Funhouse (Pink album)
Funhouse is the fifth studio album by American singer and songwriter Pink, released by LaFace Records worldwide on October 24, 2008. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 180,000 copies in its first week and reached number one on the charts in seven countries including Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Funhouse has sold 7 million copies worldwide.
Singles from the album include the international number-one single "So What", "Sober", "Please Don't Leave Me", "Funhouse", "I Don't Believe You", and "Glitter in the Air". Funhouse earned Pink three Grammy Award nominations and five MTV Video Music Award nominations. Funhouse was re-released in late 2009 to include a bonus DVD, and was accompanied by the release of , a live album taped during Pink's Australian leg of the Funhouse Tour.
Writing and development
Pink has stated that this album is her most vulnerable to date. Much of the album's subject matter alludes to the fact that Moore had recently separated from her husband, Carey Hart. The first single, "So What", opens with: "I guess I just lost my husband/I don't know where he went". "Please Don't Leave Me" also addresses the split. The artist sums up its theme thus: "Okay, I'm an asshole, but love me anyway." In "Mean", she sings, "It was good in the beginning/but how did we get so mean?"The song that Moore is the most proud of is "Crystal Ball". She said about the track: "I recorded it in one take and we didn't mix it. It just went straight to master. It was all about a vibe and not about perfection or being polished. I just love that song and I loved recording it." She wrote the song with Billy Mann, who also aided her with the songs "Stupid Girls", "Dear Mr. President" and "I'm Not Dead", among others.
In "It's All Your Fault", Pink blames her lover for giving her hopes of a love relationship, then simply giving up on her. She proclaims in the lyrics "I conjure up the thought of being gone, but I'd probably even do that wrong." In "Glitter in the Air", Pink asks many questions such as, "Have you ever looked fear in the face and said I just don't care?", and "Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?" Pink admits, "I still don't have some of the answers to the questions I pose on this record. I'm still figuring it all out."
The track "Sober", which is the album's second single, was written by Pink at a party hosted at her home, where everyone was drunk or drinking except for her, and she wanted them all to leave. She went to the beach and had a line in her head saying "How do I feel so good sober?". Eventually it had nothing to do with alcohol but with identities. "How do I feel so good with just me, without anyone to lean on?", Pink said in an interview.
"Ave Mary A" deals with world issues and problems. "One Foot Wrong" talks about an acid trip that went wrong, but also has an underlying theme. "That song is also about losing control and how easy it is to lose the plot in life and teeter on the edge."
Originally, Pink wanted to call her album Heartbreak Is a Motherfucker, but her record label declined because of a fear that offensive language would affect sales. She also said that she did not want the album to look like a break-up album; "There is a lot of that , but there is fun happening too and that's why I named it Funhouse in the end." Pink has also stated that she sees life as a carnival: "Clowns are supposed to be happy, but they are really scary. Carnivals are supposed to be fun, but really they are kind of creepy." "and that's like life to me, and love. Love is supposed to be fun, but it can sometimes be really scary. And the funhouse mirrors that make you look so distorted that you don't recognize yourself and you ask yourself, 'How did I get here? How do I get out of here?' But, you think that you want to do it again. That is the same as love and life. It's a metaphor for being in love and for life." This also shows in the title track "Funhouse" where she tells that it used to be fun. "It's about when the box you're in doesn't fit anymore, burn that fucker down and start a new one."
Recording
Pink wrote and recorded approximately 30 to 35 songs for Funhouse. "It's like getting rid of your children: 'I like that one too, but I'm going to let that one die,'" she said of choosing the album's tracks. "The good thing now is that different countries want extra songs and B-sides, so there's always a home for the other kids."Pink traveled internationally to write and record the album, working with Eg White in London and with Max Martin in Stockholm. "It was really good to get out of my house and get away from my life. No distractions. No phones", Pink said of her sessions outside the U.S.
Promotion
- Pink released a deluxe edition of the album in an original steel box. The box set includes all the standard and bonus tracks in an Enhanced CD which includes the "So What" music video, in addition to an extra T-shirt with the official Pink logo for the album. The box did not get a worldwide release.
- To promote the new album and single, Pink twice guest-hosted the new TV-station FNMTV, and the music video for "So What" made its world premiere on FNMTV on August 22, 2008.
- On September 7, Pink performed "So What" live at the 2008 American MTV Video Music Awards.
- On September 22, 2008 Pink performed on MuchMusic for a Live @ Much special.
- Pink visited Australia during October for promotion of the album, which included a performance at the 2008 ARIA Awards ceremony in Sydney on October 19. She returned to Australia as part of her The Funhouse Tour in May 2009.
