Sunday, November 7, 2010

On Guard

"Fuckin' Perfect" - Pink

Read the whole post at Vertigo Shtick!

On November 16 Pink is set to release her first hits collection, Greatest Hits... So Far!!! The set will contain sixteen of the pop rocker's best-charting singles from "There You Go" to "Stupid Girls" to "Glitter in the Air," along with (as is the fashion) three entirely new tracks, including current top ten hit "Raise Your Glass" and a new ditty just leaked/released to the blogosphere, "Fuckin' Perfect." The track list promises GH...SF!!! to be a rollicking and bumpy ride through Pink's uneven discography, but a full-length listen-through is sure to prove not just how broad and varying her output has been over the last decade, but how incredibly skilled and convincing she is throughout the myriad styles and genres in which she has dabbled.


With a title like "Fuckin' Perfect" one would be forgiven for expecting another raucus, up-tempo romp before pressing "play," perhaps thematically in line with great kiss-off tracks from the singer's library like "U + UR Hand" or "So What." Pink seems to be riding the recent trend of motivational underdog anthems (see Ke$ha's "We R Who We R," Katy Perry's "Firework," Pink's own "Raise Your Glass") a little harder than some, and her second new track delivers essentially the same message as her previous single, but "Fuckin' Perfect" is musically a cousin of "Who Knew" or "Glitter In the Air," softer, down-tempo ballads whose hefty subject matter outweigh any perceived surface-level softness. Like those tracks, it's nice and all, and for those who love Pink for her similarly styled singles, "Fuckin' Perfect" is sure to fill in any cracks "Raise Your Glass" might have left unfilled with motivational goodness.

So even though the new song's not really my style, I'd have trouble coming out right off the bat and criticizing it (at least before further listening on my end): even the titular expletive, which for almost any other artist would come off as desperately pandering, is fitting in this case. It's eye-catching, irreverent, confrontational, crude, and menacing to some while comforting to others. In other words, it fits Pink to a tee.



Greatest Hits... So Far!!! drops November 16.