30 Seconds to Mars - This Is War (2009)

It took four long years and some legal wrangling to get This Is War onto shelves. In that time, Virgin Records took 30 Seconds To Mars to court for failing to deliver the amount of records specifically set by their original record contract. Jared & brother/drummer Shannon Leto, and their cohorts, eventually won this battle and immediately afterward began work on This Is War. It begs the question: where does the time go between records? It took over three years to deliver the regrettably standard A Beautiful Lie, so what would come of the four years between that and this record?

The answer is, of course, an album that's been massively produced into, by far, the biggest mess of music the band has released to date. And it's still a 30 Seconds To Mars record that has all the characteristics and quirks we'd expect from the band, such as additions to the sound that the band, too caught up in rock & roll majesty and melodrama, don't realize have been staples for years. Interesting example of the band's perennial naivety: during a festival for fans, the band invited the audience to record their group vocals for use on the album, and huge group vocals have been a staggered rock standby since "Another Brick In The Wall." Surely they know this, and the audience from that night sounds decent (and excited), but they use this technique on song after song after song, and it lessens the impact a bit each time they do it. The process of recording it must have been lots of fun for all involved, but it's a bit of a one-dimensional trick to build an album around.  It's an example of a group so in love with putting all these glorious sounds together than little details like that are trivial.

But that's just who they are, and to expect much more from them at this stage is futile. What you want from a 30 Seconds To Mars record is the moments where they actually do get a firm grasp on the monumental hooks and riffs that sound like the most epic epic to ever epic, showcased well in the best pure rock song here, "Kings & Queens" (also notable for its fun, lengthy video featuring the band and hundreds of followers on bicycles). By ditching the more traditional modern rock structures of the last record, they can now simply expand on the first album, where they had their own brand of electronic theatrics that may have been over the top, but mostly entertaining.

This Is War, while decidedly filled with hard rock songs with a heavy leaning toward arena rock and glam, take a detour into genuine electronica. Take "Hurricane," which barely has a hint of genuine instruments on it, but the breathy Jared Leto gives an earnest vocal performance (when doesn't he?) that makes it as strong as any other song here. However, with its cracking drum machines and overpowering synths, it becomes the most glaring example of how the record is overproduced. Besides the group chants and vocals and electronics, there's strings, overdubs, tons of echo, "We Will Rock You"-like stomps and claps, and everything the band envisions belonging on all the biggest and brightest rock records. A byproduct of all this reaching for blockbuster moments is the album starting to lose steam towards the end, as all the tricks, the extended compositions that are rarely below the 5 minute mark, and all the lyrical content - veering back and forth throughout the album from a warrior persona to wallowing in self-absorbed, self-loathing agonizing - start to become a little old hat by the time "Vox Populi" comes on. There is, however, a gorgeous ballad named "Alibi" that comes late in the record that's more than worth the wait for.

No 30STM record comes without its little flaws, as the band overreach, over-emote and generally do a bunch of stuff that requires "over" being used as a prefix. Lyrically, they still spend a little too much time on the self-pity and some tragic turns of phrase. This won't matter too much if you're in the massive cult following the band has built up over the years, as it's more about the unique 30 Seconds To Mars experience. Even still, this is a lot of fun, and somewhat of a guilty pleasure, especially if you like your rock music feeling monumentally huge. And for better or for worse, this particular album is the fullest realization of the band's ambitions yet put on wax, showing off all their grandiose nature in all its glory. And, as on the debut, it boils down to the songs, which for the most part are actually pretty good, and even their little quirks don't really spoil the good time or anything. This Is War may be a little too much of, well, everything, but all this territory covered overflows with potential for the future, and at the very least it's the most accomplished 30 Seconds To Mars record to date, if not necessarily the best.



***1/2