Before ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ became a mantra and before ‘Confident’ turned into a whole personality, Demi Lovato was quietly putting together one of the most underrated albums of her career. Unbroken is her third studio record, and it did something a lot of so-called comeback albums try and fail to pull off.
Lovato pointed to Rihanna as a major influence going into the album, and it shows. Unbroken leans further into R&B than her first two records did, trading the pop-rock energy of Don’t Forget and Here We Go Again for something moodier and more grown-up. She had just come off a deeply public stretch that pulled her away from the spotlight, and instead of pretending that chapter never happened, she folded it into the record without turning the whole thing into a headline. And it worked. Unbroken landed at number four on the Billboard 200, and lead single ‘Skyscraper’ became her second top ten hit and first platinum single in the US. So we went back through the tracklist and pulled the songs that still hit, no matter how much time has passed!
‘Skyscraper’
There’s a reason people still associate this song with this exact era of her career. ‘Skyscraper’ is a ballad built for belting with the windows down, and it works because it never asks for pity. It’s about getting back up, nothing more complicated than that, and Lovato’s vocal on this one does more work than most pop songs even attempt. It’s her comeback anthem, and it still gives chills every single time.
‘Give Your Heart a Break’
If ‘Skyscraper’ is the song you cry to, ‘Give Your Heart a Break’ is the one you play while getting ready to go out. It’s softer and more hopeful, a side of Lovato that hadn’t gotten much room on her first two albums. The song became her first number one on the Billboard Pop Songs chart, which tracks. It’s the kind of hook that gets stuck in your head for a full week, and you don’t even mind.
‘Unbroken’
The title track doesn’t try to be subtle about what this album is doing. It’s the thesis statement, the moment she basically looks the listener dead in the eye and says she’s still standing. A lot of albums bury their most direct song somewhere in the middle and hope nobody notices. This one puts it right in the name and lets it carry the whole record.
‘For The Love Of A Daughter’
This is the deep cut we still bring up more than a decade later, and for good reason. It’s one of the most emotionally direct songs Lovato has ever put out, written about her relationship with her father. There’s no radio-friendly polish softening the edges here. It’s the kind of song that catches you off guard the first time you actually sit with it instead of letting it play in the background while you scroll.
‘Fix A Heart’
Stripped down and piano-heavy, ‘Fix A Heart’ proves Lovato didn’t need a big production to make a song land. Critics singled this one out as a highlight of the record back in 2011, and it still holds up. It’s quieter than most of the album, and that contrast is exactly what makes it hit!
‘Lightweight’
This is where the Rihanna influence really shows up. ‘Lightweight’ leans moody and R&B, a completely different lane than anything on her first two albums. It’s proof that Unbroken wasn’t just a rebrand. Lovato was actually stretching her range here and figuring out what fit.
‘All Night Long’
Opening the album with a Missy Elliott and Timbaland feature was a bold call, and it paid off. ‘All Night Long’ sets a confident tone right out of the gate, letting us know this record wasn’t going to play it safe. It’s also just genuinely fun, which tends to get lost in conversations about how important this album was supposed to be.
‘In Real Life’
Not every song on a comeback record has to carry the weight of the whole narrative. ‘In Real Life’ proves that. It’s catchy, it’s a little silly, and honestly, that’s the whole point. Lovato was allowed to make a song that wasn’t about anything deeper than having a good time. Sometimes that’s exactly what a tracklist needs!
This record could come out today and still hold its own, and that says a lot about what Lovato and her team built here. Unbroken isn’t a perfect album, and it was never trying to be. What it got right was refusing to let Lovato’s comeback feel like a headline instead of an actual body of work.
What’s your most underrated track on Unbroken? Chat all things Demi Lovato in the comments below or on social media across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
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