Album Review: 30 Seconds To Mars - 'A Beautiful Lie'

Does the name Jared Leto sound familiar? Star of movies such as Requiem For A Dream and Panic Room. He’s also the singer of your new favourite band.

The follow up to 30STM’s 2002 debut (self titled) album has only just received a local release in Australia. Thanks to the considerable hype that lead single “The Kill” is generating, I can see the band well and truly taking off in our humble country.

For those that haven’t heard 30STM before, they deal in a brand of ambient, spacey rock that brings to mind A Perfect Circle meets Pink Floyd….. with a healthy dose of melodrama. Their songs are epic, the music is moody and Mr Leto’s vocals soar on such a regular basis it brings to mind Muse crooner Matt Belamy.

30STM are a band to be envied. They’ve created a sound which is so catchy that your average radio rocker will be entertained, but at the same time there’s a certain complexity to the songs that musicians will find endearing. Couple that with the band’s blistering live show and their aesthetically pleasing image (yes ladies, you will want posters of these lads) and we have a group that has genuine crossover appeal - a prime example being the thrashing on Nova FM AS WELL AS their headlining slot of the 2007 Warped Tour and Taste Of Chaos.

If you’re after something a little different this summer, A Beautiful

Lie is for you. If however you enjoy buying records that redefine

mediocrity, I can send you a copy of the new Anti Flag album.

1. "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" (J. Leto, E. Allman, R. Hawkey) – 3:53
2. "Edge of the Earth" (J. Leto) – 4:37
3. "Fallen" (J. Leto) – 4:57
4. "Oblivion" (J. Leto) – 3:27
5. "Buddha for Mary" (J. Leto) – 5:43
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