The longest, most involved review ever: THIS IS WAR, a Kilimanjarian album by 30STM

[la_belle_laide]

There are some things you need to know about me before you read my song by song, sometimes minute by minute review of the new 30 Seconds To Mars album, THIS IS WAR.

The first thing you need to know about me is that I am a huge ridiculous 30STM fanpoodle. I've seen them a whole handful of times, met them a couple of times, even made them some necklaces with the help of my wonderful glass-worker friend. I have all of their unreleased music, live stuff, acoustic versions etc. on my iPod. That's the first thing you need to know.

The second thing you need to know is that I'm a totally unbiased fanpoodle—yes, such a thing is possible—and I don't like, nor feel obliged to like, everything they've ever done. So when I fall in love with a song, it's because I'm in love with the song. I can't fake an eargasm. If I don't like something, I won't lie about finding it kinda “meh.”

The third thing you need to know about me is that I am musically retarded. I love music, I love to sing and dance and play tunes but I cannot read music and am not formally trained. Therefore I lack the vocabulary to really say what I'm talking about in most cases. Apologies.

But you can still you can trust me. ^_^

There are a few observations I'd like to make about the album overall before I go song by song.

The first one I'd like to make is that, if you are naughty like me and you downloaded the album before its official release date, THE OFFICIAL VERSION IS VERY DIFFERENT. Seriously. Like Kanye-less different. Be a good person and buy the music. (I had mine on pre-order since the day it was available to pre-order but that doesn't make me a better person than anyone else. I still DL'ed the naughty version. I just couldn't wait. It's a long drive to college and I needed something new to listen to. :D )

The second thing about this album is how majestic it is. It's HUGE. Seriously, this album is, like, Fuji-esque. It's Everestial. Kilimanjarian? It's just very large and majestic, a tremendous undertaking. You really kinda don't want to listen to only half; like, you want to have a long enough car ride or whatever so that you can hear the whole thing. And by the way, it's nice and long, too. LOL that's what she said. Anyway.

The third thing about This Is War is, WHY HELLO SYNTHESIZERS. My personal tastes run more towards heavy guitar and light on the synths (if any at all) which is why I am still and forever will be in love with their first, self-titled album which I think is without flaw, lyrically and musically. In A Beautiful Lie, they started edging towards synthiness, but still with some mighty guitarishness, but the lyrics had shifted from being about ideas (self-titled) to these things that you humans call “emotions.” ABL was an album about relationships, whether with another person or with oneself. (*Snicker* Not in that way.)

On This Is War, while I could totally have done with a lot more guitar and bass and crunchiness, I really enjoy the more sociological direction of the lyrics. And—this is only my own personal interpretation—I feel like some of it is about last year's presidential election. But more on that later. Point is, there's some real poetry on this album, and once in a while a lyric startles me with its imagery. I dote on surprising metaphors and I am so pleased with many of these lyrics.

There's one other thing that I felt was missing on this album, and I also felt was missing on ABL, and it's this goddamn creepyass beautiful insane thing that JLeto does with his voice on the self-titled. I can't really explain unless you hear it, but on the s/t, he's got this quality that I call “the menacing buzz” where he makes his voice sound like an angry swarm of a hundred thousand bees, and he holds these notes for just about ever. It was mostly on the s/t era unreleased tracks. The only thing I can do is show you. My favorite 30 song (after Edge Of The Earth) is an unreleased one called Valhalla. Just go about a quarter of the way in, maybe a little sooner, to where he says “Play again, in the hopes that you'll know where you've been,” and he holds the word “been” in that menacing voice for about a thousand years. You can also hear it in the song Revolution, another unreleased one. Go in about ¾ or more to the end when he's singing “I'm an American” for the last time in the last chorus and, holy god he just holds that buzzing note like it's the last one he'll ever sing.

Gosh, me and my unreleased 30STM songs. O_O So sorry. Anyway, this is about the NEW album, so onward.

