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Looking at "Bad 25", Spike Lee's documentary on Michael Jackson's masterpiece, it is clear that no one has yet been able to fill the role of the king of pop. The noughties saw the arrival of new, gigantic female icons, but no man is able to occupy the throne: Kanye's artistic vision and entrepreneurial, but not the technical talent as a singer (and dancer), Usher has never had songs height, Chris Brown is at most an imitator with an unwieldy public image, Justin Bieber has a long and difficult road ahead; Justin Timberlake does not respond to the phone.
And here comes Bruno Mars, who in the course of a few years has quietly churned out a dozen contemporary classics including original songs and collaborations. The quality of its products so far, however, was mediocre - to be generous - and the direction confused. With the new album, Mars must not only ensure that you know how to write other successes: it must impose a stylistic vision clearer and show that behind the catchy tunes are a registered adult and a long-life product. Surprisingly, "Unorthodox jukebox" achieves all of these objectives and does so with a foolproof trick: look at the past. Who better than the manufacturer retromaniaco for excellence could help in the task? Mark Ronson signs three of the best tracks of the album: "Moonshine" is a tribute to Prince said, "Gorilla", ignoring the ridiculous text on love animal, unable to rehabilitate Phil Collins, "Locked out of heaven" is the update , indeed the upgrade, a song by The Police.
THE ghost of '80 hangs in the rest of the album, and even futuristic Diplo ("Make Money ber smile") gives a contribution unusually measured that does not affect the general sense of nostalgia.
Overall, the jukebox heterodox Mars is varied, but never inconsistent. Even his weaker moments (the banal ballads "When I was tour man" and "If I Knew") are out of place and, with only ten tracks in total, there is no time for fillers. It is the album of an artist who has found the magic formula to arrive in the standings and the endlessly repeated: it is an ambitious work and care that in the wrong hands could end in tragedy. If it were not for the lyrics, which are divided between fulsome declarations of love and desperate attempts to sully the image of a good boy, we would have a perfect pop album.
The comparison with Michael Jackson is still exaggerated, and the throne is far away, but look around: you see the other candidates?
TRACKLIST:
"Young girls"
"Locked out of heaven"
"Gorilla"
"Treasure"
"Moonshine"
"When I was your man"
"Natalie"
"Show me"
"Money make her smile"
