30 Seconds To Mars - A Beautiful Lie

Rating

single starsingle starsingle star

RIYL

Cold
Taproot
Orgy
Pulse Ultra

Label

Virgin Records

Tracklist

1. ATTACK
2. A Beautiful Lie
3. The Kill
4. Was It A Dream?
5. The Fantasy
6. SAVIOR
7. FROM YESTERDAY
8. The Story
9. R-EVOLVE
10. A Modern Myth
11. Battle of One
12. Hunter

Users Rating

single starsingle starsingle starsingle star
1 rating

Your Rating

Create an account or log in to rate this album

Recent Ratings

30 Seconds to Mars drops much of its synthesizer/space exploration en route to developing a tighter, safer sound. There’s not much daring material on A Beautiful Lie, which many fans of 30STM sound will find hard to swallow, but what they sacrifice in creativity they make up for with a strongly focused approach to their music. Although the album by and large cannot escape the “radio rock” label, Jared Leto and company provide an assortment of flavors to taste.

Despite it's wide appeal and critical acclaim, 30 Seconds to Mars really wasn't a great album. It had its moments, of course, but taken as a whole there were large problems with consistency and transitions between the album. It was hindered by all the normal debut album flaws, but somehow it overcame these setbacks and became a big hit. A Beautiful Lie mends the missteps of the band's previous works while solidifying them as a mainstream rock outfit. The profuse synth use has been stripped down to a mild dependency on sampling, which the band adjusts to accordingly. Again Leto serves up a strong vocal performance, adopting more personal lyrics for the sophomore effort.

A full analysis of the current state of modern rock may reveal that A Beautiful Lie is a smart move for 30 Seconds to Mars. With several underground artists taking a hold of the space rock genre, there is no way the band could continue its experimental space rock sound while remaining a radio hit and not being completely overshadowed musically by these smaller acts. On the other hand, in a year with such a weak mainstream rock presence, 30 Seconds to Mars is able to corner the market with an eclectic mix of provocative, intelligent tracks.

The first half of the album flows very nicely, offering a wealth of catchy songs with diverse approaches to songwriting. "I'll Attack", "The Kill", "A Beautiful Lie", and "The Saviour" are standout tracks. The second half of the album drags a bit, hindered by a change into a slower paced band and the beginnings of a overuse of Leto's scream in chorus heavy songs. After wading through a few uneventful minutes, the listener is rewarded with "A Modern Myth", an acoustic ballad showcasing Leto's powerful voice and painting a beautiful finale with a little help from the string family.

Although this is certainly one of the better radio rock releases of the year, it does leave the band a lot of room for improvement. With a host of underground bands producing albums that are both challenging and ready for the airwaves, 30 Seconds to Mars may have to rethink their sound again for the next release, or else find themselves out of favor. But until that time, everything is coming up roses for this band.

--Jordan Volz

Author

ChaosResolved
Last updated: 09/29/2009 08:53PM

Comments

jared
09/16/2005
09:09AM
Age: 30
Location
Minneapolis, MN
I have to say this band is the best celebrity band I've ever heard. But let's get past the fact that there's even a celebrity in the band. It's solid rock music. I kind of miss that atmospheric/spacey feel though. What I don't miss is the space lyrics/song names. I thought it was a gimmick from the beginning. Glad to see it go.

Blog | Twitter | Flickr

M.J.Austin
09/16/2005
09:25AM
Location
Dallas, Texas
I really liked this review, but I can’t agree with a single word of it. This CD is terrible. I’ve tried to force myself into it over and over again but I never get past song 5.
Rick Gebhardt
09/16/2005
09:26AM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
I will be the first on the board to admit this, I freakin' love these guys. I thought their first cd was pretty damn good, and if you look at my Last.fm stats, you'll see that I love this cd to death.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Kazy
09/16/2005
10:05AM
Location
Santa Monica, CA
rmgebhardt
I will be the first on the board to admit this, I freakin' love these guys. I thought their first cd was pretty damn good, and if you look at my Last.fm stats, you'll see that I love this cd to death.

