Artist: Pink
Title: The Truth About Love
Label: RCA

Love her or hate her, you gotta give Pink props for staying true to herself.


As she famously mused how "LA [Reid, the famous producer, now a judge on "The X Factor"] told me, ‘You'll be a pop star/All you have to change is everything you are," on one of her biggest hits "Don't Let Me Get Me," it seems that selling out is something she's actively rallying against.


Still, marching to her own beat doesn't mean she's gone Indie and the music's not catchy. To wit, The Truth About Love is certainly evidence of that. Teaming up with a veritable who's who of producers and collaborators including Greg Kurstin who's worked with everyone from The Red Hot Chili Peppers to The Shins to Foster the People, the sentiments may be tailor-made for Top-40 radio, but there's definitely a tart flavor to the ear candy.


Juxtaposing an upbeat soundtrack with frank musings on love, namely that it's "all a lie," it's pure Pink by being cynical to the core. Perhaps drawing from her own off-again, on-again relationship with her husband, motocross guru Carey Hart, she celebrates love's ups and downs in everything from "Are We All We Are" to plaintive closer "The Great Escape," which was written by Dan Wilson, the same guy who penned the tear-jerking Adele ballad "Someone Like You."


Also adding further texture to the proceedings are a few bold-faced contributors with plenty of attitude to boot. On "Here Comes the Weekend," Eminem helps get the party started with a few clever rhymes, while rebellious Brit Lily Allen lends her voice to "True Love."

Still, as much as you can't help applauding Pink for happily making music on her own terms, it's still not always easy listening. Let's just say, Pink more than earned that Parental Advisor sticker for her rampant use of expletives, and it adds nothing positive to the proceedings.

And for anyone looking for a decidedly upbeat take on love and commitment, well, you might want to try somewhere else because from her perspective, there simply isn't a happy ending if you know the truth about love—even if her cheery backing tracks and recent photo shoot in People with Carey and baby girl Willow. may suggest otherwise. 

*This Review First Published 9/28/2012