Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars

I will gladly say it, you can put me in the Bruno Mars fan club. This young man has got an incredible voice, and perhaps an even greater talent. Channeling Sam Cooke, Prince and Micheal Jackson and that my friends is not just hyperbole this fellow might have the strongest, most versatile voice in music today.

As good, as catchy, as the first album was there is no doubt in my mind that this album is better than his first one. The first single Locked Out of Heaven has been all over the radio but even that is more of a generic hit, more a result of Mars ability to make a catchy hit in his sleep than a reflection of his talent.

On Moonshine Mars sounds like he has come off a Micheal album from the eighties with a chorus that is silky smooth, even makes me think a little of Dan Hartman. The first song on the album is Young Girls a song that Mars sang a couple of months ago on Saturday Night Live. This will soon be soaring to the top of your charts without a doubt.

Four other songs on the album deserve exceptional notice and in sets of two they are as different as any you will find. When I was Your Man finds the singer lamenting the loss of a woman that he should have bought flowers and held her hand. He was however too young and too dumb and now she is Dancing with another man. Heartbreak through the voice of Bruno Mars is pop friendly but that should mitigate this exceptional talent. If one is still not convinced the last two minutes and thirteen seconds on the album should seal the deal. If I Knew could have been sung by any of the forefathers of black music from the sixties, for me Sam Cooke comes to mind but you can take your pick. It is a perfect song.

To talk about the other two songs of note one needs to turn the page and put the kids to bed because that is when bad Bruno comes out. With his nod to Prince and perhaps even Marvin Gaye and Rick James the song Gorillas has Mars dropping his Mf's with the best of them advising his girl " you and me baby will be making love like gorilla's." After expressing no worries about the cops being called about their loud carnal activities, his girl calling him Daddy, and calling him, for you Prince, a sexy mother,,,,,r, we know that Bruno knows where all his sweet songs end up. It is a contrast but it is well crafted and Prince is surely smiling somewhere.

Following that song with a spoken into about squirrels and MF's again we here Treasure which starts like Delirious era Prince but before you get settled you get comfortable with another naughty song you realize this is just another slice of eighties pop sounding more like Kool and the Gang or El Debarge than anything else.

In short, and, with Bruno's height, that is indeed a pun, one does not know who Bruno Mars really is. Perhaps the Pandora skit on SNL earlier this year spoke volumes, perhaps the song title of Jukebox is meaningful. Whatever it is Mars has numerous influences and with his talent his albums are like a tour of popular black music of the last few decades. He has a voice like sugar and is incredibly talented.

This is a very good album.

channel ORANGE by Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean's solo debut album has been getting a great amount of buzz. Ocean has made news recently by admitting that he is gay, perhaps the biggest amount if news is how little most folks seem to care about this.

The album he has just released however is one of the strongest of the year. With a range of musical styles, rap, Prince, Sly Stone, and other early Soul musicians Ocean is playing with the big boys on this album.

The first single Thinking About You has a strong backing track and shows influences from Prince. Sierra Leone is a sing song that sounds like anything but a song from 2012. This song would easily fit on a pre Purple Rain Prince album.

Continuing on the soul train Sweet Life starts with Ocean stating " the first song wasn't the single "

The strongest song to me in the album is " Super Rich Kids" in which Ocean laments too much wine, green, white lines, maid service and not enough time with parents one can see this song having a strong meaning and yet being embraced by the the same kids and culture it criticizes. I told my oldest son about this album, I could easily see this song being played by his set.

Pyramids a nine minute melt again visits Uncle Prince is sound and scope and is followed by Lost, a ramble on getting lost in the moment of living the high life.

Forest Gump is a potential single with actual references to the movie and the character, a nice beat, and Ocean's telling us how his fingertips and lips burn from the cigarettes.

The song most talked about is Bad Religion, Ocean sang this on a performance on Jimmy Fallon. Ocean has admitted that the song was about a love he had for a man when he was in his late teens. The song however speaks to anyone who has lost a love. The intro organ sounds even sound like a modest bit of influence from Prince's Let's Go Crazy. Ocean talks about any unrequited love being a Bad Religion is it brings you to your knees. Certainly we have all been there, from my eighth grade daughter to the folks you see in the bars and meat markets every Friday night. We are all seeking someone to fill the hole in our lives and when that attraction is unrequited it is as Ocean says " a one man cult." This is a very strong song.

Clearly in this review I do not have a great deal of references and understanding of soul music but I can tell you that this is a great album. The music is much greater than the sum of its parts. I have listened to this over the last couple of weeks more than any other music. I am impressing my kids with my diversity of musical taste. This album has the language that one can find objectionable like much of the soul/rap music but this album has clear artistic intent. The cursing is not a cheap, lazy way to sell records.

Spend some time with this record, a very talented artist.