CD reviews: Demi Lovato; Fabolous

Demi Lovato, "Here We Go Again" (Hollywood Records)

One of Disney's most promising talents, "Camp Rock" star Lovato follows up last year's "Don't Forget" with this brassy effort that recalls the product of another pop machine: "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson. On the title track, Lovato tells a guy where to stick it over buff guitar lines, a la "Since U Been Gone," Clarkson's gold standard in kiss-off rock. For most of the album, Lovato channels a witty, pouty ingenue in high heels who's not afraid to call the shots, especially after a good cry. But when she breaks from her "Sex and the City" act for Mouse-loving millennials, the 16-year-old shows refreshing versatility. On "Falling Over Me," her vocals balance delicacy and force. The lifting of a phrase from Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" is a nice touch, a signal that Lovato is reverent of the chart-toppers who have gone before her, even the ones with Technicolor tresses that would surely violate a Disney contract.

Lovato performs Saturday at Target Center in Minneapolis. (See 8 Days Out spotlight on E4.)

MARGARET WAPPLER, LOS ANGELES TIMES

Fabolous, "Loso's Way" (Def Jam)

Fabolous' fifth album apparently is an autobiographical look at his past few years, but the thing you learn most is that the MC feels disrespected by the industry and his peers. True enough, he deserves more respect for his wit and sly flow. This set isn't very revealing, though, as Fabolous alternates typical gun-toting swagger (who knew he called his gun Nadia? Who cared?) with the kind of clever wordplay that should be keeping other MCs up at night. This is a record simply built to make the Brooklyn-born rapper huge, with cameos from hit monster The-Dream (the incurably hooky "Throw It in the Bag"), Keri Hilson, Jeremih, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne, among others. But sometimes the host gets lost in the mix. On "Makin Love," the hook singer, Ne-Yo, does as much lifting as the MC. On "Stay," with former Floetry vocalist Marsha Ambrosius, Fabolous pushes away the curtain veiling the rhyme wizard and reveals himself. The result is affecting and real. It's disconcerting for a New York rapper to rely on song productions as slick as Bernie Madoff, but Fabolous' narrative skills and cleverness show the way.