What a wonderful smoothie Bruno Mars is. Even the most cynical will admit that the 20-year-old American is a great singer, a good producer and a clever songwriter. Mars does not use his elaborate talent to open up new soil or make groundbreaking music. He wants to score and does so regularly. As a member of the producer team The Smeezingtons, he was partly responsible for hits by , and . His solo
… debut (2010) was also a blast. More than two years later, Mars puts down ten catchy and slippery songs without a single gene. Unorthodox Jukebox is a nice title, because although there is nothing unorthodox about this record, it does sound like a collection of hit singles from different artists. Mars doesn't have to cover anyone, because he effortlessly bends any style. Mars convincingly imitates , and . Of course his second album is not original, but the meticulous songs are all hits-in-the-cap. (JE)more