This is lame

30 Seconds to Mars, actor Jared Leto’s band, haven’t released an album in four years, and during that time they were seemingly being “reborn” both spiritually and musically – as a mediocre band.
    
2005’s “A Beautiful Lie” was far from revolutionary, but it had its post-grunge, sweeping arena rock charm. The band’s newest effort, “This Is War” is bloated, pretentious and laughable at certain points because Jared Leto is taking himself and his lyrics way, way too seriously.
    
Nine of the 12 tracks on “This is War” clock in at over five minutes, and nearly all of them feature misplaced gang vocals, choirs, self-congratulating cheers or a number of other unnecessary sounds that don’t add anything to the song except that show listeners we should take this album really seriously because it has a message.
    
The lyrics are just the same, with Leto screeching about a fictitious brave new world on the title track, asking if killing to save a life is okay on “Hurricane” and worrying about running from angels on “Stranger In A Strange Land.”
    
“War” is way too impressed with itself and its deeper meaning that doesn’t really exist. Leto and his bandmates fail to recognize the that adding a bunch of nonsense to songs doesn’t make them sound more “epic,” especially when the lyrics are pitiful.