24K Magic
by Bruno Mars
  • Record Label: Atlantic
  • Release Date: Nov 18, 2016
User Score
6.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 426 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 270 out of 426
  2. Mixed: 57 out of 426
  3. Negative: 99 out of 426
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  1. Austria
    Jan 30, 2018
    5
    I expected more from Bruno Mars after his 2012 album "Unorthodox Jukebox". I still don't realise how his work received 6 Grammys.
  2. NolanLundgaard
    Mar 25, 2020
    4
    24K Magic by Bruno Mars: 3.40

    24K Magic: 0.5 Chunky: 0.75 Perm: 0.5 That’s What I Like: 0.25 Versace on the Floor: 0 Straight up & Down: 0.5 Calling All My Lovelies: 0.75 Finesse: 1 :) Too Good to Say Goodbye: 1 :) 5.25/9 ~ .583 -> 3.40 Overall, I’m honestly disappointed with this album. I really enjoyed both of Mars’s previous works, “Doo-Wops and Hooligans” and    24K Magic by Bruno Mars: 3.40

    24K Magic: 0.5
    Chunky: 0.75
    Perm: 0.5
    That’s What I Like: 0.25
    Versace on the Floor: 0
    Straight up & Down: 0.5
    Calling All My Lovelies: 0.75
    Finesse: 1 :)
    Too Good to Say Goodbye: 1 :)

    5.25/9 ~ .583 -> 3.40

    Overall, I’m honestly disappointed with this album. I really enjoyed both of Mars’s previous works, “Doo-Wops and Hooligans” and “Unorthodox Jukebox”, for their musical creativity along with their catchy lyrics. Unfortunately, while the catchy lyrics are still present (for the most part), most of the songs in 24K Magic sound exactly the same. The first song I listened to from this album was “Finesse”, and I really enjoyed it. This made me want to go back and listen to the rest of the album. To my surprise, most of the songs were “Finesse-like” and it was pretty disappointing. I am a bass player, so I really thought it was fun that this album featured many complicated bass lines. I enjoyed the music part of the song 24K Magic (again, sounding a lot like Finesse), but found the lyrics to be offensive. The same went for Chunky, and that’s when I noticed the pattern. I’m just not really into modern music (I find all the electronic aspects of it hard to listen to), and sadly, Bruno Mars is moving in that direction. The only other songs I liked on this album were Calling All My Lovelies, and Too Good To Say Goodbye. I appreciated the tempo difference in Too Good, and the lyrics were especially powerful in that number. Calling All My Lovelies also had exceptionally fun lyrics, and it was clever how Mars used an actual voicemail intro in this song. While this album had some highlights, I think I’m going to stick with his previous work. Highlights: Finesse, Too Good To Say Goodbye.    … Expand
  3. zeus80
    Nov 18, 2016
    5
    Big fan, but I am surprised this album is such a disappointment after such a long absence. To me it seems like the type of album that gets rushed out, not your big album after a layoff. It's essentially a concept album, and it's not bad, and there isn't truly a bad track on the extremely short album, but it's not good either. I wasn't crazy about the 24K Magic single when I first heardBig fan, but I am surprised this album is such a disappointment after such a long absence. To me it seems like the type of album that gets rushed out, not your big album after a layoff. It's essentially a concept album, and it's not bad, and there isn't truly a bad track on the extremely short album, but it's not good either. I wasn't crazy about the 24K Magic single when I first heard it, but it grew on me quickly and now I love it, so maybe the rest will have the same effect with multiple listens. In any case, I hope there is better material already in the works.… Expand
  4. WolfLambert
    Nov 25, 2016
    6
    I really like the opener, and there are some more interesting songs on here, but overall, this feels unfinished. When you're limiting yourself to nine short pop songs, you have to make them count, and I feel like that is not what happened here. Eh.
  5. Samimacedo
    Nov 21, 2016
    4
    24k Magic - 17
    Chunky - 44
    Perm - 45
    Thats What I Like - 83
    Versace On The Floor - 50
    Straight Up & Down - 63
    Calling All My Lovelies - 77
    Finesse - 76
    Too Good To Say Goodbye - 71

