30STM have come a long way, which is acceptable in some aspect, considering they’ve been around since 1998.
Long gone are the days of huge hits such as ‘Kings and Queens’ and ‘The Kill’. Gone are the days when they genuinely identified as a rock group, and incredible albums such as “A Beautiful Lie” and “This War” have now become a distant memory, fast forward to 2018, and 30 Seconds to Mars released their 5th album ‘America’.
First of all, I’ll start by commenting on the cover. It conveys a very similar feeling, it strikes an uncanny resemblance to Kasabian’s iconic album 48:13… But maybe that’s just me.
Furthermore, I can see where the names on the front are going, but is there any need? Obviously, the band here are trying to literally -name drop- iconic celebrities on the front, whether for a good or negative reason is unclear, one can only assume negative and a desperate attempt to receive recognition for identifying these key people…as if we didn’t already know.
The album itself has shown 30STM’s evolution through the years but feels as if they have lost themselves along the way. The new album kicks off with ‘Walk on Water’ which shows elements of their previous rock background, especially with big shouty parts “Times are Changing”.
On the album, the only track which resembles the group, and is a personal favourite for me is “Rescue Me” 30STM has intertwined tinges of modernism within their roots which results in a strong and catchy track. “America” is plagued with really embarrassing attempts at trying to be cool and in with the times. Appearances from A$AP Rocky and Halsey are unnecessary and don’t fit at all with the image.
It feels as if the group have suddenly raised expectations of themselves, but nobody else has, as if they have become cognitively inert, hereby meaning when they think that they’re doing so well they can just release any old pile of shit and it will sell.
What’s worse is we know that this trio has an undeniable amount of talent, yet it is hard to see any of this through their latest release. Each song being extremely beige and hardly memorable, with the exception of ‘Remedy’ the only acoustic track on the album, gives us a glimpse into what could have been.
If the album was poor, their show in Manchester was even poorer. Jared Leto barely attempting to sing any of his any past songs, giving it all to the crowd looked like he was basically ‘done with it’. Not to mention he was wearing tracksuit bottoms, when has that ever been a thing? To top it all off, Leto went all political. Hear me out, I’m all about using your platform to voice your opinions in a positive way, but by monologing about politics when everyone here is just waiting to have a good time it’s possibly not the right time or place.
All in all, considering all the high hopes literally EVERYONE had for this group, has diminished into the god complex they all posses now. Yes okay, you have a budding acting career, and yes okay you’ve had some really great albums previously, but that does not mean you can release any old modern day crap that you think is super marketable and it be successful, because it isnt and it’s not.
I’m sorry 30stm, think it’s time for the kill… of your musical career.
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