30 Seconds to Mars

30 Seconds to Mars is an alternative rock band hailing from the USA, featuring actor Jared Leto as vocalist. Jared's brother, Shannon Leto, also plays in the band as the drummer. Matt Wachter (Bass) and Tomo Milicivitch (Guitar) round out the band's roster.

Related Topics:
Alternative rock - USA - Jared Leto

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The band has had a somewhat revolving door of guitarists, as it has seen its first two guitarists (Kevin Drake and Solon Bixler) leave the band due to issues primarily related to touring.

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Surprisingly (or perhaps not surprisingly), even though Leto is a major Hollywood actor, he prefers not to use this information to "sell" the band. Actually, Leto hates attention given to himself more than the band so much that he refuses to play shows if they have used his name as a movie star to promote the band.

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30 Seconds to Mars debut self-titled album, produced by Bob Ezrin, was released in 2002 to critical acclaim, yet it didn't sell much (the last released count was by the Billboard music charts on March 25, 2005, setting the debut at 102,000 copies sold in the United States alone).

Related Topics:
Bob Ezrin - Billboard - March 25 - 2005

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The band hasn't given up, however, as a their second album, A Beautiful Lie, was released on August 30, 2005. For this effort, the band traveled (in the course of three years) to four different continents to perfect their sound and also to cater to Leto's film career. The album was produced by Josh Abraham, whose credits include the likes of Velvet Revolver and Linkin Park.

Related Topics:
A Beautiful Lie - August 30 - 2005 - Leto's - Josh Abraham - Velvet Revolver - Linkin Park

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Because A Beautiful Lie leaked a full five months before its release, the band decided to include two new "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 Bjork song). To further promote the album, the band also enclosed "golden passes" in a select number of copies, which grant their owners access to any 30 Seconds to Mars concert free of charge along with backstage access.

Related Topics:
A Beautiful Lie - Bjork

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