Album Review of Unbroken

Demetria Devonne Lovato released her third studio album, Unbroken, on September 20th, 2011, debuting number four on Billboard 200. Although, its lead single, "Skyscraper", was released on July 12th, 2011, and peaked at number ten on Billboard Hot 100. Another song from this album claimed a spot Billboard Hot 100. "Give Your Heart a Break" reached number sixteen on that list, and number one Billboard Pop Songs. But enough about how many spots her songs take on top music charts, let's get to the songs themselves.

Unbroken was released with fifteen outstanding tracks and two bonus tracks. Demi's quality of songs is much different than her previous albums. "I want to create a new sound. I little more R&B/pop." And that is exactly what she did. The first four songs off her album feature popular rap/R&B artists such as Missy Elliot, Iyaz, Timbaland, Dev, and Jason Derülo. Along with this new addition, she also has a remix of "Skyscraper" as one of the tracks on her album. Demi's doing what she wants, not what she's told to do, and it's creating a much larger variety in songs, thus appealing to a more expanded audience. The majority of the remaining songs on the album are centered more towards a more emotional and personal place. Five of which you'll see on my previous blog post, Demi's Top 5 Emotionally Impacting Songs. Now, her bonus tracks are a completely different story. "Aftershock" and "Yes I Am" fit more in the category of the song title of the album, "Unbroken". Each of these three songs give an upbeat change to the rest of her album (excluding the songs featuring the R&B/rappers). The bonus tracks are almost promiscuous and risque, which makes me think that that's the reason they're bonus tracks. In "Aftershock", Demi sings,

 "Beats so heavy make my head get hazy. 
Big boots make the ground shake crazy. 
Body so hot, feel like they taze me. 

Kill the lights, watch the crowd gets shady. Girls getting tricky, move round like elastic. 
Boys turned on, you can see all the static. 
Charge it up, make it automatic. 
Stop the press, hear the kick go manic." Being a former Disney star, I can see why she would make songs like this a part of a bonus edition. She knows she still has young fans, so she's doing it for the sake of them. Overall, this album has such a wide variety of song type, from rap and R&B, to slow ballad types and upbeat pop. The spectrum of song quality is so wide, it's great for people who do and don't know who Demi is. 

Demetria Lovato is, in my opinion, one of the best and most amazing vocalists in our generation. I'm not just saying that because I like her or her music, I'm saying that because her vocal range and talent are unbelievable. If you were unaware, Demi does not use any sort of auto-tune like many other famous singers now. Ryan Tedder, Grammy award winning record producer says during the recording of Unbroken, "She's one of the best singers I've ever worked with. Literally, that good... I mean, she's a Kelly Clarkson-level vocalist. And Kelly has a set of pipes." It's no secret Demi is an outstanding vocalist, but what about her vocal range (how high she can sing while she's belting and in her head voice) and vocal style? Stylistically, she can change from a ballad style to rock to Broadway to a raspy R&B and back in no time flat. She can sing whatever she wants, whenever she wants. And that's what makes her such an amazing vocalist. She's not stuck to one style of singing. She can sing and do whatever she wants to, and trust me, she'll sound great doing it. Her vocal range may as well be the eighth wonder of the world. Here's a quick music theory lesson to help you understand how fantastic she truly is: There are 88 keys on the piano. One octave represents eight notes, A though G. Once at G, it goes back to A and repeats, each note higher than the next. Now, every girl has roughly three types of registers they can sing in: Chest (belting), mixed, and head (this is the higher singing.) We're not going to worry about mixed register for now. Now, a girl's chest voice is how high they can sing with that power-house type of voice, and they're head is the higher, lighter, and softer kind of singing. Every girl I know can sing to about a C5 in their chest voice (most can't even get that high.) Demi can sing (well), up to an A5. AN A5. That's incredibly high. And not only can she sing extremely high in her chest voice, she can go really low, too. Down to Eb3 (the b stands for a flat sign.) Instead of me trying to explain it further, why don't I show you. 

Reviewing this album was almost too easy. Every aspect an album needs to be great, Demi exceeds with Unbroken. She has a generous amount of songs (with the bonus tracks), the song types are like your favorite assortment of cakes, they're all different and all so good, her vocals on the album are beyond belief, and each of her songs were made exactly how she wanted them. Some were fun, flirty, and playful, some were serious, heart-tugging, and inspirational. Demi did a remarkable job on this album, and I know for a fact she's already in the process of creating her fourth studio album. Trust me, if it's as nearly as good as this one (which, knowing Demi it has to be), you better watch out for my next blog.