A Beautiful Lie

30 Seconds to Mars

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 2005)
• Original Release Date: August 16, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Immortal
• ASIN: B000A7Q2DM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (208 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,206 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With over 15 acclaimed films to his credit, actor Jared Leto knew he had a challenge in creating a legitimate musical group, and the fact that a great many gifted thespians have pumped out some pretty awful albums hasn't slowed him at all. "Any time you have a precedent that's negative like that, you're gonna have an uphill battle," he agrees. "I've never shied away from that." Yet 30 Seconds To Mars' self-titled 2002 debut easily established the group as a fresh, new force, revealing a multi-faceted outfit that thrived on creative exploration and escape.

Three years later, their follow-up, A Beautiful Lie, catapulted the group to even greater success. Where the debut’s line-up featured Jared on all guitar, bass, synth and vocals with brother Shannon on drums, a full collaboration developed with A Beautiful Lie, including guitarist Tomo Milicevic and bassist Matt Wachter. "The last thing we wanted to do was make the same record twice," Leto explains. Hundreds of tour dates and a 1996 MTV Nomination for "Best Video" later, 30 Seconds To Mars are proving their stability and still challenging their position. "We're interested in being as modern as we can," Leto concludes. "We're striving to do something different, to look forward rather than back, to be free from the shadows of our inspiration, and to continue, with our voice to make our mark."

30 Seconds To Mars Photos

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Change Of Pace, But Still A Great Sound., September 17, 2005

By	Mr. Censored (Maine) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

30 Seconds To Mars burst onto the scene back in 2002 with their self-titled album. Despite being fronted by Jared Leto (the actor who has appeared in two of my favorite films: "Fight Club" and "Requiem For A Dream"), the effort didn't receive that much attention, and listening to it, it's easy to see why. Don't get me wrong, their debut was great, but for a band establishing themselves, it was too broad, too spacey, and too high concept for people to really give it a fair chance. So it's no surprise that for their second album, "A Beautiful Lie," 30 Seconds To Mars have trimmed the fat off and streamlined their music quite a bit.

"A Beautiful Lie" is more of a collection of songs that a concept album. There is no discernable theme running through it, which means each song brings something different to the table, and has it's own identity. And not only that, each song is just as good as the one before it! Instead of sounding like an electronic-Tool like they did on their debut, 30 Seconds To Mars sound like a perfect amalgumation of A Perfect Circle, The Cure and Incubus. "The Kill" and the first single, "Attack" are the most recognizable and straight-forward of the set, centered around giant choruses and excellent songwriting. "The Fantasy" is my personal favorite, with it's funky intro and unpredictable changes in style. "Battle Of One" and "Hunter," which are tagged as "bonus tracks" (though they are hardly exclusive, and available on all copies of this album) are great in their own right, but feel tacked on. Perhaps that's why they are called "bonus tracks?"

Overall, "A Beautiful Lie" is a step-up for 30 Seconds To Mars. The debut was a good start, but this album just strengthens the groups catalog and shows that they have a lot more diversity than many of their contemporaries. And the best part is, their music has nothing to do with Jared Leto's acting career. You don't even have to know who the guy is in order to know that this is great music. If you enjoyed the first album, I highly recommend their second. When they first came out, I honestly doubted they would release anymore music, but I was wrong. So, here's looking forward to the third effort.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Content Protection, December 31, 2005

By	A. Hames (Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great CD, great Band. BUT, the content protection that is a part of it won't let you copy the music to your hard drive or put it on an iPod. This may not matter to you, so don't bother reading on. However, if this does matter to you then don't buy the CD. The fact that I cannot put the music that I purchased onto my iPod is extremely annoying. I do not appreciate this feature in any way. So, five stars to the band, no stars to this CD. From now on, if I see "Content Protected" I'm gonna steer clear. I feel stupid having wasted money on one of these, but oh well, live and learn. If you care about this, learn from me.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Rock CD, Unique sound, August 3, 2006

By	Tom (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

Some people classify 30STM as a space metal or space rock band. At least people recongnize that their sound is different than mainstream modern rock. Leto gets a bad rap being an actor/musician (see Russel Crowe), but he pulls both off very well. I went to a recent 30STM concert and they sound awesome in concert and pretty close to how they sound on the CD, but you really appreciate how good Leto's brother is as a drummer in concert.

As for the CD, I can't count the number of times I have listened to it and everytime I enjoy it. The radio songs: The Kill, Attack are very good and are very catchy in a good way...not a teeny-bopper way. I would rate the best songs on the CD as The Kill, Yesterday, The Fantasy. The bonus tracks are ok, but seemed kinda just thrown on there without linkage to the mood of the other ones. I will definitely be buying their next album.