    Total - 58

    Não ta muito bom né, mas tambem não ta péssimo, quero Bruno de descente devolta.
  6. spongeswift
    Nov 12, 2017
    6
    Bruno Mars used to be so much better. The tracklist on this album was so small and they still needed filler. Yeah 6/9 songs were fantastic but there was not enough for an artist that hasn't released since 2012. What I'm saying is that most of the material is good there's just not enough for the offering to be considered great. If he would have added a few more songs it would have been aBruno Mars used to be so much better. The tracklist on this album was so small and they still needed filler. Yeah 6/9 songs were fantastic but there was not enough for an artist that hasn't released since 2012. What I'm saying is that most of the material is good there's just not enough for the offering to be considered great. If he would have added a few more songs it would have been a better album but again for an artist that doesn't release music much this was just to small of a serving for us.… Expand
  7. victorcarter
    Nov 21, 2016
    6
    After the success of the hit single Treasure, what we saw next from Mars was a complete transformation. The overly romantic smooth singer of Grenade suddenly began acting like a classy womanizer. Worldwide number 1 split single Uptown Funk only galvanized his newly achieved status, bringing an even groovier, more confident and seductive singer on top of his game. This new album sees theAfter the success of the hit single Treasure, what we saw next from Mars was a complete transformation. The overly romantic smooth singer of Grenade suddenly began acting like a classy womanizer. Worldwide number 1 split single Uptown Funk only galvanized his newly achieved status, bringing an even groovier, more confident and seductive singer on top of his game. This new album sees the singer/songwriter indulging even deeper on this 80s nostalgic persona, opening up for some still predictable, but compelling direction in his music. 24K Magic comes with a tight, on point tracklisting consisting of 9 tracks that sound extracted from a vintage 80s film, showcasing both sides of the coin, on groovy, dance pop infused cuts like 24K Magic, Chunky, Finesse and a bundle of love ballads that honestly, emulate MJ a bit too much (Versace on the Floor, Too Good to Say Goobye)… Expand
  8. kennyrichie94
    Nov 27, 2016
    5
    Personally, it is not good, that's it. It looks like it could take you fun places and relate to it at a party, but it doesn't. Its rushed and forgettable, but I gave it half the score because it was a good try.
  9. juanselopez340
    May 14, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Yes and no because he fit in with his same voice and the same repetitive sound that makes me explode, it doesn't reach me, I don't accept it… Expand
  10. PauloCardoso
    Dec 13, 2016
    6
    Um álbum fraco, com uma formula ja gasta,não trás novidade e nem atrai as pessoas. Sem conceito algum, a unica boa referencia e aos anos 80, com suas guitarras e sintetizadores,tirando isso o album não foi como o esperado musicalmente, mas em vendas esta sendo um sucesso.
  11. ManuelContreras
    Apr 7, 2018
    5
    Su peor album, no es malo pero comparado con sus anteriores trabajos si es una gran diferencia
  12. MacsMusic
    Mar 22, 2018
    5
    Musically, 24K Magic is dynamite. Every song sounds great, with an impossibly fun sense of style that only BM is capable of pulling off. Every song is a finely-crafted, funky, dance-able, combination of passionate vocals and killer throwback-style music.

    The lyrics, however, are utterly terrible, and even offensive to women. A woman is more than just an object to be used for men's    Musically, 24K Magic is dynamite. Every song sounds great, with an impossibly fun sense of style that only BM is capable of pulling off. Every song is a finely-crafted, funky, dance-able, combination of passionate vocals and killer throwback-style music.

    The lyrics, however, are utterly terrible, and even offensive to women. A woman is more than just an object to be used for men's pleasure, and Bruno Mars doesn't seem to know that. The lyrics are as shallow as they could possible be.

    Bruno Mars will go down in history as one of the defining voices of the 2010's, and like many greats, fame and money plague his view of his fellow humans. 24K Magic is a cleverly disguised, fun, flashy album with terrible lyrics.    … Expand
  13. TheReviewr
    Aug 13, 2018
    5
    24K Magic is a mixed bag of amazing song and some strait up boring ones. Bruno has in my opinion made some of the best modern pop songs. His recent music proves to us after the 4 year wait from his 2012 album, he still has hits in him

    1. 24K Magic, This is a strait up hype song, and a good intro 7/10 2. Chunky, the low-key hit from his project. its way underrated for how catchy it is    24K Magic is a mixed bag of amazing song and some strait up boring ones. Bruno has in my opinion made some of the best modern pop songs. His recent music proves to us after the 4 year wait from his 2012 album, he still has hits in him

    1. 24K Magic, This is a strait up hype song, and a good intro 7/10
    2. Chunky, the low-key hit from his project. its way underrated for how catchy it is 7/10
    3. Perm, the first dud of the album, but who had high hopes for a song called "Perm" 1/10
    4. Thats What I Like, this song is good but not as good as people made it out to be 6/10
    5. Versace On The Floor, what a great Bruno Mars song this one is... 10/10
    6. Strait Up And Down, its soo bad its a huge disappointment 0/10
    7. Calling All My Lovelies, what the hell were they thinking including this song 0/10
    8. Finesse, this song is great but the Cardi B remix was a bit better 9/10
    9. Too Good To Say Goodbye, its underwhelming, i expected a better outro 3/10

    Standouts are Chunky, Versace On The Floor & Finesse

    Overall: 4.78 (rounded up to 5) as I also gave Cardi this rating, it doesn't at all mean the album is bad. I am a Bruno fan and this album just happens to be a just average album seeing the quality of every song individually. I personally liked the album a lot    … Expand
  14. andyn823
    Jun 6, 2020
    4
    Bruno Mars is a talented artist, a funny man. I totally appreciate and respect him. But this album is not good. All it talks about are girls, sex, money, rich,... And I still don't understand how this album could win big at Grammy 2018 and it even won against Melodrama, a masterpiece by Lorde. I do like "24K Magic" the song because it's catchy and it's good whenever I workout. All of theBruno Mars is a talented artist, a funny man. I totally appreciate and respect him. But this album is not good. All it talks about are girls, sex, money, rich,... And I still don't understand how this album could win big at Grammy 2018 and it even won against Melodrama, a masterpiece by Lorde. I do like "24K Magic" the song because it's catchy and it's good whenever I workout. All of the other tracks are... meh. "That's What I Like" is a very overrated song and it used be played all the time on the radio, which makes me feel so irritated and uncomfortable.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Most Discussed Album of 2016
37
#37 Most Shared Album of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Q Magazine
    Dec 13, 2016
    60
    Ultimately 24k Magic's luxe exterior writes cheques its soul can't cash. [Feb 2017, p.115]
  2. Pitchfork
    Dec 2, 2016
    62
    24K Magic is the rest of the park: rebuilt shinier and glitzier and safer, every element engineered to please more than the real thing, and with a hell of a tour guide. It’s not history, not even historical fiction, but harmless fun.
    Read full review
  3. New Musical Express (NME)
    Dec 1, 2016
    80
    Few albums designed to sound like a party actually play like one, but Bruno Mars has pulled it off with style.
    Read full review
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