As something of an old rock and roll guy, I was all set to hate this album when I unwrapped the gift wrap it came to me in. I don't recall why, but I had had a misguided belief that Pink was yet another whining 20-something with more attitude and angst than actual talent. But I'm happy to admit that I was SO incredibly wrong -- this is a great album.

Why?

1. It's funny. Songs like "Stupid Girls" and "U + UR Hand" are hilariously on-target at skewering certain audiences, and they provide a nice balance to the more serious songs on the album.

2. It's meaningful. Even Pink's funny songs have more genuine meaning underlying them than most pop artists' entire songbooks, and the more socially-conscious and spiritual ones can tear your heart out. "Dear Mr. President" and "I Have Seen the Rain" are particularly poignant tracks. Make no mistake, this woman is serious and should be taken as such.

3. It's intelligent. Listen to this album, then listen to anything by Britney Spears or Christine Whoever -- the distinction will be clear. Whether you like particular songs or not is a matter of taste, but the fact that the lyrics are smart and the music fitting is undeniable. Brilliant stuff.

4. It's easy on the ears. While there's nothing overwhelmingly new to this album musically, it's more rock than pop and it's done very well. There's a fresh crispness to all but the slowest songs, which makes it a fun listen no matter what you're doing at the time.

Hey, if an old geezer like me can get into this, so can you. It's a terrific album, well worth the price, and I suggest you go for it.

Alecia Moore, where have you been? We took you home in 2000 with “Can’t Take me Home”, we totally understood you when you were “M!ssundaztood” in 2001, we tried “Try This” in 2003 - and then you left us without even a note.

Now that we know that you’re okay, we want to say thank goodness you’re okay, congratulations on your marriage, and thanks for this great new album.

Lead off single and first track “Stupid Girls” is a scathing commentary on the extra-skinny (and bulimic) popular girls (and celebrities) who would do anything to extend their 15 minutes of fame, while second track “Who Knew” immediately takes down the pace, P!nk style, about lost love.

“I wish I could touch you again

I wish I could still call you a friend

I'd give anything”

Third track “Long Way to Happy” is another song about break-ups and recovery, and very emotionally done. Another sad song follows with “Nobody Knows”, and then she controversially takes on George W. Bush with her open letter about poverty and homelessness.

Other can’t-miss tracks are the title track, and the up tempo and often naughty tracks that follow it, such as “Cuz I Can”; my favorite (albeit expletive ridden) “Leave Me Alone (I’m Lonely)” and second single “U & Ur Hand” which would stop a pick-up artist dead in his tracks. Listen up also for the hidden track with her Dad, which he wrote, according to P!nk, back in Vietnam about 40 years ago, and was the first song she ever performed.

The UK album has two extra tracks “Fingers” and “Centerfold”, two songs that make it worthwhile getting the UK version of this album.

The songs on this album more than prove that P!nk’s not dead, but still ready to tell it like it is.

Amanda Richards, April 4, 2006

Pink continues to break the mold. Love U and your hand. I especially love Dear Mr. President! She has a strong voice and attitude. She continues to wow us with her thoughtful lyrics.

Although it hardly deserved it, Try This -- Pink's 2003 sequel to her 2001 artistic and commercial breakthrough, M!ssundaztood -- turned out to be something of a flop, selling considerably less than its predecessor and generating no true hit singles. Perhaps this downturn in sales was due to the harder rock direction she pursued on Try This, perhaps the songs she co-wrote with Rancid's Tim Armstrong weren't quite pop even if they were poppy, perhaps it was just a matter of timing, but the album just didn't click with a larger audience, through no fault of the music, which was the equal to that on M!ssundaztood. When faced with such a commercial disappointment, some artists would crawl back to what made them a star, but not Pink. Although she does pump up the dance on 2006's I'm Not Dead, it's way too simple to call the album a return to "Get the Party Started" -- Pink is far too complex to do something so straightforward. No, Pink is complicated, often seemingly contradictory: she tears down "porno paparazzi girls" like Paris Hilton just as easily as she flaunts her bling on "'Cuz I Can"; she celebrates that "I Got Money Now"; she'll swagger and snarl and swear like a sailor, then turn around and write sweet songs of support to a teenager, or a knowingly melancholy reflection like "I Got Money Now"; she'll collaborate with Britney Spears hitmaker Max Martin on one track, then turn around and bring in the Indigo Girls for support on a stripped-down protest song. She'll try anything, and she does on I'm Not Dead. It Ping-Pongs between dense dancefloor anthems and fuzzy power pop, acoustic folk-rock and anthemic power ballads, hard rock tunes powered by electronic beats and dance tunes sung with the zeal of a rocker. It's not just that Pink tries a lot of different sounds, it's that she seizes the freedom to hurl insults at both George W. Bush and a sleazoid who tried to pick her up at a bar, or to end a chorus with a chant of "Ice cream, ice cream/We all want ice cream." Far from sounding cow-towed by the reaction to Try This, Pink sounds liberated, making music that's far riskier and stranger than anything else in mainstream pop in 2006. And it's a testament to her power as both a musician and a persona that for this record, even though she's working with singer/songwriter Butch Walker, Max Martin, and Teddy Geiger's cohort, Billy Mann -- her most mainstream collaborators since LA Reid and Babyface helmed her 2000 debut, Can't Take Me Home -- she sounds the strangest she ever has, and that's a positively thrilling thing to hear. That's because she not only sounds strange, she sounds stronger as a writer and singer, as convincing when she's singing the bluesy, acoustic "The One That Got Away" as when she's taunting and teasing on "Stupid Girls" or "U + Ur Hand" or when she's singing a propulsive piece of pure pop like "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)." In other words, she sounds complex: smart, funny, sexy, catchy, and best of all, surprising and unpredictable. This is the third album in a row where she's thrown a curve ball, confounding expectations by delivering a record that's wilder, stronger, and better than the last. And while that's no guarantee that I'm Not Dead will be a bigger hit than Try This, at least it's proof positive that there are few pop musicians more exciting in the 2000s than Pink.

Pink is simply the best. Each of her cd's is better than the last and everyone one is good. She's the only singer out there who consistantly has top quality songs on every cd she makes. Unlike so many "great" singers or groups, she always has tons of songs that resonate with you, not just 2 or three. From her soulfull voice, her lyrics which are actually about things, to the intsrumentals, rythm and beat of her songs, she puts all other female singers to shame. In my opion she is not just the best female singer in the world, but the best musician going on period. It's a shame I'm Not Dead recieved so little recognition or acclaim and that Stupid Girls, the only song that really broke though, was not even close to the best on here. Listen to tunes like 'Long Way To Happy', 'Cuz I Can', 'I'm Not Dead', 'Runaway'. Wow, unreal and awesome stuff. You will absolutly love this cd. Thanks, Pink.