In 2009, 30 Seconds To Mars released their third studio album This is War. Click “Read More” for my review of it.Before it was recorded, the band was sued for breach-of-contract by their record label Virgin Records, in mid-2008. The label sought thirty million dollars in damages, claiming that the band had failed to produce three of the five records they were obligated to deliver under their 1999 contract with the now-defunct Immortal Records. In 2004, Virgin took over the contract.After nearly a year of the lawsuit battle, the band announced on April 29, 2009, that the case had been settled. The suit was resolved following a defence based on a contract case involving actress Olivia de Havilland decades before. Leto explained, “The California Appeals Court ruled that no service contract in California is valid after seven years, and it became known as the De Havilland Law after she used it to get out of her contract with Warner Bros.“ 30 Seconds to Mars then decided to re-sign with EMI (the parent label of Virgin). Leto said the band had “resolved our differences with EMI” and the decision had been made because of “the willingness and enthusiasm by EMI to address our major concerns and issues, (and) the opportunity to return to work with a team so committed and passionate about Thirty Seconds to Mars”. He said it was “the most challenging business obstacle that we’ve ever gone through as a band.” Upon completion of the record, Leto spoke of the troubles the band faced whilst working on This Is War; “We spent two years of our lives working on that record, and it was us against the world… There were times that it was overwhelming. Everything that was going on was brutal… It was a case of survival, to tell the truth.”
As difficult as it was to get this album out, I think it defiantly paid off. It’s a great concept album, and much more electronic and experimental than their previous work, although in all honestly I enjoy all of their albums a far bit. Some of the tracks show a lot of emotion, such as “100 Suns”, and “Alibi”. I wish “100 Suns” didn’t just stop after the acoustic part, because to me it sounds like an intro to another part of the song. Instead, you hear a crowd cheering, as if it was performed live, even though it wasn’t. That is why I enjoy the song “Alibi” a little more, because after a long, quiet intro, it builds up and thats when the song really begins. I’d have to say the best songs on this great record are “Vox Populi” and “Alibi”.
They toured in support of this album for a long two years, and I almost got the chance to see them perform live in Winnipeg, MB in September, 2011. Three days before the show, I read online that it was cancelled.. and no one knew why. I was extremely disappointed (and still am) but I can’t hold that against the band as I’m sure they had their reasons. If you’ve seen them live, I’m extremely jealous of you. If you haven’t listened to this band/album, check it out. It’s worth your time.
