Categories: uncategorized
Date: 28 October 2008 09:57:53
I admit it, I regressed yesterday and got an ickle excited, going out on the first day of hard copy release, spending money I didn't really have on something I didn't really need. So for those of you taking a more of a um, thinking about it attitude here is a review of Pink's new album, Fun House.
We start with the now, almost annoingly, familiar So What which takes us into the land of sing-a-long cartoon punk. Catchy with attitude, good chart fodder.
The second track, Sober, is classic soft rock; slowed down verses and a power ballad style chorus. Nice string arrangement at the end.
Then it slows right down for I Don't Believe You. It's got an acoustic type feel to it and contains beautiful, husky vocals. The word haunting kind of comes to mind and from my first couple of listens it's my favourite track on the CD.
One Foot Wrong is another track where part of you wants to reach for the throat lozengers, but this one's got a more blusey feel to it. It's "nice", but that's all.
Please Don't Leave Me takes us back into jangly sing-a-long land, but again has that acousticy type feel which I love to hear Pink doing.
With Bad Influence we've travelled once again into the land of cartoon, pop punk. This one is fun.
Funhouse moves us into more of a funk based dance groove. Not sure why, but Pink's voice on the chorus really reminds me of Kate Bush. Overall, it's a really cool song which I liked.
The rich instrumental and vocal arrangements which make Pink's music a bit more intelligent than the average pop tarts are shown off on Crystal Ball, to great effect.
Mean is another depressing piece of musical mastery, with the lyrics yet again reflecting this album was written around her marriage falling to peices.
It's All Your Fault decieves with a bit of piano and haunting melody in the first verse before launching itself full throttle into a real f**k you rock chorus, but then it changes direction again with a bit of electronica being thrown in.
Ave Mary A is essentially a dance track, but one with slightly better lyrics than the average.
Glitter In The Air sees the return of the piano and the depressing lyrics.
This is How it Goes Down is another dance track reflecting on a broken relationship and what follows, but from both sides.
The final track, Boring, mixes up dance with cartoon punk and is sufficiently upbeat to ensure you are smiling again by the time the CD ends.
So overall verdict, not quite as good as some of her previous stuff. In part because it seems alot more personal and so lacks the biting social comment of tracks like "Stupid Girl" and "Dear Mr President". Yet, what should, listening to most of the lyrics, be music to slit your wrists by is transformed into an eclectic mix of beautiful melodies and vocals which are haunting, cutting and ball breaking by turn. In my humble opinion, this eclectic feel to her records is what puts Pink in a field of her own if you look around most of the artists who have commerical success in the popular music industry today. So, a good record worth going out and buying, even if it isn't as outstanding as "I'm Not Dead".