Rating: 1/5 stars
The past few years revived another wave of pop-punk topping the charts; constant homages to nu-metal and grunge by alternative artists; and country music remembered it requires a guitar and not just a southern accent. Here we are now with Demi Lovato’s (“HOLY F*CK”) hard rock re-recordings of their biggest hits.
The specific sound Lovato appropriates is the Y2K era of Linkin Park (“Hybrid Theory”) and Fall Out Boy (“From Under the Cork Tree”). Industrial production and over-compressed guitars pile on each track without having any distinctive qualities whatsoever. Listening to one song spoils the sounds of every other. The only exception is their recording of “Skyscraper,” one of their early songs. Lovato tones down their aggression–an easy task, given how performative the whole rage aesthetic feels–to balance the album with a power ballad.
That the album sounds like the same generic hard rock cliches gives weight to a problem that extends beyond Lovato’s own career. The question is less what the album is and more why. The creativity never expands upon this hypothetical of the conventional popstar going rock. What is it about rock music that justifies popstars to music snobs? Decades ago the term “rockism” spread contagiously among rock critics to describe the frustrating apathy of hipsters toward pop music that had an equal amount, if not more, creativity than their rock colleagues, yet less credibility because they sang pop. Liz Phair (“Exile in Guyville”) faced the brunt of it 20 years ago when she evolved from a lofi legend into a hifi popstar. Now in the 2020s, Lovato is attempting something similar to the reverse: from mainstream popstar to mainstream rockstar. Instead of creating an interesting switch, the genres simply cancel out and Lovato remains a mainstream anything-star. What does this mean? It means you should not expect anything different going forward.
In all fairness, Lovato’s assertive promotion of the album, especially with their decision to re-record their vocals instead of reusing their original stems, imply they have a creative interest in releasing these versions, something more than cashing in on an industry trend.
There is nothing wrong with artistic autonomy. However, if you enter this album thinking Lovato will blow you away with some musical epiphany, then you might as well wait until Katy Perry (“Smile”) tries the same thing with the same results.
The elephant in the room listening to this album is that Lovato is not even the only former Disney star who music critics accredit to “bringing rock back” as a trend. Olivia Rodrigo (“GUTS”) turned up the amplifier on her last album, honing in on the most profitable decision from her debut, “SOUR.” Rodrigo’s pop-punk exercises, however, involve un-Disney lyrics and a healthy level of irony. On “REVAMPED,” Lovato released nothing more than what they promised: their old songs with rock backgrounds, and nothing else.
The album cover depicts a portrait of Lovato wearing a puffy black scarf and bangs of hair melting down their face. They stare at the viewer emotionlessly. They wear dark eyeshadow and a nose ring. The cover explains the album perfectly: Lovato is as edgy as the Cosmopolitan Magazine Halloween edition.
Image from Demi Lovato via Youtube
