Friday, July 15, 2011

Song of the Day: Skyscraper - Demi Lovato


Fresh out of rehab, Demi Lovato has just released her comeback single, "Skyscraper", which rocketed to the top of the iTunes charts as if it was sung by Lady Gaga. However, to be brutally honest, this song doesn't fill any void or feel satisfactory to me; read on for the explanation.



First off, anyone that says this song was written by Demi about overcoming her eating disorder and her self-injury is actually not telling the truth. The song was written by Toby Gad (along with Kerli and Lindy Robbins), and went through the writing process in spring 2010. It's true that the emotion-filled voice of Demi may have still been talking about these things, but they were not the direct inspiration of the song.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Demi doesn't sing emotionally in the song. However, this makes her voice shaky and difficult to listen to. The background vocals in the song (by Jordin Sparks, I believe) take on the same annoying tone. It's possible to get emotion across without a screeching voice; just ask Miley Cyrus or Avril Lavigne (although the music video may be a bit light-hearted).

I wish Demi the best of luck in overcoming her personal struggles. However, that doesn't mean that I have to say I like the song out of sympathy. If it wasn't for what happened to her earlier, I wouldn't be here today reviewing the song, and you wouldn't be here reading my review. At the end of the day, though, I have to judge the song; and it's definitely less than spectacular, in my ears.

Rating: 2/5

5 comments:

  1. Demi Lovato is not a big pop star. As I'm sure you're aware, she's never had a big hit. This may become her first, although I have a hunch it's not going to stick around for long. The song is okay, but she's not a very good singer or at least not cut out for this type of song.

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  2. It's true that she's never had a big hit, although she was featured on We the Kings' "We'll Be a Dream". The reason I used Avril Lavigne And Miley Cyrus' songs as examples was because they were both at the same age as Demi when their songs were released. I don't think this is the last we'll see from Demi Lovato, but her voice needs to mature if she wants to establish herself as a pop star.

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  3. I disagree with Adh, I think she has an awesome voice, way better than Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne... this song was probably a poor attempt to showcase that. I do agree it's not that great.

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  4. Well, I haven't heard anything else from her, so my assessment was only based on this song.

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  5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYDDiqhhzbQ

    There's Demi singing her 2nd most popular song, "Don't Forget". I find it to be almost as pitchy as "Skyscraper", and I don't hear any real maturity in her voice.

    Her rock voice, which she showcases in the latter part of the song, is much stronger than her slow voice. In other words, Demi should stick to rock - not the pitiful voice that comes out of her mouth in "Skyscraper".

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