POP/ROCK
Pink, "Funhouse" (LaFace/Zomba)
Pink's fame, paradoxically, has always been based on the rejection of it. A gifted singer, she's best known for her petulance (namely, taking swipes at the pop tarts du jour), setting herself apart by dint of seeming to know better. Her most impressive songs, though, have been exactly as saccharine as those by the singers she has often maligned, making for a great bait-and-switch or profound cognitive dissonance.
It's also a frail foundation on which to rest when your songs lose their luster, as they have somewhat on "Funhouse," Pink's often listless fifth album. Even though Pink oozes disappointment in herself and others, her music mostly fails to keep up. Her sassy dismissals, like the discoesque "Funhouse," lack the smiling viciousness Pink has always delivered. Even the snotty post-divorce romp, "So What" (Pink recently split from her husband, motocross racer Carey Hart), produced by the Swedish pop auteur Max Martin, seems perfunctory, right down to the hopelessly outdated swipe at Jessica Simpson. What, nothing rhymed with Katy Perry?
Maybe glibness no longer suits Pink, who instead shines on this album's most vulnerable, unadorned songs. "I Don't Believe You" (also produced by Martin) swells like a classic soul ballad as Pink pleads for a lover to reconsider walking away. And the biggest surprise is "Crystal Ball," a wistful yet certain folk song in the Joan Baez vein produced by Billy Mann. "Sometimes you think everything/ is wrapped inside a diamond ring," Pink sings, with barely any backing. "Love just needs a witness/ And a little forgiveness/ And a halo of patience."
JON CARAMANICA, NEW YORK TIMES
Various artists, "Halloween A Go-Go" (Wicked Cool)
Little Steven Van Zandt has called Halloween "garage rock's favorite holiday" and the guitarist/actor/radio DJ is celebrating with this collection that takes a few twists from the typical Halloween fare.
Any compilation that starts with the Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream," is setting a wild tone, and this one is less predictable than one might imagine. Among several standouts is the obscure song that Van Zandt knows from his main job as Bruce Springsteen's guitarist, "Restless Nights."