The other thing that's missing from the album is Matt Wachter. I do wonder if they'll ever replace him. Though there is bass on this album (and I suspect Jared Leto plays it, since homeboy can play every instrument he puts his hands on,) well, I still miss Matticus. 30 is a trio now. Oh well, it's kinda cool though, three being that first prime number and all. ^_^

Now, a run-down of the songs. All of them. And the parts that I love. Sometimes by the minute. ^_^ I'll be kind to my f-list and put the longer ones under a cut.

REVENGE.
“Prepare for judgment; only then will I get revenge...”

Guess what? This song is not on the album! It's a live song from a radio show that didn't make the cut. WHY? I want to know why. I'm putting it on my list anyway. It's gorgeous, just JLeto and Tomo playing guitars, and J showcasing his full and amazing range and control. Shades of Muse here. Whatever crazy minor key (I think?) that he's singing in here is spine-tingling. It's a brief song, but very soulful.

ESCAPE
“It's time to pay...”

Even briefer, but huge. Welcome to This Is War and please begin to notice our theme of, well, war. And betrayal, anger, heartbreak, and, yeah. War. Here's Shannon Leto, (the brother with the incredible eyes and best eyebrows ever, but that's a story for another time,) reminding me why he is ridiculously superior to most drummers I could name off the top of my head.

JLeto at 1:30 singing through clenched teeth: “It's time to pay,” is the best part of the song. No wait, I tell a lie. The chorus of “THIS IS WAR” (and I do mean “chorus” as 30STM gathered thousands of fans for various “summits” to sing huge background throughout the album,) with its creepy little half-step upslide at the end is the best part. :)


NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

“One, Two, Three, FIVE.”

No, seriously. The music stops in the middle and I'm pretty certain that this French lady says, “un, deux, trois, cinq.” Is this the Holy Hand Grenade or sommet? As this band is quite worldly, as the Letos speak a bit of French, and as the lady herself has an accent strong enough that she's probably a native speaker, I can only imagine that this was done on purpose.

Anyway, the beginning of this song always makes me start singing, “SLAVE SCREEEEEAMS” because you have no idea how much it sounds like the beginning of NIN's “Happiness In Slavery.” Really, listen to the two openings one after the next on iTunes or whatever and tell me I'm wrong. That doesn't make it bad, though, because the drums on both songs are intense and full of win.

(And then when he starts singing the lyrics, I automatically go into “Jumpin' Jack Flash” but that's just me.)

HOWEVER, this song is a great example of the poetry I was talking about earlier. ...hung from the tree made of tongues of the weak,
the branches were bones of liars and thieves... I am so into that kind of imagery.

This song sounds like dysfunctional robots in some places, and in others it's just plain heavy on the drums, which I LOVE. I like the guitar riff a lot, too, I just wish it was a little louder, a little more in front of the music rather than behind it. Tomo is so melodic, why not turn him up a little? That's just my opinion because I am a guitar fan. :)

2:05 – 2:20 is my favorite section, from “rise, rise...” to “scattered her ashes, buried her heart.” It's just something he's doing with his voice there, that works for me. And I love the lyrics.

I also really love it when the chorus kicks in with the background, as in most songs on this album. Yummy, huge music. I love crescendo and this album is full of them.

Then, there's this other thing that JLeto does a lot that I just dote on. Sometimes he just sings sounds - no words, just sounds. And he's getting a little ethnic with the melody and harmony once in a while in a way that I adore. He does it a lot on this album but this song is a good example of what I mean. It sounds almost Native American in some parts.

3:20 and on, Shannon owns this song.


The French ending, heh, kinda sounds like the indulgence of a snobby intellectual pleased with his own cleverness. And I say that as a snobby pseudo- intellectual often overly pleased with her own cleverness. ;D


KINGS AND QUEENS

"The age of man is over...."

