I never much cared for Pink's big hits during her early LaFace R&B period or the more pop stuff that followed, but I always liked her voice and kind of appreciated the weird persona she was going for when it wasn't too annoying. I didn't really start to like her music until "Trouble" off of that one album that totally flopped, though (Breihan swears by that album, I should check it out some time), and she really won me over with the singles off her last record, especially the sleeper hits "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand." So I was pretty primed to like Funhouse even before I really figured out if "So What" is awesome or a mess (it's kind of both, but I like it), and the whole album, it turns out, is really solid, and one of the more emotionally resonant breakup albums I've ever heard, possibly because she can't resist throwing in some sleazy, manic pop songs to balance out all the songs about her divorce, which are mostly more sad and serious than "So What." My favorite song on the album right now is one of the Max Martin jams, "It's All Your Fault," which sounds like one of those shiny pummeling techno-rock singles that Garbage used to make circa "Special" and "When I Grow Up." But really, there's good shit all over the place, from the piano ballad closer "Glitter In The Air" to the tear-streaked country rock of "Mean," and I hope it spins off a ton of singles. It's really a shame her label vetoed the title Heartbreak Is A Motherfucker, though.

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