Of all the {\dance-pop}/{\teen pop} singers to emerge in 1999, {$Pink} seemed the least likely to have success. She didn't have an easy-to-market image like {$Britney} or {$Christina}, nor were her singles all that distinctive, so it was a real shock when she reinvented herself as a badass dance-{\rock} chick for her second album, {^M!ssundaztood}. It wasn't just that the album revealed a unique, forceful personality; it was that it crafted an original, dynamic sound from seemingly contradictory sources, as {$Pink} hauled out forgotten {$4 Non Blondes} leader {$Linda Perry} for her primary collaborator, piled on the {\hard rock} riffs, and sharpened up the {\R&B} rhythms, while writing as nakedly as a confessional singer/songwriter. It was a big surprise that {$Pink} had an album like {^M!ssundaztood} in her, but that surprise is nearly equalled by its successor, {^Try This}, which proves that she can pull off the same trick twice -- an unpredictable giant leap forward, assisted by unlikely collaborators, that winds up being among the best {\pop} music of its given year. While {$Perry} is still around, she only collaborates on three tracks, since {$Pink} has picked another left-field choice for her main co-writer/producer for {^Try This}: {$Tim Armstrong}, one of the lead singer/songwriters for the acclaimed neo-{\punk} band {$Rancid}. {$Armstrong} co-writes and produces eight of the 13 songs here, and while it's true that he helps steer {$Pink} into harder-rocking territory, the end result isn't quite as simple as {^Try This} being a straight-up {\rock & roll} album. Instead, {\hard rock} is used as the foundation for the record (even some of the {$Perry}-written tracks rock very hard), and then it stretches out into several different styles and sounds. Some are familiar -- there's a handful of dance-oriented tracks, a quiet {\ballad}, such as the closer, {&"Love Song"} -- but, like {^M!ssundaztood}, this is {\pop} music that knows no boundaries, borrowing ideas from {\punk}, {\soul}, {\ska}, {\new wave}, and {\electronica} to create an exhilarating listen that crackles with energy and inventiveness. This music has reference points, some intentional and some not -- the similarities of {&"Trouble"} and {$Nirvana}'s cover of {$the Vaselines}' {&"Molly's Lips"} may be on purpose, but the echoes of {$Blur}'s {&"Pressure on Julian"} on {&"God Is a DJ"} is surely coincidental -- but it's presentation is original and exceptionally well-written. This time around, she's not as consciously confessional, which makes for a nice fit for {$Armstrong}'s strong sense of songcraft and {\pop} hooks, resulting in music that is immediately grabbing yet so sturdily crafted it only seems stronger, even catchier, with repeated listens. While {$Pink}'s peers take incremental, cautious artistic steps forward, she's slyly fearless, choosing the right collaborators that help her create {\pop} music that has both style and substance to spare. {$Britney Spears}, {$Pink}'s avowed arch-nemesis, may claim that she's taking advice from {$Madonna}, but here {$Pink} illustrates that she's the true heir to {$Madonna}'s throne, since she displays a restlessness similar to the Material Girl in the '80s, while never once sounding like {$Madonna} -- or other spiritual predecessors like {$Pat Benatar}, {$Stevie Nicks}, or {$Debbie Harry}, for that matter. With {^Try This}, {$Pink} has firmly established a voice of her own, and in doing so, she's made another tremendous modern {\pop} record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide