P!nk released Try This on November 11, 2003, through Arista Records. Her third studio album put Rancid singer and guitarist Tim Armstrong at the center of much of the writing and production, extending the rock direction she’d explored on M!ssundaztood. Their collaboration supplied the album’s opening track and lead single, “Trouble.”
The project had begun with Linda Perry, a key collaborator on the previous album, before a meeting at a Transplants video shoot changed its course. As P!nk explained in Billboard’s November 2003 cover story, she connected with Armstrong and joined Transplants on the road while they were opening for Foo Fighters. She wrote and recorded with Armstrong and drummer Travis Barker using a Pro Tools setup on the band’s tour bus. P!nk credited Armstrong with injecting “new blood and new life force” into the project.
Her attachment to punk predated those sessions. In the same interview, she recalled listening repeatedly to Bad Religion’s Recipe for Hate in eighth grade, concealing her Walkman’s wiring beneath her sweatshirt and drumming along through the school day. Punk belonged to her musical background alongside pop, hip-hop and gospel.
Armstrong’s involvement carried through the finished recordings. On “Trouble,” he contributed guitar and backing vocals alongside his songwriting and production work, with Barker among the credited drummers. That circle of collaborators also shaped “Oh My God,” which paired P!nk with Peaches. Armstrong produced the track and played guitar, while Barker supplied drums and percussion. The connection made on the road became a substantial part of the album’s personnel.
Perry remained involved, co-writing and producing three songs, including “Catch Me While I’m Sleeping.” Its emphasis on P!nk’s soulful singing gave the record room to breathe between the louder material. In his contemporary Slant review, Sal Cinquemani singled out that connection to her earlier R&B work while noting the accessible pop writing within the Armstrong collaborations. “God Is a DJ,” which followed “Trouble” as a single, supplied another route through the album: dancefloor imagery and a chorus built for communal release.
The results reached the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic. Try This peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 in the United Kingdom, although its sales fell short of M!ssundaztood. That comparison became part of the pressure surrounding the record, and P!nk’s later recollections added a difficult personal dimension to the account of an exciting new collaboration.
“I was kind of rebelling against the label on that one,” she told The Irish Times in 2006. She described writing quickly in response to demands for an album and recalled leaving promotional interviews in tears. Her enthusiasm for working with Armstrong and her frustration with the release cycle belonged to the same period. The distinction helps explain why an album with so many party songs could be associated with such unhappy memories for its singer.
“Trouble” also marked a concrete career achievement. At the 2004 Grammy Awards, it won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, giving P!nk her first solo Grammy. Her previous win had been shared for “Lady Marmalade”; the Armstrong collaboration earned recognition for her own lead vocal.
