30 Seconds To Mars' "This Is War" Review

image from Amazon.com

Artist/Band: 30 Seconds to Mars
Album: This Is War
Release Date: 12/08/09
Tracks: 12
Runtime: 1:00:18


Track Breakdown:

(all ratings out of 5 *'s)


1) "Escape" - Basically an intro track, but a drawn out one. I was originally very unimpressed, but it all built up to exactly what I was hoping for - the screamfest! 4 *'s.

2) "Night of the Hunter" - An excellent song for live shows, and maybe a future radio hit, but I can't say it's any "Attack" or "The Kill". Still a pretty entertaining, very dark and morbid tune. 3 3/4 *'s.

3) "Kings and Queens" - it's not a track I really like, but I can see the youth of today latching onto it strongly. It's got the emo-screaming in a good balance, but also a depressing, disenfranchised morals. 4 *'s.

4) "This Is War" - Staple this song onto an action film with a hero going up against the odds and you'll skyrocket this song into remembrance. And if Hollywood disagrees, I wouldn't be surprised to see the internetters tack this onto a slew of tribute videos to movies like 300 or Watchmen. 5 *'s.

5) "100 Suns" - A soft, Bic lighter waving, acoustic, arena rock song promoting atheism? As cool as that premise sounds, I'm not sure how to feel about the actual track. Because it appeals to my interest in topics, I'll give it a generous 3 1/2 *'s. It helps that it's so short.

6) "Hurricane" - Points for lyrical content, but in the delivery section there was a lot to be desired. Plus by now, the audience sing-a-long effect was really wearing thin on my nerves. I don't dig live albums very often, so it's not a fun surprise. 2 *'s.

7) "Closer to the Edge" - While not the traditional sound of 30 Seconds to Mars, I really have a love for this song. It's artsy, it's classic, yet it's mainstream and modern. Hopefully this becomes a single because it's really packing a lot of punch. If readers don't hear this song on the radio anytime soon, do yourself a favor and look into it, as it could be the hidden gem on the album. 5 *'s.

8) "Vox Populi" - It's got a great sound to it, and if you aren't paying attention, you wouldn't feel compelled to skip it as it came on, but there's really nothing about it you want to skip all other tracks to get to. 3 *'s. Again, the sing-a-long is a shallow gimmick, but I can force myself to overlook it on this track, as the title means in Latin: voice of the people.

9) "Search and Destroy" - Amazing intro, and all downhill from there. Not my cup of tea at all. Sounds like the rest of the album in all the worst ways. 1 1/2 *'s.

10) "Alibi" - Starts off with a lot of whispering putting me to sleep, and not in a cool, soothing kind of way, and then progressively gets louder and more irritating. I love 30 Seconds to Mars belting out one way down from the pits of the lungs but this was just a raspy fork in the ear drum. 1 *.

11) "Stranger in a Strange Land" - It feels like it's inspired by Dante's Inferno to me, but this song ticks me off. It has A LOT going right for it. There's a beat that's Godsmack + Disturbed + Evanescence, and the lyrics are so dark and creepy, and a little down right scary. It's almost as though these are the final words a sadistic, B.A.M.F. tells you before he offs you in a veeeery gorey manner. Then on the flipside, that awesome beat completely wusses out, and goes back and forth. Artsy? Maybe. But I'm no longer pumped by the time it fades away. Needed A LOT more in Jared Leto's vocal department. He should have been blowing the microphone up with his shrieking, or at least have done the humanitarian thing and sold the rights to the song to someone that could have actually made it worth listening to. 2 *'s.

12) "L490" - Yeah. This sounds good in headphones. Completely instrumental, so I can't complain on Jared Leto's part. But it starts off with this noise, louder than anything Leto's screamed on the album, that sounds like someone running their finger along the top of a water glass. This hollow, echoing, obnoxious sound THANKFULLY dies out after about 45 miserable seconds, and we're greeted with a guitar riff reminiscent of Metallica's "Unforgiven" or maybe "One". Hey, no complaints there. Except it hardly changes for another two freaking minutes. If your ears aren't bleeding by the end of that, GOOD NEWS! We have (satanic?) monks chanting demonically in Latin. Here's the best news about this though, I survived listening to it. Possibly the worst thing I've ever had to rate, and I only give it this because of the initially enjoyable Metallica riff - 1/4 *. Take out the guitar, and you''d have no stars.


My Highlights:
"This is War" and "Closer to the Edge" are both fantastic rock tracks, that even if you're not a fan of 30 Seconds To Mars you should check out.


Overall Rating:
Average up all of the star ratings and you get 2.91, which I'm going to use my overall big picture reviewer powers and round down to 2 1/2 *'s out of 5. You get the farthest ends of the two extremes on this album. There are some fantastic songs that you might want to play over and over, but it also features some awful ones, including the worst I've ever had to review. Because it's not even a sturdy 3 *'s, I say skip this album unless you're hoping to form a collection of 30 Seconds to Mars in your library, and even want their crappy work. And that's not a diss to the band, everyone has their off albums. But I was looking forward to this album for a full year and was severely dissapointed. Listen to the tracks I've suggested on Lala.com, and purchase the Highlights so you're not jipped of either the fll price or the musical experience.