Revamped

It was released on September 15, 2023, through Island Records. Produced entirely by Warren "Oak" Felder, Alex Niceforo, and Keith Sorrells, the album comprises ten re-recorded rock versions of songs from her previous albums.

Revamped
Remix album (re-recorded) by Demi Lovato
Released	September 15, 2023 (2023-09-15)
Recorded	2022–2023
Genre	Rock
Length	35:49
Label	Island
Producer	Warren "Oak" Felder
Demi Lovato chronology
Holy Fvck (2022) Revamped (2023)
Singles from Revamped
"Heart Attack (rock version)" Released: March 24, 2023 "Cool for the Summer (rock version)" Released: May 25, 2023

In January 2022, Lovato held a "funeral" for her pop music ahead of the release of her eighth studio album Holy Fvck in August of that year. The album, which embraced a heavier rock sound that departed from the pop sound of Lovato's previous releases, was supported by the Holy Fvck Tour. The setlist included several rock versions of her older pop songs, including "Heart Attack", "Cool for the Summer", and "Sorry Not Sorry". With her band, Lovato reimagined her pop songs as "rock bangers" featuring new arrangements created for the live rock show she had prepared: "The fans loved it," said the singer in an interview with Rolling Stone. "When I got home from tour, I was like, 'Why don't I just record those versions and release them?'" While making the album, Lovato says she made sure that the tracks didn't lose "their essence and familiarity." She followed by adding, "I changed the melody a little bit in certain spots and then try to hit higher notes than the originals."

Revamped was announced by Lovato on her social media accounts on July 14, 2023, simultaneously with the release of the third single, "Sorry Not Sorry", featuring British-American musician Slash. The album announcement was supported by the release of an album trailer the same day, with a snippet of the singles serving as the background music to a series of clips of Lovato in a photoshoot. Discussing the album, Lovato said: "I wanted to pay homage to the songs that resonated the most with fans and played a big role in my career by breathing an exciting new life into them."

After the release of the singles, Lovato started teasing the tracks that would be part of the track listing on her social media and via e-mail. The first announced non-single was "Neon Lights", on August 17, which features The Maine. In a press release about the song, the singer said: "I am thrilled to share with you the trailer for the next track revealed from my upcoming album, so excited to be doing this song with The Maine." The second revealed track was "Don't Forget", on August 22, being the tenth track of the upcoming album. On the next day, she released an extended snippet of the remix. The next confirmed songs were "La La Land" and "Give Your Heart a Break" (featuring Bert McCracken from The Used), the latter previously announced by Rolling Stone. The last two songs announced by Lovato were "Skyscraper" and "Tell Me You Love Me".

 

 

American musicians Slash (left) and Nita Strauss (right) feature on the tracks "Sorry Not Sorry" and "La La Land", respectively.

Revamped contains 10 re-recordings of tracks originally on the albums Demi, Confident, Tell Me You Love Me, Unbroken, and Don't Forget, with two songs each. All the tracks were produced by Warren "Oak" Felder, with collaborations from Alex Niceforo, Keith "Ten4" Sorrells, Mitch Allan, Oscar Linnander, Zaire Koalo, Chopsticks, and John Feidmann. American musicians Slash, Nita Strauss and Bert McCracken, and American rock band The Maine, appear as featured artists on the album.

The album retained most of the original lyrics of the original versions of Lovato's songs, with some exceptions; "Don't tell your mother" in the pre-chorus of "Cool for the Summer" was replaced with "Go tell your mother". Additionally, before the lyric "No, you ain't nobody 'till you got somebody" in "Tell Me You Love Me", Lovato says "They say". When discussing this, Lovato said "I interject a little because I don't want that negative connotation of 'You're only somebody if you're with somebody' and that's something that's always bugged me about the song as I've performed it on the road." She also said that the song was the most difficult to reimagine as a rock track.

Music and lyrics

Lovato's first remix album is a rock project with pop-punk inspirations, a genre that the singer "introduced to her fans" on her eighth studio album, Holy Fvck. Her vocals were described as "strong as ever".

Songs

Revamped's opening track "Heart Attack" is a pop-punk song. It consists of "a heavy drum beat and electric guitar", and "punk-styled drums and a gritty baseline". The second track, "Confident", features "contemporary emo electro SFX and arena-sized bass reverberations". In comparison with the original song, Lovato's delivery is the same, "with a touch more bite and a touch less girlboss". Third track and third single "Sorry Not Sorry", a sped-up rock version, is "unrecognisable", sounds "natural and suits the injection of power that both Lovato's new instrumental and Slash's keening guitar solo provide". The musician solo was described as "masterful". The updated take on the song offers "powerful new vocals" and new production from Warren "Oak" Felder, Keith "Ten4" Sorrells, and Alex Niceforo. The original version of "Cool for the Summer" was a "dancey piano motif" under producers Max Martin and Ali Payami, while the 2023 rendition begins with "the sounds of synth and static". It features "a metal yell, electric guitar shredding and faint but well-placed echoes of the chorus notes". Upon the song's release, Starr Bowenbank wrote for Billboard that the rock version "swaps the original's poppy synths and uptempo instrumentation for a darker sound backed by electric guitars and grittier lyric delivery from Lovato". The rock version of "Tell Me You Love Me" features "flawless" vocals and an alt-rock production. It is a power ballad with a "guitar-driven chorus".

