30 Seconds To Mars is a captivating, imaginative new band from Southern California. They co-produced their self-titled Immortal/Virgin album with the legendary Bob Ezrin and newcomer Brian Virtue (Jane's Addiction). They sought out Ezrin because they grew up listening to his groundbreaking work with Pink Floyd, KISS and Alice Cooper and they felt he was the only one who could help them capture the size and scope of what they wanted to accomplish on their debut recording. The band's widescreen sound is adrenalized and nuanced, balancing huge guitars with anthemic vocal lines and organic synthesizers with electronic underpinnings.
Even before the album was released, the buzz was so strong Puddle of Mudd took the unusual step of inviting 30 Seconds To Mars to open a six-week tour for them in the spring of 2002, even though they were totally unknown and no one had yet heard their music on the radio.
Drawing on influences ranging from masters like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Rush to other important artists such as Brian Eno and The Cure, 30 Seconds To Mars transcends the chaos of the modern world by allowing listeners to imagine themselves away from it. The band's very name implies the accelerated society we live in, suggesting that an escape may be as close as a few seconds away. Mars hovering above us has always been an iconographic image, not to mention being the God of War.
30 Seconds To Mars retreated to the isolation of Wyoming's big sky country to record the album. The band and Ezrin chose an empty warehouse lot on 15,000 acres, striving for the precise location that would enhance their sound. An intense period of preproduction began, starting with an almost obsessive examination of close to 50 songs. After an initial period of chaos, a fruitful relationship bloomed between the musicians and producer, leading to an artistically rewarding work atmosphere.
The expansive frontier helped feed their imagination and their playing. Although the songs had already been written, nothing was left untouched as they massaged them frame-by-frame into distinguished guitar riffs and tones and sculpted every last note and detail to achieve their goal.
While the subjects of their songs are engaged in their own searches, 30 Seconds To Mars is involved in a search of their own to produce something unique in today's world of disposable music--something with depth and substance, a work that is built to last.
