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Was Try This a flop?, And does it even matter?

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T Boy View Member Profile	Mar 16 2021, 12:52 PM Post #1
Radical Pink Troll Group: Artist Mod Posts: 23,499 Member No.: 177 Joined: 11-March 06 No Gallery Pics	Hi everyone! Inspired by some debate (that got very off topic) in the chart forum the other day, I thought I’d put the issue in here for discussion. Was Try This a flop era for Pink? I tend to only look at UK stats myself, so I’m not sure how things measure up all round, but I’d say that perhaps I’d consider it an underperformance but I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to call it a flop. The album has sold over half a million copies in the UK and spawned two top 10 singles. It didn’t sell anywhere near what her previous album sold but did sell slightly more than her debut. When I tend to think of flop albums, it tends to be albums that made literally no impact. Albums like Heavy Rotation for Anastacia or Witness for Katy Perry. I really don’t see Try This falling into that category. It was also brought up that it was a flop compared to her ‘contemporaries’ at the time. But does that matter in the long scheme of things? And should we be pitting females against each other and assigning worth on their work in comparison to other females? I even did that in the paragraph above. Thoughts? This post has been edited by T Boy: Mar 16 2021, 12:53 PM


Tawdry Hepburn View Member Profile	Mar 16 2021, 02:40 PM Post #2
I'll find your lips in the street lights Group: Artist Mod Posts: 73,849 Member No.: 51 Joined: 7-March 06 User's Gallery	I've always thought of it as undeniably an underperformance but not necessarily a flop, per se.


Chemistry View Member Profile	Mar 16 2021, 04:03 PM Post #3
BuzzJack Enthusiast Group: Members Posts: 1,123 Member No.: 106,588 Joined: 20-May 20 No Gallery Pics	Interesting question indeed, especially looking back now and seeing what came after this. Try This definitely felt like a massive underperformance, considering how back the previous album was, and I definitely think people were expecting her to never really 'recover' (which I'm Not Dead even proved a bit, in the beginning, as it took so long to really take off). So around the time I can see why it was seen as a flop, although I don't think a flop was the right word. Underperformance for sure but it' s hard to call an album that debuted top 10 basically everywhere a flop. (and yes, it should have been wayyyyy bigger).


tommie View Member Profile	Mar 16 2021, 04:04 PM Post #4
BuzzJack Gold Member Group: Members Posts: 3,988 Member No.: 8,073 Joined: 7-January 09 No Gallery Pics	I guess it depends on how you see it - worldwide I'd say it was an underperformance and not a "flop" as such and obviously a huge step down from Mizundastood. I'd probably put it more in flop territory in the US though as the singles there completely bombed for her (Feel Good Time #60, Trouble #68) in addition the album selling around 700k compared to Mizundastoods 5.5 million+ copies.


Bjork View Member Profile	Mar 16 2021, 04:42 PM Post #5
BuzzJack Legend Group: Members Posts: 20,153 Member No.: 22,665 Joined: 13-November 15 No Gallery Pics	In the US, the 1st single from the album was Trouble. Feel Good Time was a one-off single released between albums and included in a movie. Then when Try This was released, the song was tagged along in some versions of the album (Europe?) but at the time I was living in the US and the US version of the album does not have Feel Good Time. Moreover, Feel Good Time has nothing to do with the album, in style, in songwriting, in anything. Pink also didn't have anything to do with the making of the song, was a Paul Oakenfield song. So comparing Mizzunderstood vs Try This, just looking at the singles: in the US: Get the party started/4 Don't let me get me/8 Just like a pill/8 Family portrait/20 vs: Trouble/68 God is a DJ/103* (or #3 Bubbling Under) and album sales-wise: 5.6 million vs 700K so personally it's closer to a flop, not a 100% flop, but it's a huge underperformance at all levels


blacksquare View Member Profile	Mar 16 2021, 06:08 PM Post #6
BuzzJack Gold Member Group: Members Posts: 3,367 Member No.: 23,471 Joined: 25-July 16 No Gallery Pics	People were genuinely worried she was over (especially in the US) before and leading up to ‘I’m Not Dead’ because of it — similar to ‘Witness’ actually. I think the sales are a little misleading due to the era it was released in, so I would put it somewhere between a massive underperformance and a flop. But she pulled through and bounced back, and the rest is history.


T Boy View Member Profile	Mar 16 2021, 06:43 PM Post #7
Radical Pink Troll Group: Artist Mod Posts: 23,499 Member No.: 177 Joined: 11-March 06 No Gallery Pics	I do remember worrying she might be over back then but I just feel like history, UK history at least, makes it look not quite as bad. In the UK she was was shifting similar numbers to Kylie’s Body Language and Madonna’s American Life which were also considered flops at the time. Looking back on Pink’s UK album history, none of it looks too bad in hindsight. 500k sellers weren’t generally seen as flops but off the back of M!ssundaztood, it certainly looked that way.


Nina West View Member Profile	Mar 17 2021, 12:53 AM Post #8
We're all Glitter and Tears in the Moonlight... Group: Members Posts: 7,668 Member No.: 19,846 Joined: 24-September 13 No Gallery Pics	I'd call this more of an underperformance than a full on flop, even Pink herself doesn't care for this album as she left the label soon after. This was rushed & her heart wasn't in it, which showed during the promo campaign & some of the album's weaker moments, it felt like she wanted to get this era over and done with quickly, especially given the final single 'Last To Know' was only given a concert video & limited release, which sparked the end for this album. Also the songs she wanted to release ''Oh My God' & 'Unwind' were scrapped by the label, as well as 'Catch Me While I'm Sleeping' which was also due for release in the USA, but was scrapped after the previous singles flopped over there.


