Thirty Seconds to Mars: Lighter and more pop

Because I had long ago stopped picking out my favorite rock bands based on the looks of its members, Thirty Seconds to Mars (30SM) pretty much escaped my loop. The band was after all, fronted by the very attractive television and big screen actor Jared Leto. He formed Thirty Seconds to Mars with his drummer brother Shannon and then later recruited guitarist Tomo Milicevic. I was not sure if Leto had it in him to be a rock artist.

Besides I also had the belief that grunge died with Kurt Cobain and I was certainly not interested in new arrivals to the genre. The band’s first album, also titled Thirty Seconds To Mars was classified as a loud combination of grunge and industrial rock. More so, when the newbie was somebody who was probably merely on a lark in between acting jobs in Hollywood. Leto appeared in the television series My So Called Life and in movies like Urban Legend, Requiem for a Dream Chapter 27 and others.

It turned out later though that Leto is actually a lot of things that rock music should be happy about. He is a powerful lead singer and multi-instrumentalist, guitars, keyboards, etc. He is also a skilled songwriter with a massive talent for imagery and is in fact, responsible for all 30SM songs. Among its hits are The Kill, Closer To The Edge, From Yesterday, This Is War and Kings & Queens. He is a competent music producer and did most of his band’s recordings. The albums are Thirty Seconds To Mars, A Beautiful Lie, This is War and the latest Love, Lust, Faith + Dreams.

Most important of all, Leto has proven himself an astute marketing man with a flair for innovative ideas. There are plenty of good rock bands around with great looking front men but how many do you know have sent up songs to outer space? David Bowie has plus a few more of the big names.  And so has Thirty Seconds To Mars. The band’s song Up In The Air from the new album is now in the Dragon Spacecraft. It has also made it a practice to do short films, not only music videos with every release. These, including a few directed by Leto have been widely praised.

Have you heard about the Environmentour where they performed to raise awareness about saving planet earth. What about the Echelon, an exclusive group of 30SM followers who do charity work to reduce poverty and also save the environment? And then there is the Summit. This started when Leto got the audience singing in one of their shows. He then used the sing-along in one of their recordings. Response was tremendous the next time he tried it.  So much so that there arose the idea that Thirty Seconds To Mars has built a cult following. 

I am becoming inclined to believe this because Leto’s next move after that was to go interactive.  He convened a Digital Summit to accommodate those who were not able to join because they were unable to attend the 30SM concert. Fans participated online by sending recordings and videos of them singing or playing songs by Thirty Seconds To Mars. Can you think of a better way for an artist or for a band to reach out to the people? It is no wonder that 30SM followers feel so strongly about the band, almost the way members of a cult would be about their leader.

All those clever ideas though would add up to nothing if Thirty Seconds To Mars fails to deliver the goods music-wise. Love Lust Faith + Dreams lives up to the hype. Admittedly, the sound of the album is still distinctly theirs but it is now lighter and more pop than their earlier releases. Is this good or bad?  Good as the songs now reach a wider market. Bad if fans will now think that 30SM has sold out for bigger sales.

 The inspiring Up In The Air and Northern Lights with the strong arrangement come off as the most commercial. My favorite though is City Of Angels with its big chorus and orchestra. Jared’s singing is also divine. There are also Birth, Conquistador, The Race, End Of All Days, Pyres Of Varanasi, Bright Lights, Do Or Die, Convergence and Depuis Le Debut.

MCA Music promo

I hope the promo is still ongoing so that we can all have the chance to take home one of those cute Line Dolls for free. Simply buy any two of the following albums from MCA Music in Astroplus or Odyssey outlets, add @mcamusic on Line and you will get a Line Doll, the stuffed mascot for Line, the No. 1 Global Messenger.

The albums included in the promo are:  Save Rock & Roll by Fall Out Boy; Red by Taylor Swift; Me, You & The Music by Jessica Sanchez; Yeezus by Kanye West; The Lumineers by the Lumineers; 13 by Black Sabbath; Night Visions by Imagine Dragons; Babel by Mumford & Sons; Unapologetic by Rihanna; Star Dance by Selena Gomez; Time by Rod Stewart; and of course, Love Lust Faith + Dreams by Thirty Seconds To Mars.