30 Seconds To Mars - 30 Seconds To Mars Review
Posted by Kenny Hammond on 08.29.2002
Jared Leto puts his well known acting career on the backburner to make his dream come true and become a rock star. 30 Seconds To Mars proves to be a impressive debut with only one flaw.
Intro: This is my first CD review, and I tried to be as fair and honest as possible. Some of you may not agree with my views or my opinions. My background in radio means I listen to a lot of music, and this one hasn’t been out of my player since I got it. So after 15 listens, my judgment is final.
The lowdown: You need to listen carefully and closely to enjoy the full extent of 30 Seconds to Mars.
Moving from the life as an up and coming movie star, featuring roles in Fight Club and Panic Room and even some slight Oscar talk surrounding him over a performance in Requiem for a Dream, Jared Leto has made the choice of becoming a rock star rather than acting. He was adopted as the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars in the fall of 2001, but nothing much seemed to be going on other then minor hype.
This all changed when Puddle of Mudd asked this group of somewhat unknowns to open on a 6 week tour in the spring of 2002. Now going into an opening slot with Incubus this fall, 30 Seconds to Mars have released a very strong debut CD that put to rest the myth of Leto’s musical talent and proves he is really a rock star.
Well known producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd) and the up and coming Brian Virtue (Jane’s Addiction) both worked to produce this CD for Korn’s Jonathan David and his record label, Immortal records. The overall theme to this CD is one of hopelessness for society, explored in the opening track “Capricorn [A brand new name]”, which is a dynamically high energy rock song. This song does not only explore the musical boundaries of 30 Seconds to Mars, but also the vocal range of Leto. Capricorn overall is the strongest track on the CD, the riffs are catchy and the song's post production is above stellar. Capricorn should not only impress rock fans, but also fans of many different musical styles.
“Edge of the earth” is much slower in pace, sounding oddly similar in sound to Orgy, quickly proving that 30 seconds can switch between upbeat energy of "Capricorn" to a much more low toned and controlled song. Later on in the CD, “Mission” and “The End of the Beginning” reflect the apocalyptic theme that they are trying to portray. These four songs stand out as the best but none of the other tracks are lacking.
Sadly, all is not positive in this reviewer's mind. 30 Seconds have created a plotline to all the songs on this CD so that they are all interconnected with each other. The idea, being a group of people leaving Earth to find a new home, is too much of a gimmick and makes it sound like the band presents no real message. Unfortunately, the lyrics are never the strongest aspect of the 30 Seconds to Mars' self titled debut. Fear Factory’s Obsolete is a CD with a strong plotline about the future of the world. This is not.
I shall explain; 30 Seconds to Mars are rather boring lyrically and this takes away from the strong musical content. The use for piano and most of the mixing is extremely strong but at points this is hindered by weak, poorly written lyrics. There is no emotional content to what they have written, and it seems as if they don’t feel that the situation they have created for themselves is real. Yeah, it is a false reality, but boys! If Britney can pretend she is a virgin, can't you put a little more heart in crafting your lyrics? "Capricorn [A Brand New Name]", the first single, is a very catchy song musically but it just doesn’t cut it lyrically, yet is still the most cleverly crafted song on this debut, musically and lyrically.
It's like when you have meal in front of you; some people are visual eaters, and they will enjoy something when it looks good. But when you give them food that looks like crap, they will think it's crap. Music is the same way; some people will enjoy something when it is purely lyrically good. 30 seconds isn’t and really missed the bandwagon in the lyric department.
But lyrics are the only major flaw on this disk, and if you can look past that, it is great.
The musical aspects of 30 Seconds to Mars are at point simply amazing. Each song has a feel; each song feels a little different. Every song presents a different tone and a different sound. But, there are very few repetitive sounding tracks on the CD. Nevertheless, the tone is original enough from song to song, giving the listener its full money worth. Overall all of this part of the CD is wonderfully crafted and hats off to everyone for what I consider one of the strongest musical offerings of 2002. Musical devices are used creatively and nothing sounds boring because there is always a different tone or different note. It mostly seems as if nothing is repeated.
Only time will tell if Jared Leto's choice of music over acting was a successful one, but it is a noble attempt to be noticed for something other then acting. It is what he wants to do, but if there wasn’t some sort of star power driving this CD, and it was released by a complete nobody band, would it of done well enough to have been signed by a major record label? Sorry, but in my opinion, no. Still, that isn’t the case, and 30 Seconds to Mars is a welcomed change from mainstream garbage that has filled my summer. Hopefully they will crack the ever fickle North American marketplace and find their place, otherwise Leto might be getting beat up on screen sooner then we can say "30 seconds to mars", and well … Brat Pitt really did lay the boots to him in Fight Club.
The 411: Looking past the lyrics and directly at the music, this could be one of the best non mainstream offers to come out in the past 6 months. Leto’s strong acting work rate reflects in this debut.