Riser View Member Profile	Mar 17 2021, 02:48 AM Post #9
I've been gone Group: Moderator Posts: 16,230 Member No.: 19,534 Joined: 14-July 13 User's Gallery	It certainly depends on how you personally define an underperformance or a flop, that will vary for each of us. I wasn't following the charts at the time, and I barely ever heard 'Trouble' or 'God Is A DJ', so I would've thought the album flopped...but now that I'm more familiar with how it peaked/sold worldwide, and knowing the singles performed much better outside the US, I'm more inclined to call it an underperformance.


Tawdry Hepburn View Member Profile	Mar 17 2021, 09:07 AM Post #10
I'll find your lips in the street lights Group: Artist Mod Posts: 73,849 Member No.: 51 Joined: 7-March 06 User's Gallery	QUOTE(Nina West @ Mar 17 2021, 12:53 AM) I'd call this more of an underperformance than a full on flop, even Pink herself doesn't care for this album as she left the label soon after. This was rushed & her heart wasn't in it, which showed during the promo campaign & some of the album's weaker moments, it felt like she wanted to get this era over and done with quickly, especially given the final single 'Last To Know' was only given a concert video & limited release, which sparked the end for this album. Also the songs she wanted to release ''Oh My God' & 'Unwind' were scrapped by the label, as well as 'Catch Me While I'm Sleeping' which was also due for release in the USA, but was scrapped after the previous singles flopped over there. 'Catch Me While I'm Sleeping' was actually listed on the UK release schedule as the 3rd single for weeks until they switched it with 'Last To Know'.


pippa View Member Profile	Mar 21 2021, 04:43 PM Post #11
BuzzJack Platinum Member Group: Artist Mod Posts: 19,378 Member No.: 14,031 Joined: 11-June 11 No Gallery Pics	QUOTE(Tawdry Hepburn @ Mar 16 2021, 02:40 PM) I've always thought of it as undeniably an underperformance but not necessarily a flop, per se. Fair and adequate way to define the era.


Sour Candy View Member Profile	Mar 21 2021, 09:07 PM Post #12
BuzzJack Platinum Member Group: Artist Mod Posts: 16,165 Member No.: 10,275 Joined: 22-December 09 No Gallery Pics	500k for 2003/4 album is like 70k in 2021. It is her least popular album I'd say, calling it flop or underperformance is just semantics. This post has been edited by Sour Candy: Mar 21 2021, 09:17 PM


T Boy View Member Profile	Mar 21 2021, 09:17 PM Post #13
Radical Pink Troll Group: Artist Mod Posts: 23,499 Member No.: 177 Joined: 11-March 06 No Gallery Pics	QUOTE(Sour Candy @ Mar 21 2021, 09:07 PM) 500k for 2003/4 album is like 70k in 2021 though. It is her least popular album I'd say, calling it flop or underperformance is just semantics. And yet it sold roughly the same in the UK as Britney’s In The Zone and yet that never seems to be considered a flop. I feel these things are relative to an artists’ previous performance. Try This certainly looks like a flop coming off the back of M!ssundaztood, but there were many albums at the time that sold less and weren’t really considered flops. I’d also argue Can’t Take Me Home for her least popular album, especially among her fans. This post has been edited by T Boy: Mar 21 2021, 09:19 PM


tommie View Member Profile	Mar 22 2021, 06:26 AM Post #14
BuzzJack Gold Member Group: Members Posts: 3,988 Member No.: 8,073 Joined: 7-January 09 No Gallery Pics	QUOTE(T Boy @ Mar 21 2021, 10:17 PM) And yet it sold roughly the same in the UK as Britney’s In The Zone and yet that never seems to be considered a flop. I feel these things are relative to an artists’ previous performance. Try This certainly looks like a flop coming off the back of M!ssundaztood, but there were many albums at the time that sold less and weren’t really considered flops. I’d also argue Can’t Take Me Home for her least popular album, especially among her fans. If anything I'd compare it to the downfall of Leona between Spirit and Echo. I'd be hard pressed to call Echo a flop, but it obviously didn't do as well as the label expected and certainly invested in it. And yeah, Can't Take Me Home is clearly her least popular album, but a lot of that is because she changed musical direction plus Pink herself rarely references it so she doesn't really keep it alive, so to speak.


spiceboy View Member Profile	Mar 23 2021, 07:06 PM Post #15
BuzzJack Platinum Member Group: Artist Mod Posts: 5,385 Member No.: 39,568 Joined: 6-September 17 No Gallery Pics	It's only seen as a flop because of it's sales compared to it's previous release. If Girls Aloud had released it in their earlier years (or even later years) it wouldn't have been seen as that as their albums sold between 300-600k at that point. Britney In the Zone sold around 500k and wasn't seen as a flop. It's all relative. P!nk has never had a flop album in the UK.


Feel_The_Fever View Member Profile	Mar 24 2021, 04:08 PM Post #16
BuzzJack Idol Group: Members Posts: 112,520 Member No.: 845 Joined: 29-June 06 No Gallery Pics	I dont think it flopped it just didn't follow the huge success of its predecessor bit like Kylies body language following Fever performance.