P!nk has come to be the tough, no-nonsense chick that girls want to be like, guys want to date and everyone is guilty of rocking out to in their bedrooms when no one else is around.

But perhaps more notable is the style evolution she’s made with every release before reaching her superstar status. Now on her fifth album, “The Truth About Love,” the singer seems to stick to the brand that’s offered her the most commercial success.

Alecia Moore, better known as P!nk, released “Can’t Take Me Home” in 2000: a double-platinum debut album. With popular singles like “Most Girls” and “You Make Me Sick,” audiences heard P!nk’s soulful side on plenty of pop songs with a rhythm-and-blues edge.

However, P!nk was soon “tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears,” as she sang in “Don’t Let Me Get Me.” On sophomore album, “Missundaztood,” she first showed the world her pop-rock edge and bad-girl style. P!nk almost let go of her pop side completely and just rocked out.

Over the years, she’s made it clear that she was a rocker and hit-maker, and didn’t care what anyone thought about it. This infectious ideal was only emphasized in her last album, “Funhouse,” with mega hits such as “Raise Your Glass” and “So What.”

But unfortunately, it can’t be said that P!nk has taken it to the next level on her new record. After you’ve belted out “Sober” upside down on a trapeze, as she’s so famously done in concert, there’s not much farther to go. Many of the songs on the record have the same I’m-a-bad-girl-but-I-still-care-about-love vibe that her “Funhouse” album had. The lead single, “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” is an upbeat, pop-rock track that has the same danceable appeal as “So What” or “Raise Your Glass.”

The song doesn’t really do P!nk’s voice justice, but the chorus is so catchy that it’s bound to be a hit. Listeners can hear glimpses of the past again in songs like “Walk Of Shame” and “How Come You’re Not Here,” but they make the album repetitive and almost formulaic: Grab a pop-rock beat, throw in some “yeah, yeah’s,” “nah, nah, nah’s” or “whoo’s” in its chorus and top it off with mildly abrasive lyrics.

However, the finer points in the album are when P!nk returns to her R&B roots and invites others to the party. In “Where Did The Beat Go,” she takes fans back to 2000 with an R&B pop track that’s an escape from the rocking norm. She goes on to show her raw talent and undeniably soulful voice in “Beam Me Up,” a mid tempo ballad whose minimal production and emotional delivery had a bit of a country vibe. It’s simply beautiful.

To finish strong, she collaborated with more artists than ever in songs like “True Love,” featuring Lily Allen, “Just Give Me A Reason,” featuring Fun.’s Nate Ruess and “Here Comes The Weekend,” featuring Eminem. All are interesting pairings, and it’s nice to see P!nk extending her horizons, but these tracks get repetitive quickly and it’s hard to get excited about them. Each has a very similar upbeat melody, matched by standard pop-rock vocals and composition.

Luckily, the additions of a few bars from Eminem, Allen and Ruess’ distinctive vocals vary the tracks somewhat, but in the end, there’s not much disparity.

P!nk may explain what the truth about love is, but the truth about her latest album is that it’s probably not going to be that big of a hit. Sure, there are plenty of catchy songs and P!nk will forever be one bad*** alter ego, but tell us something we don’t know.

Published on September 18, 2012 at 12:08 am

Contact Ibet: ieinyang@syr.edu