Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

In the 21st Century ambition has almost become a dirty word, rather than looking to the grandest of stages and the boldest of gestures bands of this decade have tended towards minimalist cool rather than superstar pomp. As a result it is perhaps unsurprising that whilst this decade has spawned multitudes of brilliant works it has created so few new stadium sized superstars. It would appear that if any word describes the music of the 21st Century it is intimacy, bands today make highly personalized work, about themselves, their relationships, their hardships, their local towns, their inner neurosis, today's music speaks of shared experience rather than shared conceptions. While this is no bad thing, with the notable exception of Snow Patrol and Coldplay, there have been so few bands who paint in the broadest brush strokes. Perhaps it's not surprising, after all it's a daunting task to write music so broad and sweeping in scope that it can touch people across the world in a heartfelt and urgent way without speaking to them on a personalized level. This style of work and level of ambition requires both great simplicity but also great textural depth, it must be both impersonal and personal but most of all it has to be grandiose and limitless in scale. On This Is War 30 Seconds From Mars take on this most challenging of objectives, they reach for the stars inciting the backlash; they most certainly have the ambition, they've shown that before, but do they have the quality to match?

Right from the word go even the slightest suspicion of minimalism is dismissed, 30 Seconds To Mars all hints of low-fi thrashing screamo are unceremoniously dropped and in their place stands; orchestral arrangements, children's choirs, tribal chantings, Queen sized hand claps and lots and lots of wide open spaces with sparse epic feeling drum arrangements. They've certainly held nothing whatsoever back, opening track proper Night Of The Hunter is almost symbolic, starting with some classic emo posturing; "I Was Born Of A Womb Of A Poisoness Man, Beaten And Broken And Chased From The Land" before suddenly Jared Leto's voice grows and he promises to "Rise Up Above It, High Up Above It". It serves as a statement of intent, 30 Seconds To Mars intend to break free of the chains of emo and shoot themselves towards the stratosphere. The track therefore becomes suitably epic building on a stadium sized drum line and some electro squelchery that gives way to a floating string arrangement and some suitably monumental wailing. Jared Leto has set caste himself as the revolutionary leading the masses in a united battle cry. By the end Night Of The Hunter is almost drowned by it's own self importance, it's repugnant and vital in equal measure and it sets the trend for the album as a whole.

It soon becomes apparent that 30 Seconds To Mars have mastered the art of the epic arrangement, the wall of sound created by the guitars is near unscalable, and every last flourish of strings or pound upon the drums sounds essential. For the most part the timing on this album is perfect when you want that fist pumping hands to the sky moment to burst through it does, the album refuses to disappoint, almost every track has a euphoric moment to unite thousands rather than stir individuals. However it is at this point that the This Is War's biggest flaw begins to reveal itself; while Jared Leto certainly has the ambitions and the messianic sense of self importance that all truly great stadium sized front men need, he lacks the creativity and lyrical subtly to match. The song writing is wrought with cliché and second hand sentiments, Leto's lyrics are almost too predictable to a cringe worthy extent. Even the brilliant Kings And Queens is weighted down by Leto's syrupy sentiment "The Age Of Men Is Over, These Lessons That We've Learnt Here, Have Only Just Begun", the trend continues across the album "It's The Momentum Of Truth, The Moment To Lie, The Moment To Live And The Moment To Die". Leto's vacant eye rolling simplicity becomes overbearing on the albums centrepiece Hurricanes as Leto asks "Tell Me Would You Kill To Save A Life, Tell Me Would You Kill To Prove Your Right" it all sounds rather forced. Leto wants to sound grandiose and important yet settles for generic sloganeering, his lines feel tragically predictable like a bad movie script, he has all the intent but his words lack that spark of originality. Worst of all the album is completely devoid of a sense of humour, Matt Bellamy overcomes his own lyrical pomposity with a playful quirkiness and a defusing sense of the ludicrous. Jared Leto on the other hand is deadly serious, there is no knowing wink and a nod, and in many ways his own arrogance is simply asking for a critical dissection.

This Is War conjures a sense of tacit disappointment, it builds you up, raises you to a state of euphoria and then when it's time to deliver leaves you deflated. Across the whole album Leto is calling for his listens to rise up, he repeats again and again, that this is a call to arms and it's time for war. Leto riles his audience, he strikes the pose of the a generational leader he riles up his troops but when it's time to step up to the microphone and tell us what we're fighting for he tragically has nothing to offer but empty gestures. However while This Is A War may not be a vital and life changing experience no matter how hard or how often it insists, it's still manages to thrill more often than bores. Tracks like This Is A War, Kings & Queens and Vox Populi feel so vibrant and so momentous that they overcome their inherent shallowness and become anthemic almost religious experiences. On the other hand the album is often weighed down by it's own over the top verbage and grating sense of self importance and tracks like Hurricanes and Alibi are simple an unbearable drain on an otherwise intriguing LP. It is somewhere between Kings & Queens and Hurricanes that you notice exactly what this album is lacking; fun, a knowing wink and nod, a shameless thrill. The album is sorely lacking a track like The Kill that has all the epic power and importance rammed into a sharp three minute pop package. It's a shame because there are certainly more than a few four minute tracks on this album that sprawl aimlessly and could have been condense into a urgent and punchy three minute tour de force.

There is one area in which 30 Seconds To Mars deserve unconditional praise and that is in regards their musical arrangements. This is a bold album, it may not reinvent the wheel but it's not scared to push boundaries either; combining the gloomy sparse industrial soundscapes, with stadium sized U2 riffs, euphoric children's choirs, skipping hip hop beats, eighties electro squelch and emo screams. This Is War rarely sounds boring, it's only Leto's wailing that feels tired, a track like the horribly titled Stranger In A Strange Land has a daring arrangement that refuses to sit still. It becomes apparent that musical arrangement is the one area where 30 Seconds To Mars truly meet the stadium rock brief, their sound is undeniably epic, pleasantly familiar and yet never predictable, it truly is a triumph of marrying inclusivity and exclusivity with delightful ease. It's a shame that the rest of This Is War could not match the scope of their arrangements, as while the album is far from a bad record, it is no great shakes either, wrapping itself in the clothes of the revolutionary but with little in the way of substance to match the style. The sheer ambition of the piece and it's undeniable scale may well be enough to elevate 30 Seconds To Mars to loftier surroundings but like so many before them they offer little that will hold up in the cold light of day and stand the test of the time. This Is War feels vital but unfortunately it's anything but, another case of style over substance.

Absolution - Muse, Mutter - Rammstien