The band's debut album, 30 Seconds to Mars (2002), was produced by Bob Ezrin and released to positive reviews but only to limited commercial success. The band achieved worldwide fame with the release of its second album A Beautiful Lie (2005), which received multiple certifications all over the world. Its next release, This Is War (2009), showed a dramatic evolution in the band's musical style, as it incorporated experimental music as well as eclectic influences. The recording process of the album was marked by a legal dispute with record label EMI that eventually became the subject of the documentary film Artifact (2012). Thirty Seconds to Mars then moved to Universal Music and released the fourth album, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013), to critical and commercial success. It was followed by America (2018), which polarized critics upon release. Their newest, It's the End of the World but It's a Beautiful Day, released on September 15, 2023.
As of September 2014, the band had sold over 15 million albums worldwide. Thirty Seconds to Mars has consistently enjoyed sold out tours and numerous headlining festival slots. The band is noted for its energetic live performances and for fusing elements from a wide variety of genres, through its use of philosophical and spiritual lyrics, concept albums, and experimental music. Thirty Seconds to Mars has received several awards and accolades throughout its career, including a Guinness World Record, and has been included in the Kerrang! list of best artists of the 2000s.
Band's Logo
The band's phoenix logo.The band's phoenix logo (which the band named "Mithra") bears the phrase "Provehito in Altum", the band's motto, roughly translated from Latin as "Launch forth into the deep", but a more stylized version would be "Rocket in(to) High(ness)" or "March The Skies". The logo was primarily used for promotion of the band's debut, whereas for A Beautiful Lie, the new Trinity logo was created consisting of three skulls, along with the band's name and motto. For This Is War, the band has adopted the alchemical symbol for air, continuing on the sky/air theme.
The Echelon
The Echelon is a publicity street team for the band 30 Seconds to Mars, which helps in bringing friends to the shows, phoning local radio stations to request the band's songs, putting up posters, posting to band forums or related bulletin boards online, voting for the band in official award nominations and maintaining magazines or websites dedicated to the band. It is also the name of one of their songs in the album 30 Seconds to Mars.
Studio albums:
30 Seconds to Mars - 2002
Their debut self-titled album, 30 Seconds to Mars, released on August 27, 2002 in the United States through Immortal and Virgin. Jared Leto described the record as a concept album that focuses on human struggle and self-determination, in which otherworldly elements and conceptual ideas are used to illustrate a truthful personal situation. The album reached #107 on the US Billboard 200 and number one on the US Top Heatseekers, selling 121,000 copies in the United States alone. It was preceded by the single "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)", which peaked at number 31 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and entered the top ten of the UK Rock Chart. Upon its release, 30 Seconds to Mars was met with mostly positive reviews; a critic felt that the band has "managed to carve out a unique niche for themselves in the rock realm." Although the album was a slow-burning success, it eventually sold two million copies worldwide as of March 2011.
A Beautiful Lie - 2005
A Beautiful Lie was released on August 30, 2005 in the United States. Because the album was leaked five months before its release, the band decided to include two bonus tracks: "Battle of One" (an original song that was also set to be the album's title track when it was first announced) and "Hunter" (a cover of the Björk song).
It has since been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has reached platinum and gold status in several countries, with a sales total of over four million. It was led by "Attack", which made its radio debut on June 6, 2005 and became the most added track on American modern rock radio during its first week of release.
During 2005, Thirty Seconds to Mars released the album's second single, "The Kill", which set a record for the longest-running hit in the history of the US Modern Rock chart when it remained on the national chart for more than 50 weeks, following its number three peak in 2006. Its music video, directed by Jared Leto under the pseudonym of Bartholomew Cubbins, received a largely positive response and numerous accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award.
This Is War - 2009
This is War released through Virgin Records and EMI on December 8, 2009. Upon its release, it peaked at #18 on the Billboard 200.
Leto described the style as "much more electronic and experimental, with lots of vintage synths." Leto also mentioned that he had written lyrics about some themes he felt were missing from their previous work, such as optimism and sexuality only for the song "Stranger in a Strange Land".