Best known so far for its awesome mini-film "The Ride," about bicycle riders taking over LA in the name of the environment, this is the album's first single and beautifully displays their use of the fan-chorus background. The guitars here remind me a tad of solo David Gilmour, and I say that with such love because David Gilmour owns a little piece of my soul.

Anyway, this song has such a catchy chorus, it's a total earworm. You go to bed singing it and wake up singing it. Also, I love the strings in this song; more songs should have strings.

Tomo is being very subtle in this, but this song calls for his subtlety and I kinda love him for it.

I have two favorite parts. One: 2:45 - "In defense of our dreams," the harmony is very sweet. Other favorite part: 3:29 - “The age of man is over...” Not only do I love the lyrics here, the entire section, I can't get enough of the break in his voice at the beginning of this phrase, this perfect emotional imperfection. There's a Hawaiian word for this kind of vocal work in songs and chant: ho'omahie, which means to add charm to something by switching your sounds up, breaking your voice, doing something unexpected to cast a spell on the listener. This is one of the best examples of Western ho'omahie I've heard in a long time. (Although Lazzara from Taking Back Sunday is real good at this too. Anyway.)

That's Kings and Queens.



THIS IS WAR

"It's a brave new world..."

What's up, title track? I like this one; it's catchy, tuneful, and has those moments of music busting out of nowhere. I find the lyrics of the first part of this song a little repetitive, what-with the “to the right, to the left” etc. but that thing J's doing with the no-words singing here more than makes up for it. Also, check out the use of what I think is cello on this song. Such a nice touch to add depth in unexpected places.

2:29, there again is SLeto doing his incredible thing again. I love it when drums sound like marching drums, and obviously that's the intent behind his playing here. And maybe it is a little too obvious but I still love it. He's so damn good at what he does. I think Shannon is my favorite drummer, maybe ever.

My interpretation of this song is that it's about last year's presidential election, as I mentioned earlier. I felt that a few of the songs on here were about that or at least maybe a little inspired by it. On my first listen I thought it was maybe about the retarded lawsuit that their record company filed against them, but when I connected it (at least in my own brain) with the actual big picture, and thought about the time-frame when the lyrics were likely written, all of a sudden it seemed like it could be about Obama's ultimate victory. It's a brave new world; the war is won.

But maybe that's just 'cause that's how I felt last November. :)

4:04, the chorus kicks in with Leto's wordless melody and I just love it.



100 SUNS

"I believe in nothing..."

Yeah, yeah, it's just the second half of This Is War, but I'm treating it as its own song. Listen to that shift at 4:34, with the strings. And the shift in lyrics, too; the shift in the whole theme.

Here's the entire lyric:

I believe in nothing
Not the end and not the start
I believe in nothing
Not the earth and not the stars
I believe in nothing
Not the day and not the dark
I believe in nothing
But the beating in our hearts
I believe in nothing
One-hundred suns until we part
I believe in nothing
Not in sin and not in god
I believe in nothing
Not in peace and not in war
I believe in nothing
But the truth and who we are

(On the official version, the chorus / audience breaks into applause. ^_^ )

It's the geek in me that hears zen, Taoism, reincarnation and quantum reality in those lyrics. QUALIA. Nothing really exists unless consciousness is there to make it real, and that is the only truth. Not war, not the sun, not the stars, not space or people or cities, kingdoms, god, heaven or hell. Just consciousness.

(BTW, the lyrics on some random web page read “one hundred times until we part.” Seriously people, the name of the song is “100 suns.” Think a little.)

Shoots, I know he probably didn't mean it exactly like that, but he's got his fingers right on the carotid of quantum physics and I kind of very much love him for that, even if he didn't do it on purpose. :)


HURRICANE (My favorite track so far! And, so sorry, but I'm using the uncut, unreleased version, 'cause I favor that one.)

"Where is your god? Where is your god? Where is your god?"

