M!ssundaztood (album)

M!ssundaztood
Studio album by P!nk
Released	November 20, 2001
Recorded	July 2000 - May 2001
Genre	Pop rock
Length	55:20 (Explicit version)
Label	Arista
Producer(s)	Damon Elliott, Dallas Austin, Linda Perry, Scott Storch
P!nk chronology
(2000) (2001) (2003)
Singles from M!ssundaztood
"Get the Party Started" Released: 15 April 2001 "Don't Let Me Get Me" Released: 15 Januray 2002 "Just Like A Pill" Released: 5 May 2002 "Family Portrait" Released: 8 April 2002

Missundaztood (styled as M!ssundaztood) is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter P!nk. The album was released worldwide in late 2001 to global commercial and critical success, critics welcoming the new pop-rock sound P!nk presented on the record, after an urban-influenced debut.

The album's singles were positively received by critics and fans. They all made chart debuts and became hits featured on P!nk's 2010 Greatest Hits... So Far!!! album. They include the global chart-topper "Get the Party Started" and hit singles "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Just Like a Pill," all of which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's final single was "Family Portrait," a vulnerable R&B anthem that P!nk wrote about her parents' separation. That song became a worldwide Top 20 hit, peaking at #18 on the Hot 100.

Album information

This album is different from Can't Take Me Home as it leads toward pop and rock and less of P!nk's original contemporary R&B/soul sound. She recruited 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry to help her with writing a new album. According to P!nk in VH1's Driven, she left a message on Perry's answering machine after finding her number in make-up artist Billy B's phone book, saying she wanted to write with her. She stated that the reason she wanted to work with Perry was that 4 Non Blondes' album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More! was one of her favorite albums.

Songs

P!nk worked with Perry on most of the songs of the album, who also contributed guest vocals on "Lonely Girl." Other guest vocals are provided by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi on "Misery." Other writers that worked on the album are Scott Storch and Dallas Austin.

Different subjects are touched upon on M!ssundaztood. In "Don't Let Me Get Me," she tackles teenage angst, while in "Just Like a Pill," she describes her drug abuse as a teenager. P!nk's father was sent to serve in the Vietnam War, which made such an impression on her that she used the stories of her father in the song "My Vietnam." Towards the end of the song is a sonic interpolation of Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner." "Family Portrait" tackles divorce and its effects.

There are claims that say that the song "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera was first intended to be sung by P!nk, as the song was also written by Perry. P!nk claimed the song but Perry did not give it to her because she was waiting for someone else and she was not ready to record the song.

According to VH1's Driven, Antonio "LA" Reid of LaFace Records wasn't initially content with the new music P!nk was making, because she had made a name for herself with her successful R&B debut.

At the 2003 Grammy Awards, M!ssundaztood was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively. At the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, "Get the Party Started" won in the categories for Best Female Video and Best Dance Video. Many of the songs on the album contain strong language, and the song "18 Wheeler" in particular, contained many expletives. However, the album was censored in order to avoid a Parental Advisory sticker (however, some pressings do carry one, but it is still censored). No uncensored studio versions of "18 Wheeler" exist, but P!nk performed the song uncensored while on tour.

Editions

In the US., three different editions of M!ssundaztood were released in total: the first edition was the original version released in 2001 with an enhanced portion on the disc, which—if put in your computer—let you listen to the international song "Catch-22," and gave you access to a photo gallery, sing-alongs, and more. The second version released was the main album reissued, but without the enhanced CD portion. A third version, which was a limited edition that included a bonus DVD (the contents of the CDs were the same) was released for a limited time in 2002 and included the two music videos and two live performances. Both the limited edition with the bonus DVD and the enhanced CD versions have since gone out of print, and the initial 2001 release is the only version of the album still in print. It was released outside the US with an extra track, "Catch-22."

Also, on current pressings of the album, the track "Misery" is slightly different. On current pressings, Steven Tyler sings an entire verse as opposed to a providing only few lines and background vocals. On initial pressings of the album, P!nk sang all the verses, including the one that Tyler sings on current pressings of the album. The first version of the album that contains the version of "Misery" where P!nk sings Tyler's verse was not on a specific pressing run, as even some copies the first version of the album released (with the enhanced content) have the current version of the song. It is somewhat hard to find editions of the album with the original version of the song.

