From a teeny bopper dreamboat to a lovable heroin addict (as played in Requiem for a Dream), Jared Leto has stolen our hearts on the silver screen for years. And after two moderately successful albums under his belt with his musical project 30 Seconds To Mars, Leto is back for round three with This Is War.

When A Beautiful Lie was released back in 2005, I found myself intrigued by the experimentation and uniqueness it offered up. It was a very atmospheric album with huge melodies, and had a dynamic to the music I had never heard before. It contained a lot of mainstream qualities, yes; but I felt, at the time, it stood out like a beacon in the sea of nu-metal madness in which I was drowning. I wasn’t so sure that Leto’s seductive songster talents would have the same effect on me this time around. Still, I went into This Is War with high hopes and honestly wasn’t surprised at the results.

This Is War is your standard 30STM with no strings attached. I will say one thing – this album has more atmosphere than planet Earth. You have to know what you are going into in order to really appreciate this record for what it is. Cut and dry, this is baby making music and a soundtrack for lovers. Hard rockers and metalheads will surely shy away from this album; however, their girlfriends will eat it up quicker than a carton of Ben and Jerry’s during The Notebook. Leto’s success on the big screen and stage prior to this CD will ensure This Is War will be a success; but here at The NewReview, it doesn’t matter what your track record is or how famous you might be. If your music sucks, we’re going tell you.

When you get into the meat and potatoes of the CD itself, there’s not much to write home about. They are just serving up round two of the same dish; the only problem is that it’s just never as good the second time around. It’s a solid record with some good songs, but it just comes across feeling more like an extension of their last album. They don’t seem to have evolved much in the past four years.

Their opener “Escape” is just some sampling with a little Leto and what sounds like a chorus of schoolchildren serenading a little over the noise. Track three, “Kings and Queens,” is classic 30STM. There are plenty of heavily sampled vocals on top of big melodic guitars and a nice orchestral backdrop to set the mood. The more you listen to the song, the more it grows on you…but you have to put the time in.

“100 Suns” is a nice, quiet little ballad that is very pleasant to the ears. Just Jared and his guitar, or Tomo’s guitar I suppose. But he repeats the line “I believe in nothing” what seems like ten thousand times in this song, and that gets annoying.

I hate to say it but track six, “Hurricane,” is actually a good song. I hate it even more because our lovable, neighborhood douche bag and avid foot swallower Kanye West is a featured guest. “Listen Jared, Ima let you finish, but Luke Perry was the greatest teen idol of the nineties, period!” – I couldn’t resist – anyways. Kanye is a d-bag who lacks any common sense or class, but it’s still a decent song.

Here’s the rundown. There are twelve songs on this CD, and they all come across on the same level of mediocrity. I am a fan of 30STM and I enjoyed this album, to an extent. At best, I’ll throw a couple songs on my iPod and maybe play it as background music for a party, but not much more. For what it is, it’s a solid album. 30STM fans will most likely be satisfied with This Is War, and honestly I can’t say that I hated anything about it. I think I have just grown out of their sound; plus between you and me, their live show is garbage.

3.5/5