30 Seconds To Mars — A Beautiful Lie

A Beautiful Lie

Virgin/EMI

Christine Estima (CHARTattack)

08/16/2005 4:39pm

Half-rate talent Jared Leto and his gang deliver the standardized "tortured-rock" wank-fest that makes up A Beautiful Lie. These boys have ample doses of intensity and grinding fury, but little substance, not to mention originality. With trite refrains of "bury me," "you're killing me" and "you break me down" carbon-copied in almost all 10 tracks, 30 Seconds To Mars rely too heavily on stock emotions rather than actual ability to convey whatever convoluted message they hope to deliver. Just reading over the song titles speaks to their one-track mind — "Was It A Dream?" "A Beautiful Lie," "The Fantasy," "A Modern Myth" — dream, lie, fantasy, myth: words of disillusionment, which is exactly what you'll feel after one listen. Now I know why Edward Norton ripped Leto's face off in Fight Club.

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