- Pink performed various songs from her new album on 4Music on October 5, 2008 including "So What", "Sober", "Please Don't Leave Me" and her U.K. number 1 hit "Just Like a Pill".
- On Friday October 24, 2008, Pink performed the song "Funhouse" live as world premiere of the song from the album of the same name on Sunrise an Australian Breakfast Television program.
- Pink performed a "Secret Gig" at The Metro, Sydney, while in Australian on Promo.
- Pink's Funhouse iPhone App was created in support of Funhouse and represents the first artist themed promotional app to be made for the iPhone App platform.
- On November 6, 2008 Pink performed her hit single "So What" at the MTV Europe Music Awards during a live show where 40 000 feathers were released on stage making her unable to sing the line "And you're a tool, so..."
- Pink also performed her second Funhouse single, "Sober", at the 2008 American Music Awards on November 23, 2008,
- Pink performed a "Secret Gig" at The Cafe Du Paris, London on November 4, 2008
- Pink held a secret showcase in Barcelona, Spain on November 20.
- Pink appeared at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 7, 2008 for her album debut party.
- Pink has appeared on many talk shows to help promote the album — The Today Show on October 28; The View on October 29; Late Night with Conan O'Brien on October 30; CBS Early Show on November 3; and The Ellen DeGeneres Show on November 24.
- Pink recorded a performance for Divas II benefit for breast cancer on November 23 in the UK. She could not be there due to performing at the American Music Awards.
- She performed on For One Night Only in the UK.
- Pink appeared on The Paul O'Grady Show in London in September 2008.
- Pink appeared on German talk show Wetten, dass..? in 2008.
- On November 3, 2008 Pink performed Sober on Australian Idol Verdict Show.
- On September 13, 2009 Pink performed "Sober" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
- On January 31, 2010 Pink performed "Glitter in the Air" at the 52nd Grammy Awards, following the performance the song debuted at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the Canadian Hot 100. The performance was also highly critically acclaimed by celebrities, TV talk shows and the public in general.
- Pink appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on February 5, 2010. She sat down with Winfrey to speak about her Grammy performance as well as her breakup with husband Carey Hart, which was followed by a performance of "I Don't Believe You".
- Promotion ended with the Funhouse Summer Carnival and P!nk headed to studio to record songs for her following album, Greatest Hits... So Far!!! and take a break during her pregnancy.
Singles
- "So What"
- "Sober"
- "Please Don't Leave Me"
- "Bad Influence"
- "Funhouse"
- "I Don't Believe You"
- "Glitter in the Air"
Promotional singles
- "Ave Mary A"
Tour
European, Australian and North American tour dates for the Funhouse Tour were announced to support the album in early 2009. The first leg of the Funhouse Tour would go throughout Europe. Pink later did a 3-month stint in Australia. The third leg of the tour took place in North America, with 11 dates in the United States and 1 date in Canada. The fourth leg consisted of 3 months around Europe, starting in Dublin, Ireland on October 14 and finishing December 20 in Hannover, Germany.Pink broke her own record in Australia where she sold-out seventeen shows in Melbourne. Melbourne also had the most tickets and had the biggest revenue. Pink also sold out seven consecutive shows in Sydney in a collective week, all within forty minutes. The overwhelming demand for shows in Australia made Pink surpass her record-breaking run of 35 sold-out shows achieved on the 2007 Australian leg of the I'm Not Dead Tour. The Funhouse Tour made 58 shows in Australia, which made Pink the most successful artist to ever tour the country. Other records broken by the tour included the most shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
Also, the tour dates announced in the US would become the first time that Pink would tour in her home country since 2006. The first show was held in Seattle in September 2009 and twelve dates later the US leg of the tour ended in New York City.
A year later, she did the Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour in Europe.
Critical reception
Funhouse has a score of 69 out of 100 from Metacritic based on 20 "generally favorable" reviews. Sydney's The Daily Telegraph gave it 4.5 stars, writing, "The record is a balanced blend of upbeat pop gems and midtempo ballads The power of Pink's pop lies in the clever juxtaposition of heartfelt honesty about her life with anthematic choruses and irresistible melodies tailormade to be screamed out by her fans."Other positive reviews were published by US Magazine, which gave the album four stars, saying "The rebellious Grammy winner again fuses unrestrained lyrics with perfect pop-rock hooks on her electrifying fifth CD. From her aggressive No. 1 hit 'So What' to the vulnerable 'Please Don't Leave Me' and the openhearted ballad 'I Don't Believe You', Pink confirms she's still in excellent fighting shape." In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau picked out the single from the album, "So What", as a "choice cut".
Less favorable reviews came from sources such as Rolling Stone and Blender, each giving the album three stars. Rolling Stone stated, "Pink has shown more personality before, and some cuts, including the goopy ballad "I Don't Believe You", make her sound like just another big-voiced chart-buster. Funhouse would be more fun if Pink went easier on the bad-love songs."
Commercial performance
Four versions of Funhouse were released to the U.S. iTunes Store: two versions of the original, one explicit and one clean; two versions of the deluxe, one explicit and one clean.Funhouse debuted at number two on the United States Billboard 200 chart issued on November 18, 2008, with sales of 180,000, behind AC/DC's Wal-Mart exclusive, Black Ice, which claimed the top spot with its second-week sales of 271,000. In March 2009, it was certified platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over 1,000,000 copies, and as of June 2012, the album has sold 1,960,000 copies in the United States. It was Pink's highest charting album in that country, until her sixth album The Truth About Love debuted at number one.
In Australia, record shops broke embargo and placed Funhouse on sale one day before its official release date; with only one day of sales, it became the fourth-highest selling album of the week, shifting 7,120 copies. Funhouse debuted officially at number one in Australia, and sold 86,273 units that week. Funhouse spent nine consecutive weeks at number one and has been certified 11× platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for 770,000 copies sold. The album ended both 2008 and 2009 as the second highest selling album of the year in Australia, and was reported in 2010 to be the second most successful album of the 2000–2009 decade.
In the United Kingdom, the album sold over 37,100 copies in its first day and 83,000 copies in its first five days. Funhouse became her first number-one album in the UK, entering at number one on November 2, 2008, and has been certified 4× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for selling over 1,200,000 copies. Funhouse was the ninth biggest selling record of 2008, and the eleventh biggest seller of 2009.
Funhouse debuted at number one in the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland In Germany, Funhouse debuted at number two.
There, it is the sixth best-selling album of 2009 and the twenty-third best-selling album of 2010, shipping more than 1,000,000 copies as of June 2010. It is certified 4× Platinum.
''Funhouse'' Tour: Live in Australia
With the release of The Tour Edition, a live album was released featuring live performances of twelve songs, plus "Push You Away", a studio track which was previously unreleased; the song is also included on The Tour Edition. While the DVD includes 23 live performances, including 2 bonus performances. A Blu-ray version of the DVD was also released. The album and DVD were recorded in Sydney, Australia on July 17 and July 18.Track listing
Tour Edition CD+DVD
A CD+DVD set. The CD includes the Standard Edition track listing plus two additional bonus tracks: "This Is How It Goes Down," featuring Travie McCoy and "Push You Away".German Tchibo Special Edition
A 2-CD set consisting of the original International Edition CD and a Bonus CD, the Live in Australia EP, which was released exclusively in Tchibo stores in Germany.Notes
- signifies a co-producer.
Personnel
- Deborah Anderson – photography
- Tommy Andersson – assistant, audio engineer
- Marcella Araica – audio engineer, engineer
- Guy Baker – trumpet
- Stevie Blacke – arranger, performer, string arrangements, strings
- Daniel Chase – programming
- Al Clay – audio production, engineer, mixing, producer
- Tom Coyne – mastering
- Jake Davies – audio engineer, audio production, engineer, mixing assistant
- Roger Davies – management
- DJ Willrock – turntables
- Darren Dodd – drums
- Chris Galland – assistant, audio engineer, guitar, mixing assistant
- Brian Gately – production coordination
- Serban Ghenea – mixing
- Matty Green – audio engineer, mixing assistant
- Keith Gretlein – assistant engineer, audio engineer
- Kinnda Hamid – background vocals
- John Hanes – audio engineer, digital editing
- Jimmy Harry – audio engineer, engineer, guitar, guitars, keyboards, producer
- Jeri Helden – art direction, design
- Femio Hernández – assistant, audio engineer
- Michael Ilbert – audio engineer, engineer
- Henrik Janson – arranger, string arrangements, string conductor, strings
- Uli Janson – arranger, string arrangements, string conductor, strings
- Neil Kanal – assistant engineer, audio engineer
- Tony Kanal – bass, producer
- Josh Kane – drums
- Craig Logan – A&R
- Tom Lord-Alge – mixing
- Dag Lundquist – engineer
- Robin Mortensen Lynch – guitar, programming
- MachoPsycho – audio production
- Billy Mann – audio production, guitars, keyboards, mixing, producer, background vocals
