Album Review - “The Romantic” by Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars is one of the greatest male artists in history. Between his standout discography, songwriting ability, natural voice, and multi-talented instrumentation, few compare to him. And with his latest album, The Romantic, Bruno takes 30 minutes to prove why he's the best male artist in R&B/pop.
Before continuing this review, I will address some of the criticisms I've seen of this project, which include labeling the lyrics as superficial, as if Bruno has ever possessed the lyrical acumen of Lupe Fiasco, or as if R&B as a genre ever requires deep content to convey its message. Seriously, one of Durand Benarr's biggest songs has a verse where he speaks gibberish. R&B is never the genre for an in-depth lyrical analysis. Second, to call the album wedding music in a negative way would be downright foolish, considering most of Bruno's entire discography is for the wedding experience. Also, dare we forget the album is titled The Romantic?
okay, sorry for that rant, on to the review.
Perhaps the greatest compliment you could offer Bruno Mars is that, in the 21st century, he is certainly among the top ten male artists. In the 2020s, he’s without question number one, and of course, within all artistry, he is number two behind Beyoncé. The Romantic, as a project, accomplishes one of the most difficult tasks in music, which is pacing. While some albums have a difficult time managing the slower-paced tracks with party anthems, Bruno feels right at home with putting slow-dancing beauties like “Why You Wanna Fight” next to the foot-shuffling “On My Soul.”
And disregarding the lyrical content, which feels fluid and right at home on its own, production-wise, you could argue that this is Bruno’s best work or at minimum, a close second to An Evening With Silk Sonic. The sounds are sonically crisp and magical, layered behind Bruno’s vocals, which at times border on begging and pleading; it’s not enough to sound right, but the music occasionally speaks to your essence, and that captures the meaning of how music should translate.
Although only nine songs, the replay value of this project is impossibly high. Seriously, each song deserved four or five replays before switching to the next tune, which also earned four or five spins before I was allowed to move on from the musical hypnosis.
Regarding subject matter, The Romantic is purely Bruno being… Well… A romantic. If the tracks aren’t about love, they’re about dancing with his love, missing his love, or trying to get his love back. It’s incredibly difficult to criticize those themes of subject matter when the album title is in your face. It’s in the same breath as criticizing a book titled “How to build a boat,” then being upset that there is nothing but discussions of the inner mechanics of a boat inside the book.
Overall, The Romantic is short in length, but stacked in quality with nearly every track being a proving point for Bruno. He simply does not miss on any song. Easily one of the best albums of the year.