The music video for the song "Hurricane" was banned by MTV and several other TV channels around the world. The video, which runs for 13 minutes and 10 seconds and was directed by Jared Leto under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbin, premiered on MTV on November 29, 2010. The video was censored and banned because of its elements of violence, nudity and sex. On November 28, 2010, Jared Leto posted the letter from MTV about the censorship of the video on his blog. The list features the offending scenes, such as a woman running her finger on the anus of another G-string woman, which was classified as "restricted". It was only this shot which had made the video completely restricted.
Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams - 2013
Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (stylized as LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS) was released through Virgin Records on May 17, 2013. Upon release, peaked #6 on the Billboard 200 and sold 52,000 copies in its first week of release.
Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams is a concept album revolving around the themes after which the album is named. The album is divided into four segments, each named Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, with the beginning of each segment declared by a female voice proclaiming the name of the segment before the beginning of a song or at the end of an interlude which introduces the next segment of the album.
A more specific album concept can be seen inside the CD. It is recognized by four colors, with the color red standing for Love, yellow for Lust, green for Faith, and blue for Dreams. LOVE contains "Birth" and "Conquistador". LUST contains "Up in the Air", "City of Angels", "The Race", "End of All Days" and "Pyres of Varanasi". FAITH contains "Bright Lights", "Do or Die" and "Convergence". DREAMS contains "Northern Lights", and "Depuis Le Début".
"Up in the Air" was released as the lead single from Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams on March 19, 2013. A CD copy of the single was sent to NASA and SpaceX for launch aboard the Dragon spacecraft on SpaceX CRS-2. The mission was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket on March 1, 2013, sending the first ever commercial copy of music into space. The spacecraft berthed and docked with the International Space Station on March 3, 2013, making the single available to play by the Expedition 35 crew aboard the station. The song made its worldwide debut aboard the station on March 18, 2013 and was released as a Digital download single on iTunes the next day. The music video was released on April 19, 2013 worldwide on Vevo.
"City of Angels" was sent to US Modern rock radio as a promotional single from Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams on July 23, 2013. A music video for "City of Angels", featuring Bartholomew Cubbins as director, was released onto YouTube on October 29, 2013. It was shot over two days on August 18 and 19, 2013, in Los Angeles, California.
"Do or Die" was released as a promotional single from Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams on September 9, 2013 in Europe. During the Summer European Tour, Jared confirmed the band was recording footage for a live video for the song. The music video was released on August 5, 2013 worldwide on Vevo.
Vox Populi
30 Seconds to Mars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Time to go to war
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
Did you ever believe?
Were you ever a dreamer?
Ever imagine heart open and free?
Were you ever a traitor?
Ever in love with your blood-lust disease?
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
Ever want to be free?
Do you even remember?
Want to beguile the devil like me?
Ever want to just stop?
Do you want to surrender?
Or fight for victory?
Here we are at the start, I can feel the beating of our hearts
Here we are at the start
Darkness falls, here comes the rain to wash away, the past and the names
Darkness falls, here comes the rain to end it all, the blood and the game
Far, far away in a land that time can't change
Long, long ago in a place of hearts and gold
Far, far away in a land that time can't change
Long, long ago in a place of hearts and gold
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war (Far, far away)
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war (Long, long ago)
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war (Far, far away)
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
This is a call to arms, way of the night
This is a battle song, way of the night
Here we are at the start.
The song "Vox Populi" by 30 Seconds to Mars is a call to arms for unity and fighting for a cause. The lyrics emphasize the idea of going to war, but not in a traditional sense of violence and bloodshed. It's more of a metaphorical war that individuals must fight for what they believe in, without compromising their values.
The song begins with the line "This is a call to arms, gather soldiers." This can be interpreted as a call to come together to make a change, to fight for what's right. The idea of the "battle song" also reinforces the theme of taking a stand and making a difference. The second verse questions whether the listener ever believed, dreamed or imagined a life free of restrictions and constraints, and whether they ever denied or betrayed their own beliefs.
The chorus repeats the call to arms, emphasizing the idea that it's time to take action rather than just talking about making changes. The bridge introduces a new element, darkness and rain, which could represent the cleansing of the past and the start of a new beginning. The final verses evoke the imagery of a distant land and time, reinforcing the idea of a fight that is not just about the present but for the future.
