The battle of the sexes starts young.

The first scars show in the chords and cries of teen pop, where the planet’s cutest youths square off against each other to present very different views of love…

Demi Lovato — star of the Disney show “Sonny With a Chance” — refuses to solely act the usual vengeful rocker on her second CD, “Here We Go Again.”

Instead, she brings in more ballads, some moderately sophisticated (!).

A song she co-wrote with quasi-legit singer Jon McLaughlin apes the jazzy-balladry of Jason Mraz, while “Catch Me” rates as her “Eleanor Rigby,” fired by stiff, mournful strings.

While Lovato’s debut found her co-writing with the Jonas Brothers, on the new one she roped in John Mayer for a cut. By teen pop standards, that’s a serious upgrade.

Lovato earns it with vocals that have more nuance than most of her ilk. While she still keeps things safe with lots of formula faux rockers, we should give the 16-year-old credit for putting out a CD that, by this world’s standards, reads as a leap.

You can't say the same for Ashley Tisdale.

Her sophomore CD, "Guilty Pleasure," advances not a whiff from her shrill and whiny debut.

Then again, her star rose by playing an obnoxious girl in the "High School Musical" franchise. That may help explain why there's barely a single sign of growth this time, save the cheeky "Guilty Pleasure" title.

If only that name served as a defensive description of what lies within. For that to be true, the music would have had to deliver on the "pleasure" part.

-Source: NY Daily News