- Roger Manning – keyboards, piano
- Steven Manzano – management
- Max Martin – audio engineer, audio production, bass, engineer, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, producer
- Andrew McPherson – photography
- Lasse Mortén – assistant, audio engineer
- Niklas Olovson – bass, programming
- Amy Oresman – make-up
- Peter Parente – guitars
- Lisa Pinero – production coordination
- P!nk – primary artist, lead vocals, background vocals
- Serena Radaelli – hair stylist
- Delwyn Rees – management
- Tim Roberts – assistant, audio engineer
- Nancy Roof – a&r
- Michele Schweitzer – publicity
- Shellback – bass, drum programming, drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, omnichord
- Paul Starr – make-Up
- Nick Steinhardt – art direction, design
- Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
- Stockholm Session Strings – strings
- Trish Summerville – stylist
- Irene Taylor – management
- Doug Tyo – assistant
- Butch Walker – audio production, bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion, producer, programming, background vocals
- Pete Wallace – audio engineer, bass, engineer, guitar, harmonium, piano, producer, programming
- Joey Waronker – drums
- Eg White – arranger, audio production, drums, engineer, guitar, Hammond b3, moog bass, percussion, producer, strings
- John Yarling – drums
- Joe Zook – audio engineer, engineer
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart | Provider | Peak position |
| Argentinean Albums Chart | CAPIF | 29 |
| Australian ARIA Albums Chart | ARIA | 1 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | Media Control Europe | 3 |
| Belgian Albums Chart | IFPI/Ultratop | 3 |
| Belgian Albums Chart | IFPI/Ultratop | 10 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | CRIA | 2 |
| Czech Republic Albums Chart | IFPI | 5 |
| Danish Albums Chart | IFPI | 4 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | GFK | 1 |
| European Albums Chart | IFPI | 1 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | IFPI | 5 |
| French Albums Chart | SNEP/IFOP | 4 |
| German Albums Chart | IFPI/Media Control | 2 |
| Greek Albums Chart | IFPI | 20 |
| Greek Albums Chart | IFPI | 8 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart | MAHASZ | 3 |
| Irish Albums Chart | IRMA | 1 |
| Italian Albums Chart | FIMI | 20 |
| Japanese Albums Chart | Oricon | 33 |
| Mexican Albums Chart | AMPROFON | 47 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | RIANZ | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | IFPI/VG-Lista | 18 |
| Polish Albums Chart | ZPAV | 8 |
| Russian Albums Chart | 2M | 8 |
| Scottish Albums Chart | BPI/OOC | 1 |
| South African Albums Chart | Radio Sonder Grense | 40 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | PROMUSICAE | 43 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | GLF | 3 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | Media Control Europe | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart | BPI/OOC | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | Billboard/RIAA | 2 |
End-of-year charts
| Year | Country | Chart | Ranking |
| 2008 | Australia | ARIA End of Year Albums | 2 |
| 2008 | Austria | Media Control End of Year Albums | 28 |
| 2008 | Belgium | Ultratop End of Year Albums | 70 |
| 2008 | France | IFPI End of Year Albums | 55 |
| 2008 | Germany | Media Control Germany Year End Albums | 32 |
| 2008 | Netherlands | GFK End of Year Albums | 45 |
| 2008 | New Zealand | RIANZ End of Year Albums | 9 |
| 2008 | Sweden | Årslista Album | 57 |
| 2008 | Switzerland | Media Control Europe End of Year Albums | 11 |
| 2008 | UK | The Official Charts Company End of Year Albums | 9 |
| 2008 | USA | Billboard 200 End of Year Albums | 130 |
| 2008 | USA | Billboard 200 Top Artists End of Year Albums | 79 |
| 2008 | USA | Billboard Top Comprehensive Albums End of Year Albums | 132 |
| 2008 | USA | Billboard Top Comprehensive Artists End of Year Albums | 83 |
| 2008 | World Wide | IFPI World End of Year Albums | 13 |
| Year | Country | Chart | Ranking |
| 2009 | Australia | ARIA End of Year Albums | 2 |
| 2009 | Austria | Media Control Europe/IFPI End of Year Albums | 4 |
| 2009 | Canada | Top Canadian Albums Year-End Chart | 17 |
| 2009 | Germany | Media Control End of Year Albums | 6 |
| 2009 | Netherlands | GFK/NVPI End of Year Albums | 25 |
| 2009 | Sweden | Årslista Album | 58 |
| 2009 | Switzerland | Media Control Europe/IFPI End of Year Albums | 3 |
| 2009 | United Kingdom | Official UK Charts Company End of Year Albums | 23 |
| 2009 | USA | Billboard 200 | 16 |
| 2010 | Australia | ARIA | 34 |
| 2010 | Europe | European Top 100 Albums | 25 |
| 2010 | Germany | Media Control End of Year Albums | 23 |
| 2010 | United Kingdom | Official UK Charts Company End of Year Albums | 105 |
| 2010 | USA | Billboard 200 | 64 |