Line by Line Meaning
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Let's get ready for war by rallying our troops and preparing our weapons
Time to go to war
It's time to engage in a fierce battle with our opponents
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Let's unite as siblings in this fight by listening to this song that will rouse our spirits
Did you ever believe?
Have you ever had faith in something before?
Were you ever a dreamer?
Have you ever had aspirations and idealistic thoughts?
Ever imagine heart open and free?
Have you ever envisioned yourself being emotionally liberated and unrestrained?
Did you ever deny?
Have you ever refused to acknowledge something that was true?
Were you ever a traitor?
Have you ever betrayed someone or something that you promised to be loyal to?
Ever in love with your blood-lust disease?
Have you ever been so immersed in violence and aggression that you became obsessed with it?
Ever want to be free?
Have you ever yearned to be unburdened and liberated?
Do you even remember?
Do you recall your past hopes and dreams?
Want to beguile the devil like me?
Do you aspire to deceive and charm your adversaries like I do?
Ever want to just stop?
Have you ever wanted to put an end to everything?
Do you want to surrender?
Do you want to admit defeat and give up?
Or fight for victory?
Or do you want to put up a fight to win the war?
Here we are at the start, I can feel the beating of our hearts
We are now at the beginning of our mission, and I can sense our hearts racing with anticipation and adrenaline
Darkness falls, here comes the rain to wash away, the past and the names
As the night descends and the rain pours down, the past and our identities will be washed away to start anew
Darkness falls, here comes the rain to end it all, the blood and the game
The darkness and rain will bring an end to the bloodshed and conflict that we have been fighting for so long
Far, far away in a land that time can't change
Somewhere beyond our reach, in a place that is not marked by time's passage
Long, long ago in a place of hearts and gold
Many years ago, in a location filled with love and riches
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Once again, let us rally our troops in preparation for battle
Time to go to war (Far, far away)
It is now time to fight, even if it seems far away and unattainable
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters (Long, long ago)
Let this song serve as a reminder of our bond as siblings, despite the time that has passed since our last meeting
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers (Far, far away)
Again, we must call upon our troops to prepare for battle, even if the destination seems far away and unreachable
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Let this song unite us once more as we fight in battle
This is a call to arms, way of the night
We must call upon our troops to prepare for battle during the dark and treacherous night
This is a battle song, way of the night
This song serves as our battle cry as we fight bravely through the dark and perilous night
Here we are at the start
Once again, we find ourselves at the beginning of our mission, ready to face our opponents head-on
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LETO, JARED
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jondol6640
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
Did you ever believe?
Were you ever a dreamer?
Ever imagine heart open and free?
Did you ever deny?
Were you ever a traitor?
Ever in love with your blood-lust disease?
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
Ever want to be free?
Do you even remember?
Want to beguile the devil like me?
Ever want to just stop?
Do you want to surrender?
Or fight for victory?
Here we are at the start, I can feel the beating of our hearts
Here we are at the start
Darkness falls, here comes the rain to wash away, the past and the names
Darkness falls, here comes the rain to end it all, the blood and the game
Far, far away in a land that time can't change
Long, long ago in a place of hearts and gold
Far, far away in a land that time can't change
Long, long ago in a place of hearts and gold
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war (Far, far away)
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war (Long, long ago)
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war (Far, far away)
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
This is a call to arms, way of the night
This is a battle song, way of the night
Here we are at the start.
@elizabethbuttler6514
That chorus gives me goosebumps. Power is with the people.
@thedark-ishsquirevoldie3451
Let me know if people start listening to this masterpiece again.
@MediumsizedM97
im on a nostalgia trip right now, this band was my absolute favorite as a teenager, I can't help but go back to them from time to time!
@margaridasilveira7628
I still do it all the time! It´s like air to me, I have to listen to 30STM every day!
@exploitsarefine9703
ma man
@pedrokotii2417
Ping. Let's listen together! XD
@williampatrone2582
Here i am. Once again and i'll keep coming back for years to come!
@theairsoftrebel
Thirty Seconds' music is like the soundtrack of a revolution
@Lucarius1
when they wrote the songs for this albums they kind of were on their very own revolution against their music lable who had sued them for 30 million Dollars...
@TheRagazzaMorta
This song brings me to life everytime <3
Missing the old TSTM
Missing the Echelon