30 Seconds To Mars (album) - Reception

Reception

Upon its release, 30 Seconds to Mars received generally positive reviews. However, the album holds, based on four reviews, a score of 49 at Metacritic. Megan O'Toole of The Gazette praised the album, stating that "every track on this record is beautiful; each is a unique masterpiece that simultaneously operates on a number of different musical and spiritual levels" and that "30 Seconds to Mars have managed to carve out a unique niche for themselves in the rock realm." E! Online gave the album a B, stating that " Leto sounds more like Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan than a member of the Screen Actors Guild--even if his lyrics are kind of space-case lame." Smiley Ben of BBC described the album by writing "Alt-rock for the 21st Century (or perhaps the end of the world), with titles such as 'Capricorn (A Brand New Name)', 'Echelon', and 'Welcome to the Universe', they knowingly push boundaries and produce great music with an edge." Ryan Rayhill from Blender wrote that the band "emerged with an eponymous debut that sounds like Tool on The Dark Side of the Moon," and praised the album saying "30 Seconds to Mars manage a high-minded space opera of epic scope befitting prog-rock prototypes Rush."

Johan Wippsson of Melodic.net felt that "musically 30 Seconds to Mars has something new to add to the world with their space influenced modern rock," and praised the album saying that it is "one of the most unique album when it comes to an own style." Melodic.net also placed the album at number 22 on The Best Records of 2002. Amber Authier from Exclaim! praised the album, stating that "this epic record has conceptual similarities to bands like Queensrÿche and Depeche Mode." Mitch Joel of Blistering commented that "this electric and electro mix of modern rock has fundamentals that must have made famed producer, Bob Ezrin fascinated and 30 Seconds to Mars is worth more than most of their peers on a song-by-song magnitude." Jay Gordon praised the lyrics and wrote that 30 Seconds to Mars has been hailed as the next Pink Floyd and has been compared to David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. Karin Lowachee gave the album four out of five stars, and wrote that "listening to it from the beginning track, Capricorn, to the final offering of Year Zero, you get the distinct sense that for the duration you are in a decidedly different world, whether physical or inner." Jaan Uhelszki of Alternative Press praised the album and wrote that they "are made of sterner stuff, with their prog-metal foundation enhanced by an unexpectedly powerful sense of melody." Jon O'Brien from Allmusic praised the album saying "its 11 tracks are packed full of heavy, riff-laden guitars, prog metal beats, and Hollywood star Jared Leto's soaring vocals and sci-fi lyrics, making it one of the more convincing actor-turned-rock star efforts."

Some reviews were more critical, however; Kludge magazine's review summarized the album by saying "The entire project as a whole is top-heavy, with the strengths of the album crammed tightly into the first five songs," and continued "the song quality drops off completely at the halfway point." Peter Relic of Rolling Stone, stated that the "album is undone by Leto's baffling, pretentious poetry and the sanitized quality of the heavy guitars," while Q described the album as having "a polished sheen, but Leto's delivery of his earnest, sci-fi-tinged lyrics gets monotonous over the course of the album."