Thirty Seconds to Mars' debut album, which bears the band's name, was released on August 27, 2002.
Thirty Seconds to Mars was founded by the Leto brothers in 1998, Jared Leto is the most famous of the two since he is a very successful film actor (Suicide Squad, Lord of War, Dallas Buyers Club, Requiem for a Dream and many more great ones).
Anyone familiar with the last two in parentheses knows that Jared is a super-talented actor who performs roles that require dramatic mental and physical change. We encounter a lot of singers who become actors or actors who become singers, in most cases, the matter is not really successful and the talent does not exactly flow to the other areas. But in this case, Jared's musical talent is enormous, both in his ability to sing, in his ability to write, and in his ability to produce. Undoubtedly the guy is an avant-garde artist in every limb of his body.
Jared took on the role of guitars and bass and Shannon Leto took on the role of percussion, meaning Jared does everything and Shannon supports him. The two have played together since childhood and have always dreamed of creating music and forming a band.
So after a lot of sessions and rehearsals together they decided to expand and take on guitarist Solon Bixler and guitarist bassist Kevin Drake. The four have been plowing the little Los Angeles clubs for several years while at the same time, Jared finishes writing for the debut album. Along the way, they record a number of songs for the demo that rolled between the record companies and found itself on Immortal Records' contract with the band in 1999.
(Photo: Chuff Media)
In 2001 they decided to move into a secluded studio in Wyoming with producer Bob Ezrin producing bands like Pink Floyd, Alice Copper, Kiss, and more big and good. What a pleasure to take a producer you grew up on his records to show you the way and guide you on your first album, they felt he was the only one who could help them create the music they wanted.
He helped them create an album with depth and meaning, understand the structure that the album should have, and direct them to create a whole concept rather than a collection of songs. The other producer who helped them on the album and also played some of the instruments was Brian Virtue who also produced big bands like Audioslave, Jane’s Addiction, Deftones, and more.
The album was a concept album that focuses on human struggle and self-definition, Jared used personal texts that use elements and ideas from other worlds to illustrate real personal situations. Sounds a bit delusional and dramatic right? That’s how he is Jared, a frantically creative avant-garde artist who tries to use all his senses.
The album combines sounds of rock and advanced metal with influences and elements from the new wave, "space" rock, and electronics but most of it feels like strong hard rock.
This is without a doubt a very dynamic, different, and interesting album !!
We really like this band that even performed in Israel at the beginning of the big break that came with their second album.
Listen to the album on: Spotify, Apple Music