A Beautiful Lie

11/08/2005 8:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

It should come as no surprise that 30 Seconds To Mars leader Jared Leto has spent most of the past 15 years acting in films such as Requiem For A Dream, Fight Club and American Psycho, since one only has to listen to the first few bars of “Attack,” the lead-off cut from 30 Seconds To Mars’ second album A Beautiful Lie to hear the cinematic drama that Leto’s determined to attain at any cost necessary. Not unlike U2 in their massive ambitions, 30 Sec employ grand technology to create a most melodramatic illusion. A Beautiful Lie is not a concept album, but it is a tightly constructed collection of songs that segue into one another with the flow of a narrative arc, tension building and slowly peaking. Leto has the trademarked hard rock bravado down cold. His vocals bleed “conviction,” “angst” and “Dammit, I forgot to pick up milk.” It’s only a matter of time before his world domination plans are fully revealed. You’ve been warned.