Personnel includes: Pink (vocals); Peaches (vocals); Tim Armstrong (guitar, piano, loops, background vocals); Jonathan S. Davis (acoustic & electric guitar, keyboards, bass, programming); Billyman (acoustic & electric guitar, background vocals); John Fields (guitar, piano, keyboards, bass, drums, percussion, programming); Linda Perry (guitar, sitar, mellotron); Lars Frederiksen, Steve Stevens (guitar); Lon Price (tenor saxophone); Greg Smith (baritone saxophone); Lee R. Thornburg (trumpet); Nick Lane (trombone); David Paich (Hammond B-3 organ); Matt Freeman (bass); Atticus Ross (synthesizer, percussion, loops); Matt Mahaffey (omnichord, glockenspiel, drums, turntables); Joshua Seth Eagan (drums, percussion); Travis Barker (drums, percussion); Galadriel Masterson, Hopey Rock (background vocals).
Producers: Tim Armstrong, Damon Elliott, Linda Perry, Billyman, Jonathan S. Davis.
"Trouble" won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Recording information: Casa De P!nk, Sherman Oaks, CA; Crackertracks, Los Angeles, CA; Enterprise studios, Burbank, CA; Mansfield Lodge, Hollywood, CA; Steakhouse Studios, North Hollywood, CA; The Transplants' Bus; Turtle Sound, New York, NY; Vibatorium, Los Angeles, CA.
Photographer: Andrew MacPherson.
On Pink's first album, she was squarely in the R&B/pop mode, but her follow-up contained the single "Just Like a Pill," a fierce rocker that pointed toward a new direction. TRY THIS moves Pink further into rock territory; where its predecessor contained collaborations with former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry, TRY THIS is dominated by songs co-written with (and produced by) Rancid vocalist Tim Armstrong.
There are a couple of R&B-oriented songs to round things out (not to mention a steamy duet with notoriously nasty female rapper Peaches), but, for the most part, Pink goes Avril Lavigne one better on this album. She manages to mate the punk ethic and modern pop/rock production values with a rawness and immediacy that goes far beyond Lavigne's pop-punk amalgam. To drive her point home, Pink closes the album with an unlisted hidden track that attacks teen-poppers like Britney and Christina with expletive-filled glee.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (11/27/03, p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 - "In her own way, Pink is more punk than what passes for punk these days....The same sense of realness that lets Pink show her soft, insecure side also leads her to some pop-diva playa-hating..."
Spin (01/04, pp.97-8) - "...Pink is America's first proper Beastie Girl....All scrappy power chords and wounded warmth..." - Grade: B
Entertainment Weekly (11/14/03, pp.121-2) - "...[Producer Tim] Armstrong infuses his contributions with a Jolt Cola energy....While her peers struggle to grime themselves up, Pink and her exuberantly junky pop still stand head and bustier above the rest." - Rating: B+
Q (01/01/04, p.75) - Ranked #44 in Q's "The 50 Best Albums of 2003"
Q (12/03, p.133) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Pink shares Madonna's two best assets: a keen eye for the next collaborator to further her cause and the ability to sound like Pink no matter what shape her cause takes..."
