JOIN USBruno Mars’s sophomore album, Unorthodox Jukebox, is indeed unorthodox in one sense. He experiments with pop, reggae and disco but does not veer far from the pop-R&B-hip hop formula of his bestselling maiden album, Doo-Wops and Hooligans (2010). He does crafts and sings a pleasant melody in most songs.
In the pop-tinted Young Girls he has a complaint about young women being very seductive and who seem to drive him crazy. He expresses his aspiration (Oh I still dream of simple life / Boy meets girl, makes her his wife). Locked Out Of Heaven has a good guitar riff which soon gets you humming with its smart sounds and lyrics. Gorilla has a sensual tune but unorthodox lyrics (Making love like gorillas). Treasure has a 80s disco and guitar sound followed by Moonshine which is similar.
After a few peppy love songs you have When I was your man, a sad song about a man who has messed up and lost the girl he loves. In Natalie, he even contemplates killing his beloved (I’d spend a lifetime in jail, I’ll be smiling in my cell). Not very inspiring for youngsters. Show me, in which Bruno goes reggae style, does not really fit in with the other songs in the album (It’s getting freaky in this room room room/ Now let me hear you say you want that boom boom boom/ We can take it slow, we can zoom zoom zoom).
Money make her smile has electronic influences and though it does not explicitly state it, the song is about a hooker. Again, not a good one for the young ones. The album ends with a ballad which is more in the style of his debut album Doo-wops & Hooligans. The song ends in a very soft and melodious tone (Let’s leave the past behind us/ So that we can go where love will find us).
Unorthodox Jukebox
Bruno Mars
Virgin
Rs 395