Big-time religious overtones in this one, and they're not the last time you hear them on this album. My interpretation? Someone's been tormented by some hardcore religious right type, and I'm not gonna mention any names but his initials are Jared Leto. BUT! That of course is coming through my filter, as someone who's been tormented by hardcore religious right types. Or actually, just zealots of any kind. I often wonder why people get so closely involved with someone who has such vastly different views; involved enough to end up writing a lyric like this:

@2:35 “Do you really want / Do you really want me / Do you really want me dead? Or alive, to torture for my sins?” Without question, the most captivating lyric on the album; one doesn't want to imagine the answer. However the most striking part of this phrase is the way he sings it, in that shredded scream of his. He can absolutely hit every note under the sun without screaming, so it's for a reason. A question like “Do you really want me dead?” in any other kind of voice would border on hyperbole and make me scoff, but to my unending surprise, every time I hear it, the anguish sounds sincere and I can't scoff. I'm scoffless.

Tangentially, I am always judgmentally baffled when someone who is beautiful seems to have this world of agony. I must specify that I know this is judgmental and unfair of me, but as someone very plain who has often (and wrongly, I know) thought that my problems would be magically solved if I were suddenly gorgeous, my first reaction to beautiful people talking about heartbreak is, “Yeah, right. People hand you the world, and themselves, and their hearts.” Again: I know this is wrong of me, but there's that cynical part of me always going, “Oh, the agony of being hot and talented!” I know it's my own bitterness talking! And that beautiful people can know just as much melancholy as the not-so-beautiful. I am also aware of the fact that Jleto could have easily spent his entire life on his looks, doing romantic comedies and making a billion trillion bucks, but he doesn't. He took a huge chance walking away from blockbusters to do challenging roles, and he took an even bigger chance walking away from movies (mostly) to follow his bliss. His bliss is clearly music, and is much riskier for him. BTW, to anyone who doesn't know much about 30, Jared does some of this out of pocket, and I understand that once in a while the band actually about breaks even. JLeto could have done “easy and unchallenging” and he didn't. I respect that.

(It's just that, jeez, I so wish he would find himself a kind woman who is at least as intelligent as he is, because I mean, come on, Paris(ite) Hilton? That's bleach-worthy. It's like, lay off the trashy, stringy blondes and find yourself someone as clever, compassionate and socially aware as you are. And take people out of your life whom you suspect might hate you enough to wish you dead or tortured. Homeboy is better than that.)

This could of course be a case of me reading way too much into it, but isn't that was lyrics are for? To interpret, and to fit them into your paradigm?

I'm also compelled to add that it was the same could-be-hyperbole that drew me to this band in the first place, via the brilliant (if overplayed [BY ME]) “The Kill.””Look at my eyes; you're killing me, killing me” and all of that, plus the wickedly brilliant video and ¾ time, and I was in love with 30. :)

/tangent

Anyway.

@ 2:50, and again at 3:36 Shannon switches it up but good in a way so clever as to match the tone of Kanye West's section. I think many less subtle drummers would have kept banging away like nothing ever happened, but SLeto plays drums like a melody. (Although tbh 3:36 sounds synthy rather than organic drums.)

I do love the part with Kanye, I am just confused as to why the autotune? I hate autotune, trufax. However, shamelessly, my favorite part of that whole section is “And then you call upon god!”

WTF, I liked when Kanye was on it. And I'm certainly not a Kanye fan or anything. I'm so torn on this song. It's my favorite, I love it. I liked Kanye's part but hated the autotune.


I like the end of this song, the little robot sounds, because they fit the cold tone of the entire song. Of note: the CD version has a verse added that was not on the naughty copy; it replaces Kanye's part. I'm flummoxed why they dropped him from the released version, however the added verse is beautiful.


CLOSER TO THE EDGE

"We all fall short of glory..."

I'm not wild about this title and I wish they'd named it something else. A few titles on this CD are like that for me; they sound a little common I guess and with the rest of the poetry, I think they could have thought of less obvious titles.

Though I think if I had to choose a least favorite song on the CD it would be this one. I'm really not fond of the synth on this one, and even the piano parts kind of throw me back to 1983.

