The second album from the popular rock band 30 Seconds To Mars is a successful as the first album with the band trying to progress there sound to an overall softer sound. But don't get me wrong this album still rocks, but when it doesn't it is nothing short of mediocre rock.
When you write soft songs, like 30 Seconds To Mars tried to do on the second half of this album, you have to make sure there lyrics are more meaningful then the harder song. See in harder songs you can have the simple lyrics of: "Come break me down/Marry me/Bury me, and the song can succeed because of the hard beat and emotion of the song. What 30 Seconds To Mars fails to do on this album is put more meaning and emotion into the softer songs which makes this album a slight disappointment.
But when this band decides to rock they are one of the most talented out there. Singles such: "Attack and The Kill" have a rocking and emotional feel in the chorus that makes them special songs, and is what probably made them singles on the album. Attack, is one of the few songs today that can succeed with a soft in the supporting lines and loud in the chorus beat but this song uses it to perfection. "The Kill" is one of my favorite singles to come out this year.
"A Beautiful Lie" is a very strong track, it can definitely be a single from this album. Another soft-loud song but the beat just seems to explode in the chorus which makes the song brilliant. Sure it sounds very simple on guitar in the supporting lines but in the chorus the band just seems to rock out and that is what makes it successful.
"Was It A Dream", sound like a concept album song but it is beautiful and has a great chorus and a relaxed calm after the storm beat after "The Kill". It supports that song beautifully and is a calm song with great lyrical content and just the right amount of emotion. "The Fantasy" is were the band fails in the soft-loud formula but it still makes it is still a good song. The band try's to do something epic and it probably could have been an epic song if it wasn't so repetitive. "Savior", is one of the weaker tracks on the album. It displays no emotion at all until the breakdown and is one of the softer songs that displays no emotion and the lyrical content is pretty much weak
"From Yesterday", has a weird quality that makes it absolutely amazing. The song sounds like a U2 song when they were at there peak of music. Again using the soft-loud chorus in the song, but this maybe the best that they have used it in the whole album besides the two singles. The song ends with a some of the best guitar work of the album. The next track "The Story", is another calm after the storm kind of track. It contains some of the most contains some of the most emotional lyrics by the bands front man and it is a joy to see the band to use a different song structure in this song. The breakdown to this song is great: "I swear to god I will find myself in the end".
"R-evolve" is a song that pokes fun at our culture. It is somewhat well-done but is overall a mediocre track with a decent chorus. But the song and the beat in the end gets repetitive and annoying. And for a closer " A Modern Myth" does a horrible job of summing up the album and the breakdown does a hell of a job of getting old.
But overall, this was a surprise. For a while I have been disappointed in this year and last years rock albums [such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers New Album], and when I picked up this I wasn't expecting much at all. But in the louder tracks this album impresses me a lot but in the softer tracks while remaining good, they still aren't as good as the louder ones.
Tracks I Would Recommend:
Attack
The Kill
A Beautiful Lie
From Yesterday
The Story
4/5
