Review Summary: A very promising album that lifts 30 Seconds to Mars to within public reckoning, but far from the finished article just yet.
I contemplated for a short while how i would write this review on 30 Seconds to Mars' album "A Beautiful Lie". Maybe I'd write a full review using the same sort of style of other reviewers. On the other hand, maybe I could write a detailed track by track account. So in conclusion to my 30 seconds of thought i decided to write both.
1998 was the year that inspired actor Jared Leto to start up a band within his family. His intention was to use his status to promote the album in order to sell copies. After all, this worked for William Shatner didn't it? Then again if you follow in the footsteps of William Shatner you must have something wrong with you. Thankfully Leto didn't follow this path as his project began to accelerate rapidly leading him to add the rest of the band (Matt Wachter on bass, Tomo Milicevic on guitar and Shannon Leto on keys) as he began to write the material for the first album. However, "A Beautiful Lie" was when it all kicked off for Leto and his band, 30 Seconds to Mars.
"A Beautiful Lie" is more of a labour of love over idea. Where the first album was about human struggle, "A Beautiful Lie" is "more personal and less cerebral". There are some fantastically catchy hooks that draw you in, and Leto is actually a great singer instead of just being a wannabe. His vocals on "The Kill" and "R-Evolve" are spectacular, using the most common vocal hook on the album: repetition. Most choruses on the album involve repetition of word or phrase, which when used wrong can lead to a dull song. However, Leto makes this repetition work, and well, if it 'aint broke, don't fix it.
The instrumental work is largely unimpressive, the band being more about Leto than anything else, but in many tracks there are some beautiful examples of orchestration, for example in "A Modern Myth" a string sections plays a simple, but lovely counter-melody to accompany Leto's vocals: "Goodbye". There are areas where the Milicevic stands out, the intro to "Attack" is incredibly catchy. I for one listen to that song for the intro, as well as being a great advert for the album being the first single.
To this day, "A Beautiful Lie" has acheived platinum status, selling way over a million copies already since its release in 2005. The singles: "Attack", "The Kill", "From Yesterday" and "A Beautiful Lie" all promote the band in the best way. Not all was rosy for the album, however. An unmastered copy of the album originally titled "Battle Of One" leaked onto p2p databases forcing the band to put the relase date of the album back and to make a few changes in the process. Two bonus tracks were added: "Battle Of One" and "The Hunter" (which is a cover of the Björk song) and in order to encourage people to buy the album rather than download it, Leto put 12 golden tickets in Willy Wonka style inside 12 copies of the album.
Right then, time for the track by track (which i know everyone loves deep down)
1. Attack (3:09) - The Intro. Pure brilliance that acts as an undercurrent through much of the rest of the song. The chorus is a powerful statement of intent from Leto as he powers out "Run away, Run away, I'll attack!". The repetition works so well in this song. Its short enough to be a punchy promotion for whats to come. Just a great song all around that you can easily listen to over and over. 4.5/5
2. A Beautiful Lie (4:05) - Starts off sounding like its come straight from end of the Blink-182 song "Violence". Charges into a refrain before a quieter verse which is short. This gives way for another powerful chorus where Leto again plays with his vocals: "Its a bautiful lie, Its the perfect denial". Good song, but my least favourite single. 4/5
3. The Kill (3:51) - When your first album doesn't sell well you need a blisteringly good song on the next album. This is it. "BURY ME, BURY ME". Such a delicate verse is supported by a truly epic chorus. The lyrics contemplate life, about confronting the fear and the truth in yourself. The breakdown matches the song perfectly and Leto soars in the background. This is quite easily the best song on the album. 5/5
4. Was It A Dream? (4:15) - Not my favourite by a long shot. This is quite a disappointment after such a great song. Simple song, the guitar is quite haunting, not really any great variation in the song to keep you interested either. 3.5/5
5. The Fantasy (4:29) - Brilliant song. This song really does hit home a sense of just how far this band might just go. The guitar plays another nice intro after the bass start. The chorus is another tremendous asset to this song, short and snappy: "Do you live? Do you die? Do you bleed, for the fantasy?" A nice call and response section in the breakdown. A must listen. 5/5
6. Savior (3:24) - Offered up as a possible single by the band, I and many others never really connect with this song. Starts with a talked intro. Bit more experimental, the use of the word "Until" is good here in the verse, but it just fails to grab me in the way the others have. Nevertheless, it is a decent enough song, I suppose it will grow... 4/5
7. From Yesterday (4:08) - Fade in start, "his face is a map of the world". Another powerful chorus, but by now we've been there and done that and you start to think, maybe the choruses are starting to save the songs. However, this is a chorus that really soars. Nice guitar breakdown, simple as always. 4/5
8. The Story (3:55) - My favourite slow song on the album, to me this just sounded like radio potential. "This is the story of my life". Moody and contemplative, it works so well, the guitar working in tandem with the bass. More of a band song, Leto blending with the instrumentation, which works really well. 5/5
9. R-Evolve (3:59) - Good solid song... if you hadn't just heard "The Story". To much like the previous song, you feel underwhelmed. Still if you listen to this in a shuffled order this works very well next to a fast song. "Its time for execution, Time to execute" Good, but not great. 4/5
10. A Modern Myth (14:14) - 14 minutes you say? Is it all music? No, absolutely not. Does that annoy me? Yes, absolutely. Another slow song, you just wonder if this was poor planning putting 3 next to each other. Still nice instrumentation and echoes of "Goodbye" are very sweet. Then ages of nothingness before the "bonus bit" at the end. Which is a bit naff really. 3/5
11. Battle Of One (2:47) - Brilliant, should have been used to splice the slow songs. Explosive, all about showing off and playing live. The only song where Shannon really influences. "I want to fall". Great song, you'll listen over and over. Shame its so short! 4.5/5
12. The Hunter (3:54) - A Björk fan I am not, and to be honest this is just a bad way to finish off an album. Moody and atmospheric it may be, but is this really what 30 Second to Mars are about? Almost a return to their first album which only sold around 10,000 copies. You'll love it if you are a Björk fan. 3.5/5
So all in all this is a good album and well worth your time, but a few tracks do let it down and the order of the songs is maybe a bit suspect at the end of the album. Still, lets hope Leto gives up acting and gives his time to this project because its definitely a project worth completing.