Toni Ortivez
The Paw Print
There have been many big name bands releasing their follow-up albums these past few months. Many of them have had great success with their previous albums and, in an attempt to keep riding the gravy train, have recorded more songs for their fans to fawn over. However, it is a rarity for a band to create multiple albums that will be on a persons’ top five or even top ten list of greats. It is not as rare for a band to fall off the radar and then pop up again with another decent album.
30 Seconds to Mars produced an awe inspiring album in 2005 entitled A Beautiful Lie, which had the songs “The Kill” and “From Yesterday.” Both songs were featured frequently on most rock or pop radio stations, making the band quite popular. It was not their first album, nor would it turn out to be their last although 30 Seconds to Mars was absent on the music scene for four years before they produced a new album.
In December 2009, the band finally released their follow up album entitled This Is War. Although it has been out for a few months now, it seems to have flown under the radar for most music lovers. It isn’t quite as popular as its predecessor in terms of radio play or publicity. However, the song “Kings and Queens” has become one of the album’s better known songs. It has been featured on the movie trailer for the upcoming movie Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, and has had its time on the air.
This Is War has a reminiscent feeling of the bands previous album, but doesn’t have the same spark as before. The music on this album tends to be a little more scattered and does have some lyrical connection to war, as alluded to by the title. The song “This Is War” is probably the closest to the previous album in terms of musical quality, but the album does posses other diamonds in the rough, such as “100 Suns,” “Kings and Queens,” and “Night of the Hunter.”
The opening song is musical only—no lyrics—and create a feeling of curiosity of what might happen in the following songs. The album is a roller coaster of sorts, going from fast and inspirational to slow and melancholy, leaving the listener with a feeling of exhaustion, but a slight sense of satisfaction. Due to these conflicting feelings, it becomes hard to decide whether to praise or knock the album.
Overall, the album does have decent music quality, with variation of vocals and beats. It possesses the low, smoky voice of Leto as well as compelling lyrics and catchy melodies. The album is fairly good in terms of overall character, but is far below what I had expected as the follow up to A Beautiful Lie. It is still an album to listen to and is worth the buy, but don’t expect the same thrill as before, because it just doesn’t quite live up to the bands reputation.
What’s Been Said…