Unorthodox Jukebox

The album was initially planned to be more "energetic" than his previous work, but ended up presenting a wide range of styles such as R&B, pop, reggae, rock, disco, funk and soul music. Lyrically, Unorthodox Jukebox revolves around the theme of relationships, incorporating more explicit lyrics and subjects than his previous material. Critical response to Unorthodox Jukebox was generally favorable; many reviewers compared Mars's work to that of his previous album, while others deemed its lyrics shallow.


It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, with first week sales of 192,000 copies, and later topped the chart. The record also reached number one in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The album was certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), three times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), Music Canada (MC), Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) and by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Unorthodox Jukebox was the fourth best-selling album in 2013 and it has since sold six million units globally as of 2016. In 2014, Unorthodox Jukebox won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Grammy Awards and International Album of the Year at the Juno Awards.


Unorthodox Jukebox was supported by five singles, including two US Billboard Hot 100 number ones "Locked Out of Heaven" and "When I Was Your Man", which also experienced commercial acclaim in various countries, with the former also topping the Canadian Hot 100. Subsequently, three other singles ("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 album was further promoted through The Moonshine Jungle Tour (2013–2014), along with various television appearances.

Composition[edit]

Unorthodox Jukebox is a pop, R&B, rock, funk, soul, reggae and disco record.^[12][13][14] The album opens with "Young Girls", a midtempo pop ballad which deals with the idea of indulging in the dubious charms of young girls, even though the singer recognizes that what he is doing is wrong.^[4][15] The song was re-registered in ASCAP with a new writing credit by Mac Davis.^[16] "Locked Out of Heaven", a reggae rock and pop rock track that incorporates elements of new wave and funk, is the subsequent track and the lead single.^[12][17][18] Musically, it contains booming synthesizers, a four-on-the-floor chorus, while lyrically exploring themes of love.^[19][20] Comparisons were established between "Locked Out of Heaven" and the rock/reggae style used by English band The Police.^[19][21][22] "Gorilla" was described by Mars as being about "good old animalistic sex".^[8] The track portrays a midtempo rock and soft rock song,^[4][23] while lyrically expressing male chauvinist sentiments^[24] and making reference to his 2010 arrest for cocaine possession.^[25] "Treasure", the album's third single, is a disco-pop song, inspired by English duo Wham! and "Baby I'm Yours" (2010) released by French disc jockey Breakbot.^[26][27] The latter similarities led the song to be re-registered with new writing credits, which included Thibaut Berland and Christopher Khan.^[28] "Moonshine", the second promotional single from the record, portrays a recording with ample influences of disco, power pop and quiet storm, while being compared to the work done by French electronic duo Daft Punk.^[8][24] Particularly, Chris Martins of Spin wrote that the song "channels the King of Pop, Michael Jackson with a markedly more reverent aplomb.^[25]


The song "When I Was Your Man" is a pop piano ballad and shows traditional notions of romance, a pre-fame heartbreak as Mars regrets letting his woman get away.^[24][29][30] Melinda Newman of HitFix thought the track "sounds like a cross between Stevie Wonder and Elton John," also seeing "a touch of Michael Jackson" in his delivery.^[15] Andy Gill of The Independent called it a "McCartney-esque piano ballad",^[31] while Jason Lipshut of Billboard wrote that "it will make for a killer lighters-in-the-air moment in concert. Although it's not quite an Alicia Keys-esque powerhouse, [it] smartly allows Mars to momentarily remove his fedora and bare his soul".^[32] The single was additionally likened to the material of Wham!.^[26] With "Natalie", Mars exhibits further male chauvinist sentiments^[24] over a girl named Natalie who stole Mars's money and ran away with it; the singer is therefore plotting murderous revenge against her.^[21][33] The song was described as "a sort of methed-up "Dirty Diana", assembled with fierce handclaps and hard-edged oooh-oooh vocal echos".^[25] Lipshutz called it the "flip-side of "When I Was Your Man" and pointed out Mars lamenting the hypnotism of a "gold-digging bitch". "Show Me" portrays a recording with ample influences of reggae^[21][34] and dancehall.^[12][25] These infusions are easily noticed by the "over sampled air horns",^[12][25][34] "tape-echo effects"^[12][25] and steel drums.^[25]


