I'm Not Dead is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Pink. The album was released on April 4, 2006 in the USA, to coincide the release of Pink's debut album, Can't Take Me Home, which was released six years prior, to receive remarkable chart success with its singles and sales. The album, originally titled Long Way To Happy, track 3 on the album, and scheduled for a September, 2005 release, explores Pop rock music and speaks about social and political issues on one hand, to switch to personal and vulnerable subjects on the other.
I'm Not Dead was preceded by its controversial lead single, "Stupid Girls," which reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #13, and its music video, directed by Dave Meyers, received a VMA for Best Pop Video.
The album's second and third singles, "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand," both peaked at #9 on the Hot 100 and collected over one million sold units each, receiving Platinum certifications from RIAA, thus re-energizing Pink's career in the USA and pulling their host album back to Billboard charts, after months of battling with poor sales issues. Songs like "Nobody Knows", "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)", "Dear Mr. President" and "'Cuz I Can" became regional singles and followed the success of the first three singles, without any remarkable chart performance.
The album marks Pink's comeback after the poor commercial and critical success of her previous album, Try This. It went Platinum in several regions including USA, Canada and France and scored a head-turning success in Australia, where it went 11x Platinum and spawned five Top 5 hits on the ARIA Singles Chart. Worlwide sales are estimated to exceed six and half million units in early 2010. The album was re-released as I'm Not Dead - Platinum Edition, with bonus tracks, remixes and a DVD.
Background
Pink said she titled the album I'm Not Dead because "It's about being alive and feisty and not sitting down and shutting up even though people would like you to";. CBS News. July 12, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2007. she said it came from "the awakening" and how "it felt good to feel again ... I turned twenty-five and I just kind of woke up and realized I have so much to learn, whereas before I thought I knew everything. That's definitely a huge part of that title."Kalow, Natalie. . GenerationQ. Retrieved May 31, 2007. According to Pink, she did not expect to be very emotionally involved in the making of the album because the experience of making her last, Try This (2003), was "draining", but that she was "forced to be almost emotionally involved" by her collaborators, such as Billy Mann. "I guess I was just kind of at that place where I felt like I kind of had something to add to the world", she said. "I feel like there's a hole and I know how to fill it, people aren't talking trash anymore. I was just feeling really creative and really emotionally available again, and it came out great." According to her, she wrote more than forty songs for the album on "everything I could possibly think of."McLean, Craig. . The Independent. March 25, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2007. On December 4, 2007, an edition of the album titled I'm Not Dead: Platinum Edition was released.. Amazon.com. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
Musical styles and themes
Pink was inspired to write opening track "Stupid Girls", in which she deplores the lack of good role models for young girls while encouraging them to cultivate independence, after she noticed many such girls aspire to be like female pop icons, particularly those near her Los Angeles home. "There's a certain thing the world is being fed, and my point is there should be a choice", Pink said.Vineyard, Jennifer. . MTV News. January 18, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006. She stated that "Who Knew" is about "the death of friendship",Vineyard, Jennifer. . MTV News. February 17, 2006. Retrieved September 22, 2006. as well as friends of hers who died as a result of drug overdoses.Ellen, Barbara. . The Observer. June 4, 2006. Retrieved March 23, 2007. The song is about several people.Vineyard, Jennifer. MTV News. January 3, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2007. The third song, "Long Way to Happy", is based on a poem about sexual abuse Pink wrote when she was thirteen years old. "I know a lot of people that have been abused and/or molested and/or fucked over by someone close to them. And I'm no exception. And that's that song", she said. The ballad "Nobody Knows" describes feelings that one can have but not show to the outside world, and Pink has named it the most vulnerable track on the album. "Dear Mr. President" is an open letter to then president of the United States, George W. Bush; the song's format is a series of rhetorical questions for the President, specifically pertaining to how he really feels about issues such as war, homosexuality, homelessness and drug abuse.
