll want him back anyway. It's her most commercial song in years, and it's easy to see why, even after the album had sold triple-platinum in the UK and spawned 4 singles, Leave Me Alone managed to become a moderate success aided only be a live concert video; indeed the song tore up the airplay charts and if released earlier would perhaps have put her in the running for another #1.

U & Ur Hand, another Max Martin/Dr Luke-produced number, was in the running for lead single and with good reason. The track (not dissimilar from The Veronicas' Dr Luke-made hit 4Ever) is yet another rocky pop number with guitars and drums aplenty, although perhaps the slightly racy meaning of the song's title helps it stand out from the crowd. The song also comes with possibly the best video of P!nk's career - certainly she was on good form during this era. Runaway slows the pace but, unlike Nobody Knows, manages to make for a truly interesting ballad-of-sorts. 'I wonder how long it'll take them to notice that I'm gone?' wallows the little girl underneath P!nk's rather more mature exterior. The chorus erupts into an altogether bigger pop moment but the sadness-tinged vocals are always present. Sung from the assumed viewpoint of an older teen, P!nk tackles the issues on so many teens' minds ('I wonder if I was a mistake? Life don't make any sense to me...') without sounding cringey, which is no easy feat. Songs with reasonable deep content but an upbeat sound are something of a forte for the girl, and this is no exception.

The One That Got Away is the first and only time on the album that P!nk completely escapes the rocky-pop genre in favour of funky country music, and perhaps surprisingly, it totally works. The lyrics border are cute and then some ('I was sitting in his apartment, he was making cappucino, I said what kind of man makes cappucino? We laughed...til tears ran down our face'), as if the audience is being allowed an insight into P!nk's private life, which is beyond refreshing when the majority of romances described in pop music are set on the dancefloor and ponder sex, not coffee. The song is evidence of P!nk's admirable ability to use her gravelly tones over any music and still manage to sing with total conviction, regardless of the subject matter. It's quite the skill. I Got Money Now is a vain and sadly rather unlikeable number which seems to have been placed on the album only to fill out space, and the same can be said of the tedious Conversations With My 13yo Self. Neither song bears repeat listenings and both are probably best forgotten, for they attempt to drag down an otherwise perfect record.

Bonus track Fingers features slight electro influences and some fabulously dirty lyrics ('I let my fingers do the walkin' - need I say more?). It's a nice reminder of P!nk's flexibility (musically, NOT with her fingers!) and a fitting bonus track.

I'm Not Dead as an album succeeds in doing what was necessary; reminding the public that P!nk is a wonderful talent who deserves the Platinum sales she missed out on with Try This, and, whilst it takes a very commercial route to that success, that's certainly no flaw given the sheer quality of the songs and the mostly admirable lyrical content.

She's not dead, not even floating, but soaring high above the competition - back to where she belongs. On top.

Summary: P!nk is back on top, and rightly so. An album every pop fan needs.