Review: Bruno Mars – 'Unorthodox Jukebox'

posted in: By Genres • Features • Music News • Pop

In the two years that have past since Bruno Mars exploded onto the pop scene with Doo-Wops & Hooligans, a lot has changed. That should probably go without saying, but in the case of pop music that may never never been more true than it is right now. In the days since “Grenade” topped the charts EDM has arrived and essentially claimed rule over the top 40 landscape, making the art of songwriting more absent than ever on the Billboard charts. That same artform is what gave Mars’ the fuel he needed to ascend the charts back in 2010, but his latest effort does not fare quite as well.

Unorthodox Jukebox arrives in stores this week boasting an energetic concoction of everything people loved and hated about mainstream radio from the late 1970’s through somewhere around 1987. The doo-wop vibes of Mars’ debut have been left alongside his ability to suck you into a track, but the earnest dedication to pursuing a fresh yet fitting evolution for the genre is abundantly clear throughout. Much like the album’s lead singles, “Young Girls,” and “Locked Out Of Heaven,” the records oozes with sexual undertones and flourishes of Summer-inspired instrumentation, but never strikes a chord that warrants many repeat listens. Where Mars’ lyrics about love and longing used to have this hook, and I don’t mean in terms of chorus, it all hits with the dull roar of familiar territory being retread in a new era.

There was about an hour during the process of working on this review that I went from having three paragraphs to five, but I soon realized those additional paragraphs were simply rephrasing what I said in the sentences above. That same feeling of “oh this has already been done” is the exact way I feel with each listen to Unorthodox Jukebox. The influence outweighs the originality, and before you know it every repeat listens becomes more and more a blur of slightly above average pop ditties buried amongst overdramatic power ballads. Bruno Mars still has the potential to release truly great records, but when history looks back on his career this album will not be a highlight.

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Review written by: James Shotwell