According to Pink, the sixth and title track, "I'm Not Dead", is her first "subtle" and "poetic" self-written song: "Usually it's very much more cartoon-y and blunt, the way I write songs. I don't really know diplomacy or subtlety." The song was inspired by how Pink and producer Billy Mann felt about the end of their working relationship: "We were scared to move on from each other, after seeing how much that little bit of time together changed us, and how scary change is." In "'Cuz I Can", Pink says she plays by her own rules boasts about her "bling", a contrast to the anti-consumerist content of "Stupid Girls". Referring to the song, she called herself "a walking contradiction" and "a hypocrite sometimes.". MTV News. April 17, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2007. This theme is echoed in "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)", which deals with contradictory feelings about a relationship; Pink said "That's how I live my life. I'm a walking conflict." She called the song "a funny take on 'I love you' ... I get really cramped ... But, every girl needs her space". "U + Ur Hand", the ninth track, is a kiss-off song addressed to a man who is trying to seduce Pink; it became a fan favorite before the release of the album, when it was leaked to the internet. Pink said of song such as "Runaway" that "It's been especially hard for hearing me write about things they never knew about ... My mom's like, 'Were you really that angry? Was I really that in denial? Was I really that bad a parent?' 'No, Mom - you were great. You didn't try to run me over with your car. I made it up.' But by writing all of it down and sharing it with the world, I've broken with most of it."McCormack, Neil. . The Telegraph. March 30, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2007. "The One That Got Away" is, as Pink puts it, "the classic 'Is this the one? Or is the grass really greener?'"Vineyard, Jennifer. . MTV News. February 20, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2007. Pink described track thirteen, "Conversations with My 13 Year Old Self", as a "huge therapy session" that addresses her "pissed-off, complicated" younger self. She said of writing the song, "I needed a hug, and I get it ... now. If I tried to hug my 13-year-old self, she'd try to kick my ass, and then she'd collapse and cry." "Fingers" is about her videotaping herself masturbating. She said she probably didn't need to add to the number of songs about masturbation, but she couldn't help herself.Adams, Cameron. . The Courier-Mail. January 25, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007. The final song on the album, the hidden track "I Have Seen the Rain" was written by and features Pink's father, James T. Moore. He wrote it when he was a soldier in the Vietnam War, but according to Pink "it's still relevant today. It's a soldier's cry." She had always wanted to record it with him and learnt to harmonize with it. She said of its recording, "He was so nervous, it was the most adorable experience for a father and daughter to share."
Reception
#0|2894713|Wild Wood|Album|Paul Weller|6 September 1993|Rock|Go! Discs|Wild Wood (1993)|54:04|Paul Weller, Brendan Lynch|Live Wood (1994)|Paul Weller (1992)|Apr 1993-May 1993|* Allmusic *Rolling Stone * Uncut|Paul Weller (singer)|Wild Wood
Wild Wood was Paul Weller's second solo record, released in September 1993. It made it to number 2 in the UK charts, and contained three UK hits: "Wild Wood", which reached #14 in the UK charts, "Sunflower", which reached #16 and "Hung Up", which reached #11.
The original 1993 UK and European CD included 15 tracks. When issued in the US, and reissued in the UK in 1994, a 16th track was added.
In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 77 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever and was also featured in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
A two disc deluxe edition was released on 22 October 2007.
Personnel
*Paul Weller - vocals, guitar, keyboards
*Jacko Peake -flute
*Dee C. Lee - vocals
*David Liddle - guitar
*Brendan Lynch - Moog synthesizer, percussion
*Maxton G. Beesley, Jr. - wurlitzer, vocals
*Marco Nelson - bass, guitar, keyboards. vocals
*Helen Turner - organ
*Steve White - drums
*Robert Howard - guitar
*Steve Cradock - guitar
*Simon Fowler - vocals
*Yolanda Charles - bass
*Mick Talbot - Hammond organ
Category:1993 albums
Category:Paul Weller albums
Category:Universal Deluxe Editions
Category:Go! Discs Records albums
ja:ワイルド・ウッド
This text has been derived from I'm Not Dead on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0Artist/Band Information
Alecia Beth Moore (born September 8, 1979), better known by her stage name, Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She released her first single "There You Go", on her first album, the R&B-oriented Can't Take Me Home, in 2000 via LaFace Records, which garnered commercial success. Her more pop rock-oriented second studio album, Missundaztood, which began a marked shift in the sound of her music, was released in 2001 and was a huge success worldwide.
Pink released her third album, Try This, in November 2003, which although less successful commercially than her previous release, still managed to sell around 3 million copies and earned her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the single "Trouble". Her fourth album, I'm Not Dead, was released in April 2006. The album generated several hit singles, including "Stupid Girls", "U + Ur Hand" and "Who Knew". Both "U + Ur Hand" and "Who Knew" went to #1 on the pop chart. Her fifth album, Funhouse, was released in late October 2008 and was preceded by her first solo number one on the Billboard Hot 100, "So What". The album notched three other Top 20 hits: "Sober", "Please Don't Leave Me" and "Glitter in the Air". On November 15, 2010, she released her first compilation, Greatest Hits... So Far
This text has been derived from Pink (singer) on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0