The ninth track from Unorthodox Jukebox, "Money Makes Her Smile", is the result of a trip to a strip club done by Mars and Diplo, who afterwards decided to create an "anthem" for it, since Mars's debut solo single was an awful song to be played in such place, according to him.^[6] The recording was described as a "strip-club-directed banger",^[12] infused with disco elements.^[35] Its composition includes "rapid-fire chants, breathless percussion, propulsive electronic blips"^[32] along with "rave sirens and hardcore punk rattle".^[6] Lyrically, the song describes a gold digger who can only be satisfied by "fat stacks of money".^[6][21] The album's final song of the standard edition, "If I Knew", is a Sam Cooke-inspired ballad^[21] which incorporates soul^[31] and doo-wop nuances.^[32][36] It lyrically delves on themes of regret.^[32] "Old & Crazy", a duet between Mars and Esperanza Spalding, was included on the deluxe version of Unorthodox Jukebox.^[6][37] Jeff Bhasker, one of the track's producers, confessed that the song is reminiscent of the sound of a 1920s Paris club. He went on explaining that its process began with Emile Haynie producing a beat and Bhasker adding a sample of a Django Reinhardt recording over it.^[6]

Singles[edit]

"Locked Out of Heaven" was digitally unveiled and released for radio airplay on October 1, 2012, as the album's lead single.^[20][2] It received positive commentary from music critics, who praised its reggae, rock and funky beat, but also its lyrics for talking about passion in a "tidy and impeccable" way.^[38][39] Commercially, the recording was a success, peaking atop the US Billboard Hot 100 and claiming the position for six weeks, marking Mars's longest-running number-one on the chart after previously released "Just the Way You Are" (2010) and "Grenade" (2010) each topped the chart for four editions.^[40] The song further peaked at number one in Canada and on the US Pop Songs chart, while reaching the top ten in more than twenty countries.^[41][42]


"When I Was Your Man" was released on January 15, 2013, as the album's second single.^[43] It had previously been premiered as the album's third and final promotional single one month and a half prior to its stand-alone release.^[44] The track was critically acclaimed, receiving praising for being an "emotional ballad" and for featuring a "minimal musical accompaniment".^[44][45] The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the singer's fifth number one single in the United States and it reached the top fifteen in several fellow territories.^[46][47] "When I Was Your Man" was nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 56th Grammy Awards.^[48]


"Treasure" was subsequently confirmed as the record's third single by Atlantic Records.^[49] It received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised it for "[echoing] the peppy sound of such pop/R&B hit-makers of the 1970s and 1980s as the Sylvers, Heatwave, DeBarge and Kool & the Gang."^[50] To promote the single, Mars performed on various occasions, including a "little extra Michael Jackson-esque, circa Off the Wall and Thriller" show at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards.^[51] Commercially, "Treasure" reached the top five in the United States and other eighteen countries.^[41][52]


"Gorilla", confirmed as the next single for Unorthodox Jukebox,^[53] was produced by the Smeezingtons, Mark Ronson, Jeff Bhasker and Emile Haynie, who previously handled the process for the record's lead single.^[7] The track impacted American pop radio on September 10, 2013, thus peaking at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the singer's first single not to reach the top ten there.^[41][54] Mars performed the single for the first time during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.^[53]


"Young Girls" was released as the fifth and final single from the album. Mars announced its availability during an interview with Nova 96.9, an Australian radio station, on November 26, 2013.^[55] Commercially, its charting was influenced by its stand-alone release as the record's first promotional single on November 6, 2012, through iTunes Store.^[56] Unmaterialized plans for a music video to accompany "Young Girls" were made in 2012.^[10]

Commercial performance[edit]

