The road from a successful acting career to acceptance in music circles is littered with casualties, but Jared Leto (“My So-Called Life,” “Fight Club,” “Panic Room”) seems to be beating the odds with “This Is War,” the third studio album from his pet project 30 Seconds To Mars.
While there’s a lot to like on “This Is War,” it’s by no means a perfect recording and even suffers from some of the same faults as its million-selling predecessor, “A Beautiful Lie.” Most of the songs go from icy neo-romantic whispers in the verses to gut-wrenching screams in the hook-laden choruses. The saving grace here is a certain sense that the band has been thinking outside of the box and often attempts to flesh out its material with unexpected detail.
The CD opens with “Escape,” a sound collage that features acoustic guitar, spacey keyboards and chanting monks. The track quickly dissolves into the tribal rhythms and electro pulse of “Night Of The Hunter,” providing an excellent one-two-punch intro.
From this point forward, the influence of producer Flood (U2, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode) becomes obvious. The CD shifts nervously between “Stranger In A Strange Land,” an ambitious slice of ’80s soundtrack schlock, and the quiet introspective ballad called “100 Suns.” In a unique twist, 30STM invited hundreds of fans to contribute to a massive chorus, the results of which are scattered throughout the CD. The street choir makes songs like “Closer To The Edge” and “Vox Populi” seem absolutely gigantic.
The centerpiece of the CD is “Kings and Queens,” a six-minute epic for which Leto jumped behind the camera to create a stunning video called “The Ride.” The shots of late-night Los Angeles streets filled with a circus-like caravan of hyped-up bicyclists (called a crank mob) are a must-see and fit the song’s intensity like a glove.
The instrumental “L490” works well as the CD’s final word, ending the effort on an empty and somewhat otherworldly note similar to where the whole thing started.
Separating its music from the pack won’t be easy, but “This Is War” is a step in the right direction for 30 Seconds To Mars.
Rating: W W W 1/2
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