The remix of "Neon Lights" is a dance and an alternative rock song, which "balances both genres" and "shows off the singer's increased comfort with their lower register". Lyrically, the song complements "Heart Attack". Emo band The Maine's melodic twists on the second verse were described as "refreshing". "Skyscraper" was chosen by American Songwriter reviewer Alex Hopper as an "undisputed standout", which contains "Lovato's matured vocals wailing over the hard-edge musicality". It is "fairly restrained", and feels "natural". It was compared to the Goo Goo Dolls. The remix of "La La Land", a song "already rock-tinged", changes its direction and, with pop punk inspirations, it offers "Travis Barker-esque drums and staccato guitar lines". Critics praised Lovato's vocal riffs and Nita Strauss' soloing electric guitar part. "Give Your Heart a Break" is a duet between Lovato and Bert McCracken from The Used. It was cited by Clash as "an easy highlight", and was described as an "emotive performance" with harmonies and "soaring high-note ad-libs". The song is "a powerful antithesis" to "Heart Attack", instead of Lovato avoiding falling in love, it's the love interest of the song who is hesitant. The album ends with the remix of "Don't Forget", a ballad which was also chosen as a standout, and "hits as hard as it needs to match the emotional core" of the song.

Singles

Two singles preceded Revamped. Lovato released the first, "Heart Attack (rock version)", on March 24, 2023, to mark the song's 10th anniversary. The second single, "Cool for the Summer (rock version)", was released on May 25 of the same year, announced via social media on May 18. Additionally, two promotional singles preceded the album: "Sorry Not Sorry (rock version)", which featured a guitar solo from British-American musician Slash, released on July 14, and "Confident (rock version)", released on August 18. The song was announced as part of the track-list three days before its release.

Live performances

At the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, Lovato performed a medley of the remixes of "Heart Attack", "Sorry Not Sorry" and "Cool for the Summer". It was chosen by USA Today and Billboard as one of the best performances of the ceremony. She also performed at several festivals, such as Philadelphia Welcome America Festival, Wonderbus Music & Arts Festival, and The Town Festival.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
American Songwriter
Clash	8/10
Paste	8/10
PopMatters	8/10
Riff	8/10
AllMusic
The Line of Best Fit	4/10

Revamped was met with generally positive reviews. It received a score of 74 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on six critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Forbes said that re-recording her songs as "rock anthems" is a "brilliant business move", and stated that "Lovato's decision showcases her artistic versatility and demonstrates her willingness to evolve as an artist." Vulture critic Jason P. Frank said that re-recording her songs is due to the "immeasurable" impact of Taylor Swift. Stephen Daw from Billboard described Revamped as "the work of an artist taking the narrative back from her years of pop stardom, and it's a raucous delight to listen to".

In a positive review, Riff's Mike Dewald highlighted "Give Your Heart a Break" and "Neon Lights" as standouts, saying that the latter "captures the energy of the original but takes it to another level with expressive drum patterns added to the mix". Jeffrey Davies of PopMatters described "the person" Lovato is as "bold and defiant", and hailed the "continuously flawless vocals and rock production" that "inexplicably works". Allison McClain Merrill of Paste praised The Maine's "melodic twists" on the second verse of "Neon Lights", and called it "refreshing". Clash reviewer Ims Taylor described the album as "nostalgic, wonderfully, and playfully rebellious", and stated that Revamped "sounds like Lovato having the most indulgent fun of perhaps their whole career". In a mixed review, Alex Hopper from American Songwriter said that the album "feels like Lovato did very little 'Revamping' to her past hits, added a guitar line over the original production, and shared it with the world", but praised the singer's "strong as ever" vocals. Concluding their review for AllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung described Revamped as a "great fun", and stated that "fans of both sides of Lovato's sonic personality will appreciate this bonus diversion from the main catalog."

The Line of Best Fit reviewer Vicky Greer described Revamped as "an album of missed opportunities in which Lovato seems to take a musical step backwards in their career", cited "Heart Attack" and "Skyscraper" as "two real improvements" on the album, and wrote that aside from them, "the difference between these rock versions and the originals is only slight, with nowhere near enough of a musical departure to rewrite history".

Notes

• ^{^[a]} indicates a co-producer
• All tracks are subtitled "rock version".

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Revamped.

• Demi Lovato – lead vocals
• Oak Felder – executive producer, producer, programming (1, 3), keyboards (2–10), bass (3), engineer (4)
• Alex Nice – co-producer, programming (1–3, 5–10), keyboards (3), percussion (4), strings (4), guitar (8–10)
• Keith "Ten4" Sorrells – co-producer, programming (1, 4), mixing, guitar, drums, bass (2–10)
• Oscar Linnander – engineer, co-producer (7), programming (7), bass (7), keyboards (7)
• Mitch Allan – co-producer (1), guitar (1), background vocals (1)
• Trevor Brown – co-producer (3), guitar (3)
• Zaire Koalo – co-producer (3), percussion (3)
• Slash – guitar (3)
• Chopsticks – co-producer (6), programming (6), guitar (6, 7)
• Nita Strauss – guitar (8)
• John Feldmann – co-producer (9)
• Scooter Braun – executive producer
• Chris Gehringer – mastering
• Will Quinnell – mastering