Demi Lovato: The Topic

[Avaitor]

This has been a long time coming so where you running to?. But now that "Skyscraper" has topped the iTunes charts and is giving her tons of acclaim, it's about time I finally made a thread dedicated to Demi on here.

Here's the video to the song, and I hate how small the screen on this site is. But this song has already become a major success for her because it's a really good song. There's been a fair amount of successful songs dedicated to people struggling with personal issues lately, and while "Skyscraper" on the surface seems to be the latest in a long line of songs meant to cash in on this fad, I think it sounds far more personal than anything else on the radio.

If you haven't read up on Demi's struggles, I'd suggest watching her interview with Ryan Seacrest, which is on this site's player as well. Everything she's been fighting gets put into her performance here. When it sounds like her voice is getting too raw or raspy, remember that Demi recorded this a year ago, when she was still struggling with bulimia, which affected her voice. Not to mention that she cried during most of the recording of this song, and you can tell when that happens during those toughest notes. She doesn't hide anything in this song.

I'm not done talking about this girl on here, but I think the song should speak for itself now. I highly recommend that you listen to this song. It doesn't sound like a Disney Channel singer, it sounds like a young woman's cry for empowerment at her rawest time. I haven't been as excited for a song like this in a long time.

And I don't care if my bias is totally showing.

[Commode]

I totally DL'd the song of itunes and listened to it yesterday.  It was pretty good, but in all honesty I was expecting it to be more rock-ish(probably because I picture you as a metalhead).  It still was good, and you could feel the emotion in the song, even though I'm one of those people who knows next to nothing about her, never mind her recent troubles.

[Avaitor]

Her first two albums were more rockish, but she's been toning that down since the first one. She's a heavy metal fan and all (mostly mainstream stuff like Dimmu Borgir and Maylene & the Sons of Disaster, but I hear that she has more legit taste in metal as well), but she grew up on R&B and has been wanting to make more music like that lately.

It sounds like that here, and she's probably going to keep that up for the rest of the album.

[Avaitor]

Here is the right way to watch the video.

And the song is still #1. Couldn't be prouder.

[Angus]

Is Demi's album okay for kids? Or is she trying to be edgy like Britney?

[Avaitor]

The new album? Hasn't come out yet.

The song "Skyscraper"? It's a little riskier than you'd expect if you haven't actually listened to Demi's music before (Radio Disney won't play it due to the reference to bleeding in it), but if you let your kids listen to most top 40, this should be fine.

Her earlier albums? Perfectly fine. Nothing like Britney's music, thank god.

[Avaitor]

And now I'm going to go through the history of Demetria and her singles. I'm going to skip the promotional stuff for movies and whatnot, and just focus on the main stuff.

"Get Back" came first. I think that I've written about this before, but I heard this song a couple of times back when it came out almost three years ago. I think even my local top 40 station played it once or twice, and they don't play any Disney star but Miley. I thought she sounded a lot better than Cyrus and the other DC stars at the time I heard it and dug the rocking sound, but wasn't in love and didn't give it any thought after a while.

It's a fun song about a breakup, something you never really hear, which is why Demi wrote it. I think after the 2:00 minute mark when she starts hitting very high notes is crazy. On earlier shows, she tried to hit them even higher, which isn't very good for your voice, and you could tell that she was straining herself. Later on she realized that and started doing that part in a deeper, cooler voice instead, which works fine too.

Also, I hate the radio edit, which is unfortunately present in the video. on the album, instead of her saying "Hold me, like you mean it", she sings "Kiss me", and the transition sounds a little weird once you recognize that. It also sounds even dirtier, but that's not here or there...

Then she released "La La Land", which is also a little rocking. The music is pretty cool here, and I really like it at the end when Demi herself starts playing the piano. Nice addition, and a lot of the time at concerts, she'll pull one out and recreate that part herself.

I do think that it's strange to hear this song now knowing everything Demi has been going through for all of these years. But I think that gives it greater meaning, and the lyrics are still cute. I think this is my favorite song from the first album, and it's also her most popular video on YouTube.

And the last single from her album was the title track, "Don't Forget". This one, I don't dig as much. This is like a more realistic and depressing breakup song, opposed to "Get Back". It's a lot slower than either of her singles, too. I think the meter in the lyrics is well-done, even if the actual lyrics themself aren't anything spectacular, and I like the music, especially near the 2:30 mark where Demi starts playing rhythm guitar.

My problem with the song lies in Demi's vocals. She strains herself very hard on here, which is a problem she tended to have back around this point in her career. Unlike a lot of singers on the charts today, Demi has a lot of range and ability, but she went too far in trying to prove that. There's a couple of other examples I can pull out to prove this, but I'll try to keep this short and say that she improved on this around the time her second album came out. Even on tour, she has made herself sound a lot better on this song.

Speaking of the second album, its title track, "Here We Go Again", was the first single of it. Although she started going for more of a controlled sound in the album, this song is very hard rocking, and even comes complete with a neat little solo. I think this was the song I played that convinced me that Demi has promise and is worth keeping up with about a year ago. It's a very fun, rocking song that also happened to be her biggest hit until "Skyscraper" came out.

Then there's "Remember December", which I've made no secret in confessing that I love the video for this song. If only since Demi looks really good in it. But for the music itself, I think it's very good. It has a nice, 80's dance-ish vibe to it, and the band accompanies the beat and Demi's vocals very well. It's a more club-friendly sound for her, which is something she says there's going to be more of in the new album. If there's more of this, then I for one welcome the transition.

And then there's "Skyscraper". Again, just check it out. 8)

[Novapocalypse]

 I never listened to anything by Demi before and only watched a little of Sonny With a Chance once or twice but I think this song is amazing. The way she manages to essentially describe the struggles she's had while wrapping all of it in optimism is just incredibly impressive. What's more is when you hear this song you can really feel that the person singing it is speaking from past experiences, and she's pouring her heart and soul into it.

Great job Demi, I'm looking forward to your next single.

[Avaitor]

Today's the day.

[Avaitor]

Necessary bump. You only have one obsession they say. I say nay.

Anyway, this is her new single. What do you guys think?

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's not bad. At least its a pop song that doesn't sound like 1998.

[Avaitor]

My favorite part of the song is her crack in the line "You've been hurt before/I can see it in your eyes". It's incredibly raw.

[Avaitor]

-She has the #1 song on the charts
-She just won her first Moonman and had her first VMA performance
-She pulled off three interviews with three outfits in one day yesterday
-And the X-Factor starts next week

So now I feel entitled to bump this thread, and appreciate the awesomeness of Demetria Lovato.

[Dr. Insomniac]

DEMI LOVATO is hurt by its burn!

[Avaitor]

Yeahhhh, this has been going around a lot lately. The thing about this is

1- She did not say that dreams aren't for everyone, but rather that just because you really want to do something doesn't mean that it's for you. This guy isn't the only person who wants to be a singer but just wasn't blessed with a voice. This just happens.
2- She hardly uses autotune as it is, and if you've ever heard a performance of hers, you can see that she doesn't even need it.
3- Autotune can be used in moderation and be hardly noticeable. It exists to help vocalists with pitching, because no one can hit every single note on every single song correctly. The people who abuse autotune like Ke$ha and Selena Gomez are the ones who give it a bad name. Even Freddie Mercury used autotune.
4- This guy would still suck even if he used autotune.

I've seen this shared around a lot as a guy who "put Demi in her place", but he really didn't.