Music Album: Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars

After the stellar success of his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, Bruno Mars released his emotional track It Will Rain as the lead soundtrack to Twilight: Breaking Dawn (Part 1). After much anticipation, he returns with his 10-track new album – which carries on from where his debut left off. Unorthodox Jukebox is musically similar to his debut but what makes it stand out is the fact that it was inspired by the sound that was most prominent in the 80s. Bruno and his creative partners, The Smeezingtons always seem to write soulful pop tunes with fun lyrical content.

From funk to disco, the smooth pop crooner experiments with it all. Locked Out of Heaven, the album’s first single has a very bouncy soulful instrumental that is sure to get you on your feet and have singing along to ‘uh yeah yeah yeah’. On Treasure, he pays tribute to his love interest, creating a song that sounds like it was written for Stevie Wonder. Mars creatively pays tribute to a superstar that ruled the 80s, Michael Jackson – as he smoothly offers similar vocals and musical arrangements on Gorilla and the Dirty Diana-esque, Natalie.

Unorthodox Jukebox is a very fun album, a brilliant follow-up to his debut. His vocals are stronger, the song writing is more mature and the musical direction is nothing like we hear on radio today. This album is sure to usher him into the next stage of his superstardom.