What saves this song is the melody of the lyrics, and the fan-chorus. That's the only time the song gets really big. However, I do wake up singing this song. Like I said, the melody is real catchy.

If I'm on a quick ride, this is the one I skip.


VOX POPULI (I wish they'd named the CD Vox Populi.)

"Stamp, stamp, clap!"

I know, I know, Queen invented it. It still sounds cool though, and I am really fond of the fan-chorus, again. And again, in the guitar parts I hear solo David Gilmour.

This song, the melody and everything, is exactly what it sounds like: “This is a battle song, brothers and sisters, time to go to war.” One thing I can tell you is that this is going to be a blast during live shows. ^_^

And here's me, reading the presidential election into the lyrics again. I don't know, I mean the whole band is really forward-thinking and active about their passion. Their passion is environmental issues and I appreciate that so much. I like to think that they're talking about changing the world again. ^_^

Anyway, maybe I overinterpret. :)



SEARCH AND DESTROY

"I’m no Jesus, but, neither are you, my friend..."

Yet again I wish they'd named it something less common. AGAIN I'm not wild about the keyboard stuff, but I do love when the song kicks in, and JLeto is having so much fun with his beautiful voice that it's hard not to have fun along with him. I think that SLeto is underused on this one though.

Shades of Robert Plant @2:10 with “I believe, I believe, I believe.” I somehow always like that lyric in just about any song, and it doesn't even matter what the singer is talking about believing. He could be like “I believe I'll have Pop Tarts for breakfast” and if s/he can make me believe, I'm all about it.

I love what he does @3:30, on “let me go” only because I really enjoy his control of those half-steps.

And with the fan-chorus, it's so weird because they're doing the wordless melody singing again that is so Jared, it's strange to hear it coming from all those thousands of people but at the same time it's really cool.

A little repetitive towards the end.



ALIBI

"I fell apart, but got back up again..."

This is just gorgeous. It's the kind of song that comes late on the CD and I never quite hear the beginning of it the first time because it's kinda slow and quiet. Then eventually I start to actually hear what I'm listening to. Or listen to what I'm hearing? And it takes me a few listens to get the full effect. And then it's just chicken skin!

I love the keyboard in this, love the subtle drums, love the melody of the guitar.

I love JLeto's wordless singing. There's something really organic (native?) about when he does that and I can't say enough about it. I just adore it @4:00. But the best part is @4:24. OMG, the strength and passion. Take a listen and tell me I'm wrong.


Nana korobi - ya oki. Fall seven times and get up eight. This song is beautiful. I love it all the way to the end.


STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND

"If you're looking for Jesus, then get on your knees..."

Uhh, hey this title makes me think of Iron Maiden. Again I wish they'd used a different title, because there are so many interesting lines to choose from. But hey, it's not the title I'm listening to, right? This is one of my favorites on the album, so, onward.

Oh, Shannon! ^_^ I just love the deep, dark drums on this. And I even kind of like the synth because it's all creepy-crawly. This entire song has a very coiled, tense feeling.

Starting @1:22, take a listen and tell me that doesn't sound like the opening of Pink Floyd's “Time” but without the ticking clocks. (The real opening of Time, not the annoying ticking and alarms.)

However, hello NIN-type opening lyric. That kind of lyric made my eyeballs pop out of my head and made me go W00T! in 1990 but then I got over it. ;) However, I am kinda tempted to burn JLeto's village down just to become his enemy. LULZ JUST KIDDING.

Around 2:27 ish and after, I love the way this song just kicks out the “dark vampire club vibe” jam. Seriously, couldn't you just drink blood under blacklights to this?

@3:46, this is my favorite part: “Better go, GO, GO!”

@4:27 I love the drums, I love the dying scream, and, by the way, I love the DRUMS.

@5:00 ish is that wordless singing again but this time it's just goddamn creepy and spooky and AWESOME and, yeah, really hot. It almost tastes kind of middle eastern.

