“This phrase is a metaphor: life, despite difficult circumstances, is worth living. Even in our darkest moments, we need to take time to recognize and appreciate the beauty of the world.»
What we just read was a description of the new album Thirty seconds to Mars. But more than that: these are not the words of the brothers Summer, none of the many employees of this work. Instead it will be an interpretation of the title”It’s the end of the world, but it’s a beautiful dayartificial intelligence, which was initially also supposed to be responsible for cover. Everything is very interesting, isn’t it? And how can you go against such a message? So the anticipation for an album with a capital A is more than legitimate, one of those records that comforts you but stays in your heart above all else.
Progressive birth, emo childhood, alternative youth, symphonic maturity, electronic adulthood. This is the path Thirty Seconds to Mars have taken over their 20-plus year career, starting as a quartet and ending as a Jared-Shannon duo after the release of their last album. Their journey is certainly unique, whether you appreciate it or not. However, personal tastes aside, it can be said that the early records had a certain personality that the newest “America” lacked. Or rather, you could feel that it was them, the ideas were there, but everything was too packaged and embellished, especially for a group that, since its inception, has made alternative music its flag.
And where are they now? It’s the End of the World, But It’s a Beautiful Day is the sixth album from the Leto brothers, who fall somewhere between Imagine Dragons (not very good) and The Chainsmokers. Starting with the electronics of the previous album, they take the leap into the most disposable pop, with formulaic foundations, lyrics treated like fruit salad, choruses that inexorably become catchphrases.
If “Walk On Water” gave us hope for “America,” lead single “Stuck” makes it clear this time around: Let’s forget the rock band of 15 years ago. In fact, let’s forget about the band, because this could very well be any single artist’s summer album with a radio hit.
Shannon’s blasting drums are replaced by an anonymous drum machine, the guitars that created those epic choruses are destroyed – all that’s left are the acoustic guitars of beach bonfires – and even Jared’s roaring voice no longer warms our eardrums. In the latter case, some might say age is his accomplice, but that doesn’t seem to stop him from performing tasks that are far from easy for a 51-year-old.
It’s not surprising to read the name Dan Reynolds among the authors of “Life Is Beautiful”, on the contrary, it reassures the listener that he is on the right path. “Get Up Kid,” “Never Not Love You,” “Love These Days,” even Shannon’s “Midnight Prayer,” the closest thing to rock on this album, are all tracks we can hear without actually listening to : melodies and vocal parts created specifically for the mass market by various artists, but unable to achieve anything that even the artificial intelligence we just talked about cannot boast of today.
The effects on the vocals of “Lost These Days” do nothing but make it a soulless track, the presence of a superstar like Ed Sheeran on “World On Fire” doesn’t make the result any different from any other song on this short album; but even when the brothers go it alone on “7:1” and “Avalanche”, they don’t achieve much more – even if they manage to recreate a minimum of that lost atmosphere in the final song.
A path well known to the Californian frontman is self-referential, but the references contained in the lyrics of “Life Is Beautiful” and “Seasons” aren’t enough to inspire. On the contrary, due to the heterogeneity of their goals, they only remind us how capable this group was of writing beautiful songs, and today are content with writing works perhaps more suitable for the mainstream panorama, but without real soul.
Tracklist
01. Stuck
02. Life is beautiful
03. Seasons
04. Get up, baby
05. I love these days
06. World on fire
07. 7:1
08. Never love you
09. Midnight prayer
10. These days are lost
11. Avalanche