The Void that is WAR

Throughout the battle, the band persevered in their attempt to create an album that personified 30 Seconds to Mars.

Now I thought that I knew what MARS was all about and what their music style was. I had no freakin' idea! I had listened to the first two albums 30 Seconds to Mars and A Beautiful Lie till it was coming out of my ears and had many expectations for the third release. They shattered them entirely!

Collaborations

The MARS boys went all out for this one; they worked with Kanye “Imma-let-you-finish” West on a track called Hurricane however this version does not appear on WAR due to some legal drama but I searched the trusty www and found the West version and I have to admit that he is pretty phenomenal on the song and adds something extra. They brought in the infamous Flood (U2, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails) and the grammy-award winning Englishman Steve Lillywhite (U2, Morrissey, The Rolling Stones) to produce the record. They even brought in a choir of Tibetan monks to add to the atmosphere.

The Summit at The Avalon

More importantly though they invited their fans to be a part of the journey and the respect between artist and fan is palpable. They held what was called The Summit at The Avalon in Los Angeles. 1000 fans sang, stomped and chanted their way onto the album. Not wanting to leave out their fans from abroad, they held Global and Digital Summits. The voices of The Echelon (ardent MARS followers) were described as “angelic”, “haunting” and “rivalling any choir” by various American radio hosts.

An icy void

To experience the full effect of This Is War you need to listen to the CD in its entirety. The progression of tracks is genius and tells a story from start to finish. Frontman Jared Leto has definitely realised his vision of “creating the feeling of listening to a film”. WAR is best described as an icy void and that is not necessarily a bad thing because this record lacks nothing. It is so satiated with emotion that you cannot help but be sucked into the ride. You feel the despair that the band no doubt felt during their personal wars but you will also be inspired by every song. By the end of the album you will feel invincible and ready to take on the world with the echelon as your army, the guitar your leader, the vocals your weapons and the lyrics your ammo.

Record of the decade

With WAR, MARS borders a lot on an electro feel but still maintain their hard hitting rock edge. They can be compared to the likes of The Cure and The Who. With the icy synths, killer riffs, manic drumming and uninhibited vocals, Jared Leto, his brother Shannon Leto (drums) and Tomo Milicevic (guitar) have created the record of the decade, perhaps longer. They went big with this one and took many risks and they succeeded beyond all expectations.

30 Seconds to Mars cannot be placed into some generic genre like rock or even alternative rock because they seem to pride themselves on their ability to annihilate the moulds that anyone tries to force them into.

Favourites: Hurricane, Night of The Hunter, Stranger in a Strange Land, Alibi

Check out the cool Static Revenger Rock Redux remix of Night of the Hunter on youtube as well as the official mini movie THE RIDE for their first single of the album: Kings and Queens.