@5:30 is probably my favorite part where it fades out and then fades back in.


Best creepy song ending ever: the smothered fade-out. I don't even know what the hell he's saying, but I love it.


L490 / EQUINOX

What can I say? JLeto says that SLeto played every instrument on this song. I think SLeto just stared at all the instruments with his eerie greengold-ish cat-eyes until they played what he wanted by themselves.

Whatever's going on from 3:15 to the end, I have no idea WTF. It is creepy enough when I play it in my car on the way home at night on long, unlit roads. But when I played it tonight on my computer and my dog jumped up and started staring at the door, it full on scared the everloving christ out of me. THANKS, GUYS! Naw, but I'm down with the creepy stuff, for real, I am all about creepy.

BTW, L490 is Naproxen. WTF?

Anyway, that's the end of the version(s) of the album that I have. I understand that there's a song you can only get on iTunes and I think it's a synthy remix of Kings and Queens. I'll take my K&Q straight up and organic, thanks, but I'm sure it's supercool.

And that's that! There's my crazy review of this entire album start to finish. I ♥ this band, and this album is a mixture of their old ideas with a new sound. It's catchy, with melodic guitars and songs that stick to your brain like peanut butter. Yadda yadda dicker dicker blah, typical review wrap-up, right? Enough of that! This Is War is dark, cold, heavy on the drums, and JLeto's got this incredible voice and amazing control and the good sense to play around with his stratospheric talent instead of being safe. The album is full of ideas and notions, but as cold as it sounds, it doesn't lack passion. This is a winter album for sure.

Its two biggest themes are revenge, and Jesus. I don't deny that I'm seriously curious where the Jesus stuff comes in. I can take a guess at the “revenge” part (part ridiculous lawsuit, part some personal betrayal, I'd wager,) but the “Wow, the religious right totally wronged me” stuff has me A) wondering and B) wanting to share a high-five of empathy.

Do go out and take a listen to This Is War. Even if you think it's maybe not your type of music, take a free quick listen on iTunes and see if anything catches your fancy. Perhaps you all might like it. It's sure different. :D

And wow, I can't wait till they come back out to NY so I can be part of the fan-chorus.

Comments

[torkell]

Wow, that's a pretty in-depth review. I picked up This Is War a couple of weeks ago, as well as their first album, and have been listening to them quite a bit (both albums are currently on my MP3 player). It was a combination of your mad fangirling and hearing Echelon in the credits for The Core that got me into 30STM, and it's definitely my type of music. That said, there's not much which isn't my type of music - I remember well a housemate at uni poking his head round the door and asking "just what sort of music do you like" (the answer: anything that's not tatty pop). Anyway, on to the songs:

Night of the Hunter: after reading this I now always think "Jumpin' Jack Flash" when listening to it. What's worse is I now think of Elite Beat Agents as well when listening to it (JJF is the final song in that). I blame you for that one :) And yeah, it is "One, Two, Three, Five" in the middle. Possibly they choose that because it sounds better than "Un, Deux, Trois, Quatre".

Kings and Queens: this one surprised me when I heard it, as it's different to the radio version. The radio edit skips the hawk/falcon cry and starts straight with the drums at about 0:35.

Vox Populi: this is my favourite. The lyrics remind me a bit of VNV Nation's Advance and Follow album - that has a similar war theme to it, though much darker.

Stranger in a Strange Land: this time it's the heavy synth intro that makes me think VNV Nation. Of course, then it turns into something completely different - VNV Nation is a sort of dance/synth sound, not rock.

L490 (interestingly, this track on the album is titled just "L490"): This one is... strange, to say the least, and feels like three songs rather than one. You've got the droning at the start, which sounds like a Tibetan prayer bowl (that's a brass bowl that resonates when you gently rub it with a felt stick). Then there's a bit of light guitar, and then the chanting. The very creepy chanting, which is rather unsettling to listen to. Weird.