(EW.com) -- There are two ways for pop stars to make a Survivor Album: either power-sing through your problems like Christina Aguilera, or make like Rihanna and dance till you forget what you're supposed to be getting over.





On her first release since checking out of rehab, Demi Lovato wants to have it both ways. She's front-loaded "Unbroken" with leave-no-synth-effect-behind R&B (''You're My Only Shorty,'' featuring Iyaz), shy love-in-this-club tracks (''Who's That Boy''), and Timbaland bangers (''All Night Long,'' with Missy Elliott). So it's a little unnerving when she gets to the album's second half -- the part where, as she told Ryan Seacrest, ''I'm singing about some issues that I've never even spoken about before.''





Having struggled with cutting since she was a preteen, Lovato admits, ''I ended up with wounds to bind ... and I just ran out of Band-Aids'' on the hugely affecting ballad ''Fix a Heart.''





Demi Lovato covers Lil Wayne's 'How to Love' in NYC: Watch it here





The piano confessional ''For the Love of a Daughter'' finds her picturing herself at age 4, begging her dad to ''put the bottle down'' and keep his ''selfish hands'' to himself. And then there's ''Skyscraper,'' an anthem so honest you can hear her voice breaking.





Taylor Swift teams with Hayley Williams in Nashville for 'That's What You Get'





Clearly it's been a tough year for Lovato. But as Rihanna could tell her, sometimes bad years make great songs. B+





See full review at EW.com.





CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly





© 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
what "Unbroken" is Demi Lovato's? what is demi lovato's first release since checking out of rehab? What is Demi Lovato's first release since rehab? What does Lovato say about it? What is "unbroken" loaded with? what is she singing about? what did she front-load "unbroken" with?
her first release since checking out of rehab, "Unbroken" "Unbroken" before.'' leave-no-synth-effect-behind R&B some issues that I've never even spoken leave-no-synth-effect-behind R&B
question: what "Unbroken" is Demi Lovato's?, answer: her first release since checking out of rehab, | question: what is demi lovato's first release since checking out of rehab?, answer: "Unbroken" | question: What is Demi Lovato's first release since rehab?, answer: "Unbroken" | question: What does Lovato say about it?, answer: before.'' | question: What is "unbroken" loaded with?, answer: leave-no-synth-effect-behind R&B | question: what is she singing about?, answer: some issues that I've never even spoken | question: what did she front-load "unbroken" with?, answer: leave-no-synth-effect-behind R&B