Singles

• "Get the Party Started" was released in October 2001 in the United States and January 2002 in the United Kingdom. It was the first single to be released from M!ssundaztood, and was written by Linda Perry. The single charted strongly reaching number 4 in the U.S., number 2 in the UK and number 1 in Australia.
• "Don't Let Me Get Me" became the album's second single in February 2002, and was written by P!nk and Dallas Austin. The song reached number 6 in the UK charts and number 8 in the U.S. charts.
• "Just Like a Pill" was the third single in June 2002 and was again written by P!nk and Dallas Austin. It reached number 8 in the U.S. charts and became P!nk's first UK number one single as well as the third consecutive U.S. top ten single from the album.
• "Family Portrait" was written by P!nk and Scott Storch, released as the final single from M!ssundaztood in December 2002 in North America and January 2003 in Europe. The song peaked at number 20 in the U.S. and number 11 in the UK.

Promotion

P!nk was featured on the cover of several magazines, including:

• The Face
• Rolling Stone
• Seventeen
• Billboard
• Hitkrant

Before releasing her album she contributed to the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack. Together with Christina Aguilera, Mýa and Lil' Kim, she re-recorded Patti Labelle's "Lady Marmalade." Under the supervision of record producer and rapper Missy Elliott, they released the song in April 2001. The song became a huge hit around the world, peaking at #1 in 15 countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. It also earned the 4 artists a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. This was P!nk's first Grammy Award. In November of the same year she released her album, M!ssundaztood.

P!nk embarked on the Party Tour to promote the album, touring clubs and other venues in the United States. She was also the opening act for 'N Sync on the American and European legs of their tour in 2002.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"M!ssundaztood"	P!nk, Linda Perry	3:36
2.	"Don't Let Me Get Me"	P!nk, Dallas Austin	3:31
3.	"Just Like a Pill"	P!nk, Dallas Austin	3:57
4.	"Get the Party Started"	Linda Perry	3:11
5.	"Respect" (featuring Scratch)	P!nk, Linda Perry	3:25
6.	"18 Wheeler"	P!nk, Dallas Austin	3:44
7.	"Family Portrait"	P!nk, Scott Storch	4:56
8.	"Misery" (featuring Steven Tyler)	Richie Supa, Richie Sambora	4:33
9.	"Dear Diary"	P!nk, Linda Perry	3:29
10.	"Eventually"	P!nk, Linda Perry	3:34
11.	"Lonely Girl" (featuring Linda Perry)	Linda Perry	4:21
12.	"Numb"	P!nk, Dallas Austin	3:06
13.	"Gone to California"	P!nk, Linda Perry	4:34
14.	"My Vietnam"	P!nk, Linda Perry	5:19

Deluxe edition bonus DVD
No.	Title
1.	"Family Portrait" (Video)
2.	"Don't Let Me Get Me" (Video)
3.	"Numb" (Live at La Scala)
4.	"Family Portrait" (Live at La Scala)
5.	"The Making of 'M!ssundaztood'"
6.	Photo Gallery

International edition / second UK pressing

1. "Get the Party Started"
2. "18 Wheeler"
3. "M!ssundaztood"
4. "Dear Diary"
5. "Eventually"
6. "Numb"
7. "Just Like a Pill"
8. "Family Portrait"
9. "Misery" (featuring Steven Tyler)
10. "Respect" (featuring Scratch)
11. "Don't Let Me Get Me"
12. "Gone to California"
13. "Lonely Girl" (featuring Linda Perry)
14. "My Vietnam"
15. "Catch-22" (bonus track)

Chart performance

The album debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200, selling 220,000 copies in its first week of release, a higher chart and sales debut than that of P!nk's first album, Can't Take Me Home (2000). In its fifth week, when it was at number ten, the album sold 323,000 copies. It sold 73,000 copies in its eighth week and rose to number six on the chart; this was its peak position. The album being the second biggest selling album by a female artist in 2002, behind Avril Lavigne's debut album Let Go. As of August 27, 2010, it had sold 5,496,000 copies in the U.S.

In the UK the album peaked at #2 in the album chart and eventually manage to sell 1.8 million copies, receiving a 5× Platinum certification (however, it is eligible for 6× Platinum). The success was so huge that as of November 2006, the album was ranked ninety-fourth on the Official UK Charts Company's all-time best-selling albums list. In 2010 it was ranked the 37th best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK.