There's no reason for me to sit here and explain to you that Jared Leto, the heartthrob from 90s teen drama My So-Called Life and actor in multiple cult films like Requiem for a Dream, Fight Club, and American Psycho, is the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars.  You all know that already so there is really no point in focusing on any of that.  There have been actors who've taken the musical path before, namely Keanu Reeves and Russell Crowe, but unlike them, Leto and his band are actually pretty good and have been hugely successful.

Coming off their sophomore effort, the platinum selling A Beautiful Lie, 30 Seconds to Mars is striving for greatness with This is War.  Right out of the gate you can tell what the band is trying to do.  Atmospheric sounds, big choir backing vocals, and Jared Leto's structured singing style of quiet, loud, quiet that burst into huge sing-along choruses.  'Escape' begins the album with that huge choir of thousands of the bands fans proclaiming, "This is War!"  Who is 30 Seconds to Mars at war with exactly?  Is it their record label, due to the huge $30 million lawsuit they filed against the band?  Is it a war within the band themselves?  Is Leto, along with drummer/brother Shannon and guitarist Tomo Miličević, just trying to speak their mind with the current state of our country?  Whichever way you look at it, they mean business and that choir could just be the army that they've assembled.

However, that army I speak of starts to get a bit irritating after listening to track after track.  The backing vocals of the huge choir seem to pop up on every song!  Is that really necessary?  I think we get the point.  At times throughout the album, the choir is a nice touch and really provides certain songs with that camaraderie, such as the title track, which will give you chills as Leto sings "It's a brave new world".  But by track nine, (or even track 5), you'll be saying to yourself enough is enough.  Unfortunately this is where the album fails.  The whole thing comes across as a bit too pretentious.  Leto obviously has a taste for theatrics and he pulls out all the stops.  If you haven't noticed from the band's music videos, ('From Yesterday' was the first video shot in China, and 'The Kill' was a re-creation of the movie The Shining), Leto's acting background gives him this sense of everything needs to play out much like a movie. 

You know what though, maybe the music industry needs a band like 30 Seconds to Mars to provide those theatrics.  There are too many bands out there nowadays that just follow the same formula.  Write a hit song, collect paycheck, fall off the map.  Perhaps 30 Seconds to Mars is on to something.  I get the feeling that this is what Tom DeLonge envisioned when he put together Angels & Airwaves.  This is War is pretty much what DeLonge promised but never fulfilled.  And isn't it interesting that former 30 Seconds to Mars bass player, Matt Wachter, decided to join Angels & Airwaves?  Hmmm...

I want to heavily recommend This is War to all of you, I really do.  It's a nice blend of modern rock, space rock, prog rock, and even a little pop thrown in for good measure.  And there's no doubt that Leto has the vocal chops.  Put this album on and you will immediately be drawn into the epic nature of 'Night of the Hunter', 'Kings and Queens', and 'This is War.'  I guarantee you'll be singing right along with Leto's army of fans.  But as I mentioned, this formula gets overused and by the time you're near the end of the album you would have had enough.  Maybe it's just too much that it exhausts you.  I'll still take A Beautiful Lie over This is War but there are enough good things on the new album to warrant a listen.  Next time I hope Leto still brings the theatrics, but tries not to be so over the top.  

Check these out: Night of the Hunter, This is War, Kings and Queens, Closer to the Edge