After nearly a decade of toiling away on the margins of the music industry, the former Holly Brook became Skylar Grey and scored a massive hit as a songwriter with Eminem and Rihanna's duet "Love the Way You Lie." On that song, Grey's melodies functioned like Dido's did on "Stan," but after spending years and years as a sensitive singer/songwriter, Skylar Grey takes great pains to signify as tough on her 2013 debut, Don't Look Down.
Heavy on stylish accouterments -- everything from echoed pianos and tightly rolling loops to cameos from Angel Haze and Big Sean -- Don't Look Down deliberately trades in bad-girl glamour, with Grey singing innuendoes and explicit profanities with ease, luxuriating in minor-key melodies and haunting, immaculately textured productions.
Grey is clever enough to allow herself some measure of silliness -- there is absolutely no other way to describe the Queen-quoting "C'mon Let Me Ride" -- a move that reveals the seams in her goth-princess persona and makes a good chunk of Don't Look Down come across as nothing more than bubblegum Lana Del Rey.
What saves Skylar Grey is what brought her fame: her finely honed songcraft, how she knows how to sculpt a melody so it cuts through the clutter and sinks into the subconscious.
Try as she may to distract with her strut and style as Skylar Grey, what resonates is the same kind of melodic turn of phrase that was apparent back when she was calling herself Holly Brook.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Back From the DeadSean Anderson, Travis Barker, Ross Golan, Holly Hafermann, Jonathan Rotem | Skylar Grey | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | Final WarningHolly Hafermann, Alex da Kid | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 3 | Wear Me OutHolly Hafermann, Jonathan Rotem | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 4 | ReligionIvan Corraliza, Holly Hafermann, Jonathan Rotem | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | C'mon Let Me RideHolly Hafermann, Alex da Kid, Marshall Mathers, Freddie Mercury, Mike Del Rio | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 6 | SunshineJayson DeZuzio, Holly Hafermann, Alex da Kid | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 7 | PulseJayson DeZuzio, Holly Hafermann, Jonathan Rotem | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Glow in the DarkJayson DeZuzio, Holly Hafermann, Alex da Kid, Mike Del Rio | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 9 | Clear Blue SkyHolly Hafermann, Alex da Kid | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 10 | Tower (Don't Look Down)Holly Hafermann, Alex da Kid | Skylar Grey | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | White SuburbanHolly Hafermann | Skylar Grey | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 12 | Weirdo | Skylar Grey | Play | 02:37 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 13 | Beautiful Nightmare | Skylar Grey | Play | 03:29 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 14 | Shit, Man! | Skylar Grey, Angel Haze | Play | 03:26 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 51 mins | 118 MB | |||||
| 51 mins | 352 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex da Kid | Composer, Executive Producer, Mixing, Producer |
| 2 | Sean Anderson | Composer |
| 3 | Travis Barker | Composer, Drums, Featured Artist |
| 4 | Robin Baynton | Vocal Engineer |
| 5 | Big Sean | Featured Artist |
| 6 | J Browz | Bass, Guitar, Guitar (Bass) |
| 7 | Ivan Corraliza | Composer, Guitar |
| 8 | Mike Del Rio | Composer, Producer |
| 9 | Jayson DeZuzio | Composer, Guitars, Keyboards, Producer |
| 10 | Michael Donovan | Photography |
| 11 | Jeff Ellis | Vocal Engineer |
| 12 | Eminem | Executive Producer, Featured Artist, Mixing |
| 13 | Brian Gardner | Mastering |
| 14 | Ross Golan | Composer, Producer |
| 15 | Skylar Grey | Primary Artist |
| 16 | Zach Gurka | Engineer, Vocal Engineer |
| 17 | Holly Hafermann | Bells, Composer, Guitars, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Synthesizer, Vocal Engineer |
| 18 | Angel Haze | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 19 | Ill Factor | Producer |
| 20 | James Ingram | Engineer |
| 21 | Daniel Jensen | Drum Technician |
| 22 | Samuel Kalandjian | Engineer, Mixing, Vocal Engineer |
| 23 | Rob Kinelski | Engineer |
| 24 | Joe LaPorta | Mastering |
| 25 | Manny Marroquin | Mixing |
| 26 | Marshall Mathers | Composer |
| 27 | Freddie Mercury | Composer |
| 28 | Josh Mosser | Engineer, Mixing, Vocal Engineer |
| 29 | Luis Resto | Keyboards |
| 30 | David Roemer | Photography |
| 31 | J.R. Rotem | Bass, Brass, Drums, Horn, Mixing, Organ, Percussion, Piano, Producer, Strings, Synthesizer, Theremin, Xylophone |
| 32 | Jonathan Rotem | Composer |
| 33 | Mike Strange | Engineer, Mixing |
| 34 | Ianthe Zevos | Photography |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |