Unorthodox Jukebox (2012)

Unorthodox Jukebox is the second studio album by the American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It was released on December 7, 2012, by Atlantic Records and was made available to listen to in its entirety for a week before its release. It serves as the follow-up to Mars's debut record Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). Mars's writing and production team, the Smeezingtons, composed the whole record and worked with several past collaborators, Jeff Bhasker and Supa Dups, while enlisting new producers, such as Mark Ronson and Emile Haynie.

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), eight times platinum by both the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) and Music Canada (MC), and diamond by Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (SNEP). 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.

Background

Conception

After ending The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour, Bruno Mars implied that he was going to take some time creating and perfecting his second full-length album. He additionally confessed that, "It's going to come when it comes" since his production team, the Smeezingtons, felt that they rushed his debut album because of the release's deadline. "We just want it to be perfect", the singer added. Due to the numerous television shows and worldwide performances provided by Mars, he acknowledged that his second studio album needed to display his "raucously" dynamic appearances on stage.