When 30 Seconds to Mars’ eponymous debut was released in 2002, its odds of finding success seemed low. Here we had Jared Leto, following in the footsteps of failed actors-turned-musicians before him, such as Russell Crowe and Keanu Reeves. But then the damndest thing happened—it was actually kind of good. Not amazing by any stretch, but the tunes were solid, the energy was there and the band’s live sets were exciting enough.

    Three years later, Leto and his band return with “A Beautiful Lie,” the oft-delayed, long-ago leaked successor to their debut.

    As before, the album adopts a staunch vocals-first position, firmly placing Leto’s either whispered or belted voice on top of the mix, and usually bringing down the other instruments as to not distract from his often vague lyrics. At least this time Leto has let the band’s whole space trip go, as this new batch of songs is more personally-themed, with most songs directed at a faceless ‘you,’ (ex-girlfriend Cameron Diaz perhaps?) which tends to make them a bit more overwrought than before.

    Musically, the record isn’t a step forward, backwards, or really anywhere - it’s firmly planted in the same textures that the band covered with its debut, although slightly subtler this time.

    Perhaps the fact that the album was recorded on numerous continents—to accommodate Leto’s traveling to film the clearly worthwhile “Alexander”— explains the out of place tribal chanting on “The Fantasy.” Album opener “Attack” is as decent as the record gets, and is the best example of the band’s sound—very polished (perhaps to the point of overproduced), vocals pushed to the front and a lack of reliance on actual instrumentation, essentially guitars and drums as background noise.

    Buried beneath the gloss are a few catchy little rock songs. However, the band’s good intentions don’t save the record from being pretty boring overall.