Bruno Mars: 'Unorthodox Jukebox' - Album review

Bruno Mars is still learning that one of fame's upsides can also be its major downfall. "All you young wild girls, you'll be the death of me," he insists with a worrying amount of sincerity on opening track 'Young Girls'. It's a subject that crops up time and again on his second album Unorthodox Jukebox - from being tangled up in an angry-but-lustful relationship on rawk ballad 'Gorilla', to reminiscing with brutal honesty in piano-driven 'When I Was Your Man', on which he laments: "When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear me down." Even when he finds drunken love on 'Moonshine', it's told over a wistful melody that suggests things could be better.

Fortunately, there are also plenty of moments here to prove that fame hasn't completely got the better of him. Lead single 'Locked Out of Heaven' is a shoulder-popping slice of '80s live band funk that wears its Police influences for the world and its cousins to see, the smoky disco bleeps on 'Treasure' sound like Jacko circa 1979, and 'Show Me' finds him cosying up to a woman ("Your eyes say they'll please me but your lips have to ask," he insists) to the tune of steel-drum reggae. He might still be baffled by the opposite sex, but luckily for Mars, his music has a rare timeless quality to it that should keep them interested regardless.

Tracks to download: 'Locked Out of Heaven', 'Gorilla', 'Moonshine', 'Treasure'
If you like this, you'll like: Michael Jackson, Sting, The Police

Watch the 'Locked Out of Heaven' music video below: