Even when Mars clumsily swings for the fences, the listener has to commend him for picking up the bat.”Īllison Stewart of Washington Post writes, “It used to be that there wasn’t much to know about Mars, except that he was very good at singing charming, edgeless, hip-hop-flavored ballads while wearing a variety of jaunty hats. After the success of Doo-Wops & Hooligans, Mars should be allowed to cash in with a victory lap, but Unorthodox Jukebox is proudly living up to its titular rhyme by prodding at different musical ideas. But when ‘Heaven’ is experienced alongside the uncluttered R&B of ‘Moonshine’ and dance floor sucker-punk ‘Money Make Her Smile,’ the low stakes are easy to forgive. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard commends the album’s diversity: “Unorthodox Jukebox succeeds in mixing its safer stylistic choices with its relatively bold ideas. First single ‘Locked Out Of Heaven,’ for instance, remains dizzyingly enjoyable, its 80s influences sported proudly like cub scout badges yet all the ‘Oh, YEAH, yeahs!’ in the world couldn’t make the song more than a lightweight affair. Read below for what the critics are saying: PHOTOS: 55th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees: The Black Keys, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Mumford & Sons, Kanye West Unorthodox Jukebox was further promoted through the Moonshine Jungle Tour (2013–2014).Speaking to The Huffington Post, Mars says he was inspired by Amy Winehouseto experiment with diverse sounds: “I felt like everything I’ve been saying, everything I wanted to do, she did it… You couldn’t put it in a box ’cause it could be played on rock stations, it could be played on rhythmic stations, it could be played on pop radio, and I’ve always wanted to make music like that - that could be spread out, and can’t be pigeon-held to one thing.” Subsequently, four other singles ("When I Was Your Man", "Treasure", "Gorilla", and "Young Girls") were made available for consumption in 2013, with each one of them having major to moderate success in the United States. The premiere of the album was preceded by the release of its lead single, "Locked Out of Heaven", which experienced commercial acclaim worldwide and topped the US Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for six consecutive weeks.
The record won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Unorthodox Jukebox was globally the fourth best-selling record in 2013, with 3.2 million copies, and 6 million units as of January 2015. Unorthodox Jukebox became Mars' fastest-selling album in the latter country in 2012, the third best-selling album in Australia in 2013, and the fourth best-selling in the United States in 2013. The record further peaked at number one in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Unorthodox Jukebox later topped the chart, marking the singer's first album to do so. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, with first week sales of 192,000 copies, becoming Mars' best opening week on the chart to date. On December 4, 2012, the album was made available to listen to in its entirety for a week before its release. Critical response to Unorthodox Jukebox was generally favorable many reviewers compared Mars' work to that of his previous album, while others deemed its lyrics shallow. Lyrically, Unorthodox Jukebox revolves around the theme of relationships, incorporating more explicit lyrics and subjects than his previous material.
The singer co-wrote the whole record and worked with several past collaborators, while enlisting new producers and no guest vocalists.
The album was initially planned to be more "energetic" than his previous work, but ended presenting a wide range of styles such as reggae rock, disco, and soul music. It serves as the follow-up to Mars' debut record Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). It was released on December 7, 2012, by Atlantic Records. Unorthodox Jukebox is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars.
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