Review Summary: Demi shows off a surprising depth to her voice that many Disney rock artists are completely devoid of to make this a fantastic album
2 of 7 thought this review was well writtenDisney music is a complete tragedy for the most part. Something about the overly simplified pop rock music that the artists signed onto that particular company just gives any rational person the urge to walk up to whoever signed them and punch them square on the nose. As with every rule however there is an exception and in this case it is Demi Lovato, the girl made famous by the Disney movies Camp Rock and Princess Protection Program before earning her own show entitled Sonny With A Chance. More recently Demi has become famous for her battle with self harm and eating disorders resulting in her entering into rehabilitation before eventually coming through and beating it. To date Demi has released three albums of which two are firmly rooted in the pop rock and pop punk genre with a sound akin to that of Paramore and her third one moving into deeper musical depths and a fourth album in the pipeline penned in for a 2013 release.
Don't Forget was her first album and was released in 2008 to critical praise for her exceptional vocal performance and the overly catchy nature of the record and these summaries would be the best place to start when discussing this album. Her vocal range on this album is quite something to be proud of unlike the usual monotonous autotuned idiocy that Disney press upon young people. On La La Land she evidences her ability to hold a particularly incredible high note towards the end but also is a general idea of how she sounds on most songs. She can hit some very good highs and her mid register is strong as well with a lot of power behind her vocals and energy that never fails to amaze. Trainwreck opens with a particularly amazing falsetto that any vocalist would be proud to be able to pull off and shows that Demetria Lovato is anything but the typical Disney singer who relies on computer editing to sound good.
The album is one long display of quick, enjoyable and fun songs that are ridiculously catchy and the choruses are guaranteed to be rooted in your head all day. Gonna Get Caught and Get Back are two straight up rock songs that burst forward with all the energy that one would expect from a pop rock album that focuses more on whizzing past and giving people general entertainment than on having real musical intricacy. Don't Forget is evidence that the album is not completely rooted in the fast-paced rock style however as this slows the pace down a lot and Demi sounds almost ready to burst into tears on it in the best possible way, channeling so much emotion into her voice that it is quite unbelievable. Party is a song that deserves mentioning for the fact that it is the one song on the album that could realistically be dubbed "filler" but still shows off Demi's incredible voice and has a chorus that is both madness and fun at the same time.
A minor flaw of this album is one that is present on pretty much every Disney rock album in existence and that is that the lyrics are cheesy and not particularly well written. La La Land is interesting in that it was written as a stab at how the company are controlling towards their clients which makes one wonder how it managed to remain on the album, but other than that the lyrics move from being bland (Don't Forget) to absolutely ridiculous (Party). This is the one gripe that can be found in this album that is otherwise a slab of fast paced pop rock music jam-packed with a high entertainment value that will have you repeatedly coming back to it.
