AUGUST 2008

Demi Lovato ponders her future, realizing that success is up to her on the confident girl-power anthem "Who Will I Be?" On "What It Takes" a girl lists what she expects from a guy, including kindness, respect and actions that speak louder than words ("I know I'm worth it, and I know he's out there"). "Play My Music," "Start the Party" and "We Rock" urge fans to follow their dreams. A gaggle of females with a tense relational history put the past behind them and move in a positive direction ("Our Time Is Here"). Teens arrive at a healthy sense of self ("This Is Me"), celebrate unexpected friendships (the Latin-flavored rap "Hasta La Vista"), and decide to step out of the shadows and stop playing social games by others' rules ("Here I Am"). Joe Jonas of the pop group Jonas Brothers croons to an unidentified young lady he believes will be "the missing piece I need" on "Gotta Find You."

Several cuts talk of "losing control" as they exalt rock music as a form of salvation. On the bouncy "Too Cool" a vain, snooty girl looks down her nose at "irrelevant wannabes" ("I'm too cool to know you"). In the film her behavior is vilified, but there's no sense of that here.

Lovato's Michelle Branch-meets-Hannah Montana brand of pop/rock blends well with the established boy-band cry of Jonas. Their tracks stand out amid Camp Rock's formulaic, Cheetah Girls-style Disney pop. Fortunately, strong pro-social messages grab center stage, with only a few broken guitar strings along the way.