Unorthodox Jukebox debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 192,000 copies (134,000 physical sales and 57,000 digital sales), topping the expectations of sales that were around 140,000–150,000 copies, earning Bruno Mars his highest peak on the chart.^[95] The next week, it sold 178,000 copies, dropping to the third position.^[96] The album secured a third consecutive week within the top five in America, withstanding a 38% sales drop to 110,000 copies.^[97] Three weeks after the debut, the record sold a total of 480,000 copies.^[95][96][97] On March 7, 2013, twelve weeks since its availability, the record reached the top spot of the Billboard 200 with 95,000 copies sold, mainly due to an Amazon MP3 sale pricing ($1.99 for a day and $3.99 for the rest of the week).^[98] The album sold 1,399,000 copies in the United States until January 2014, making it the fifth best-selling album of the year.^[99] In the week of February 5, 2014, following Mars's presence at the 56th Grammy Awards and performance at the Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show, sales for the album increased by 180%, rebounding Unorthodox Jukebox back in the top ten.^[100][101] For the week ending February 12, 2014, the album climbed to the third position with sales of 81,000,^[102] making a total of 123,000 units sold in both weeks.^[101][102] The album has been certified six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales and streaming figures equivalent to six million copies.^[103] As of July 24, 2017, it has sold 2,574,000 total copies in the United States.^[104] The record's success in 2013 was decisive to Mars being chosen as the headline performance on the half-time show of the Super Bowl XLVIII, and appearing on Billboard Artist of the Year by Billboard; according to Bill Werde, an editorial director of the magazine, the singer's songs that "stuck around on multiple formats all year round" played a key role.^[4][105] He was also the most-played artist at Top 40 Radio, the third most played at rhythmic stations and Hot Adult Contemporary station, as well as the fifth most-played at AC stations in 2013, according to Mediabase.^[106] In addition, Mars topped three of Billboard's 2013 year-end charts (Hot 100 Artist, Mainstream Top 40 and Hot Digital Songs).^[105] The album was ranked as the 55th best album of all time on the Billboard Top 200 Albums of All Time.^[107]


In Europe, the album was similarly successful. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart as the Official Charts Company predicted,^[108] with 136,000 copies sold in its first week, thus becoming the third fastest-selling album recorded by an artist in 2012, after Mumford & Sons's Babel, and Take Me Home by One Direction.^[109][110] It first brought total sales to over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom, thus earning a gold certification, but was later certified three times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).^[111] It has sold over 987,000 copies in the UK as of November 2016.^[112] In France, Unorthodox Jukebox debuted in the top ten and spent the whole year within the top twenty, except for two weeks.^[113] One year after its release, album sales exceeded 580,000 copies, therefore being certified diamond by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP).^[114][115] As of 2014, the record sold 580,000 units in that territory.^[113] In Switzerland, the album debuted atop the charts and was certified platinum,^[116] while opening at number four on the Danish Albums Chart and becoming certified twice platinum.^[117] The record further charted within the top ten on the Spanish Albums Chart for the first time after 30 weeks, the longest time an album needed since American rock band The Black Keys's El Camino (2011) (61 weeks).^[118][119]


In Oceania, Unorthodox Jukebox debuted at number nine in New Zealand and was certified gold by the Recorded Music NZ, selling over 7,000 copies in two weeks.^[120][121] The album eventually reached its peak position at number two in that country, marking the singer's consecutive record to do so.^[120] As of February 2014, Unorthodox Jukebox was certified three times platinum in New Zealand.^[122] The record entered the Australian charts at number three, gradually climbing to the top spot, with it bringing total sales to 210,000 units and being similarly certified by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).^[123][124] It was the third best-selling album in Australia in 2013.^[125] In Canada, Unorthodox Jukebox opened the Canadian Albums Chart at number two, later reaching number one on the week ending July 20, 2013.^[126][127] In Japan, the album debuted at number eleven on the Oricon Albums Chart.^[128] In mid-year 2017, the record sold a total of 250,000 units, therefore reaching platinum status.^[129] In 2014, the album topped the Mexican Albums Chart and remains the ninth best-selling release there, with it spending 106 weeks in the chart.^[130] It also earned a two times platinum+gold certification for exceeding sales of over 150,000 copies in that territory.^[131] As of 2014, Unorthodox Jukebox sold 3.2 million units globally,^[132] while bringing totals sales to six million copies by March 2016.^[133]