30 Seconds to Mars (album)

Infobox Album|
Name = 30 Seconds to Mars


Type = Album
Artist = 30 Seconds to Mars
Released = August 27, 2002
Recorded = Cherokee Studios The Center for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound
Genre = Progressive metal
Alternative metal
Post grunge
Industrial rock
Length = 50:20
Label = Virgin, Immortal
Producer = Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue, 30 Seconds to Mars
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|2|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:o267mp9j9f6o link]
* "Rolling Stone" [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/118966/30_seconds_to_mars/ link]
*Stereology (6/10) [http://stereology.de/?site=album&albid=68 link]
Last album =
This album = "30 Seconds to Mars" (2002)
Next album = "Acoustic Live Radio Show (EP)" (2002)
Misc = Singles
Name = 30 Seconds to Mars
Type = studio
single 1 = Capricorn (A Brand New Name)
single 2 = Edge of the Earth
single 1 date = 2002
single 2 date = 2002

"30 Seconds to Mars" is the debut album of alternative rock band 30 Seconds to Mars and can best be described as a concept album. It was released on August 27, 2002, by Virgin Records. The album produced two singles, "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" and "Edge of the Earth." Of the two, only the former charted, peaking at #31 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. "30 Seconds to Mars" met with mixed reviews and achieved sales of just over 100,000.

The overall theme of the album is of that of human struggle. "Revolution," a song recorded for the album, was not included because its lyrics did not fit the rest of the album thematically, and because its lyrics could be misinterpretedFact|date=June 2008. Ultimately, the band chose not to include the song in light of the September 11, 2001 attacks.ref|shoutweb

Two other tracks were recorded for the album: "Phase 1: Fortification" and "Anarchy in Tokyo"; "Phase 1: Fortification" was included on a promotional single for "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" released in the UK, and "Anarchy in Tokyo" was included as a bonus track with the Japanese release of the album.

The lyrics of the hidden track, "The Struggle," were taken from Sun Tzu's "The Art of War".

Much of "30 Seconds to Mars" features synthpop elements. In accordance to this, Elijah Blue Allman and Renn Hawkey of Deadsy contributed on the tracks "Welcome to the Universe" and "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)," respectively.

The song "Echelon" was played during the ending credits of the film "The Core", which was released in 2003.

The phrase 'Welcome to the universe' is repeated throughout the album in the songs "Welcome to the Universe", "93 Million Miles", and "The Struggle". The original name for the album was going to be "Welcome to the Universe". Additionally, "division" and "unity" are repeated in the lyrics of the songs "Oblivion", "Echelon", "End of the Beginning", "93 Million Miles", and "The Struggle". 93 million miles is the average distance from Earth to the Sun.ref|NASA

Track listing

All songs by Jared Leto

#"Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" – 3:53
#"Edge of the Earth" – 4:37
#"Fallen" – 4:57
#"Oblivion" – 3:27
#"Buddha for Mary" – 5:43
#"Echelon" – 5:47
#"Welcome to the Universe" – 2:38
#"The Mission" – 4:02
#"End of the Beginning" – 4:37
#"93 Million Miles" – 5:18
#"Year Zero" (Includes bonus track "The Struggle") – 7:52
#"Anarchy in Tokyo" (Includes bonus track "The Struggle") - 7:25 (Japanese Edition bonus track)

DVD extras

*"Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" (Multimedia) (Video) – 3:33
*Behind the Scenes Footage (Multimedia) (Video) – 5:52

Performance line-up

*Solon Bixler — guitarist
*Jared Leto — guitar, vocalist
*Shannon Leto — drummer
*Matt Wachter — Bassist, Keyboardist

Personnel

* Produced by Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue and 30 Seconds to Mars
* Synth on "Echelon" by Brian Virtue
* Piano on "The Mission" by Bob Ezrin
* Additional synth on "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" by Dr. Nner
* Additional programming on "Oblivion" by Joe Bishara
* Additional bass and guitar on "Welcome to the Universe" by Phillips Exeter Blue I
* Additional guitar on "Welcome to the Universe," "93 Million Miles" and "Year Zero" by Solon Bixler
* Additional synth on "93 Million Miles" by Solon Bixler
* Additional bass on "Buddha for Mary," "End of the Beginning" and "93 Million Miles" by Jeffery Jaeger
* Additional guitar on "End of the Beginning" by Jeffery Jaeger
* Phillips Exeter Blue I and Dr. Nner appear courtesy Dreamworks Records
* Photography: Shannon Leto
* Additional photography: Ken Schles
* Creative direction: Mary Fagot
* Design: Eric Roinestad
* Art direction, concepts and iconography: 30 Seconds to Mars
* Legal: Eric Greenspan
* Management: Arthur Spivak (Spivak/Sobol Entertainment)
* Business management: Dian Vaughn and Mark Walker Assante
* U.S. booking: Creative Arts Agency (CAA), John Marks, John Branigan and William Morris
* UK booking: Mike Dewdney (ITB)

References

# Redmon, Jess. [http://web.archive.org/web/20050305051947/http://www.shoutweb.com/interviews/30secondstomars0502.phtml Shoutweb.com: On the Record: 30 Seconds to Mars: Welcome to their universe] (May 2002). Accessed April 5, 2006.
# Baalke, Ron. [http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/glossary/au.html NASA.gov: Glossary: Astronomical Unit (AU)] (May 2007). Accessed May 25, 2007.