I agree with Rick. This is a pretty good album.

[IMG]http://www.denness.net/rpi/username/KingKazy[/IMG]

Aaron Yarborough
09/16/2005
12:15PM
Age: 30
Location
Atascadero, CA
i pooped, and when i looked in the toilet it said 30 seconds to mars. my feelings exactly.

Decoymusic.com (CEO/Founder)
Blue Reef Design Studios (Web Development)
http://aarontroy.tumblr.com

Kazy
09/16/2005
12:21PM
Location
Santa Monica, CA
aaron
i pooped, and when i looked in the toilet it said 30 seconds to mars. my feelings exactly.

What was Jared Leto doing in your butt?

[IMG]http://www.denness.net/rpi/username/KingKazy[/IMG]

M.J.Austin
09/16/2005
12:27PM
Location
Dallas, Texas
aaron
i pooped, and when i looked in the toilet it said 30 seconds to mars. my feelings exactly.


LOL. This CD's bad, but damn.
Roncag
09/16/2005
12:54PM
Age: 32
Location
Anytown USA
This has to be one of the biggest disappointments of the year for me, along with Blindside.

You play to win the game.

M.J.Austin
09/16/2005
12:59PM
Location
Dallas, Texas
Blindside's new record nearly brings me to tears. What a letdown.
JoshTabia
09/16/2005
01:06PM
Location
michigan
I really like this cd. Its no where near as good as their debut, but still a solid album.

Aaron Yarborough
09/16/2005
05:02PM
Age: 30
Location
Atascadero, CA
i actually didnt listen to this, im i liar.. i just wanted to say that.

Decoymusic.com (CEO/Founder)
Blue Reef Design Studios (Web Development)
http://aarontroy.tumblr.com

cyanide2600
09/17/2005
01:29AM
Location
Finland
i really liked their debut. it had perfect spacey and futuristic sound. this album just makes me wanna scream, it's so bad.


Rick Gebhardt
09/17/2005
06:40AM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
Huh, I figured there'd be some people that hated this cd, but I didn't figure that me and Kazy, of all people, would be the ones who actually liked it.

As for Blindside's latest, shit that was a bad album.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Amazingthemike
09/19/2005
07:19AM
Location
Cleveland, OH
Not as good as the first one... oh well.

Scene Point Blank / Escapist Records

Molitoth
09/19/2005
03:09PM
Leto stepped it up and brought the album to better status then the first imo.
Kazy
09/19/2005
03:45PM
Location
Santa Monica, CA
I'll Attack is a great song.

[IMG]http://www.denness.net/rpi/username/KingKazy[/IMG]

rustycage
07/23/2006
10:23PM
I ordered this CD today. I finally did it.
Inevitable
07/24/2006
12:39AM
Location
Sheffield
I do like it, like someone said before, it's definitely not on par with their self titled , which for me, was pretty damned sweet..But on the whole, not as bad as a lot of shit that gets passed of these days..

Rick Gebhardt
07/24/2006
05:23AM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
Give it a little time... or a lot of time, whatever, but it'll easily grow on you. This is still one of the select few CDs to have a permanent residence in my car for travel listening.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Lucas Anderson
04/19/2007
05:43AM
I saw The Kill video the other day and it was quite a s(c)h(l)ock to see these guys in all these black inexprimables. I wonder if they do it for the cash or does Jared Leto have some sort of a latent teenage crisis.

I loved the music on the self-titled (the lyrics and image were questionable, but the band at least tried for originality), and this is substantially worse, I think. It's like ten renditions of the same, not that interesting emo-flavoured rock song. Adding to that, those shouts and yells in every single track stick out in a very irritating way. When I first heard "Attack" and Jared made this 'whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa', I was like :eek: oh god, the blood brothers are slaughtering him
It just makes me laugh every time I remember those videos.

Battle of One is a great track though.