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A Beautiful Lie

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For the EP of the same name, see A Beautiful Lie (EP).
Untitled

A Beautiful Lie is the second studio album by American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. The album was released on August 30, 2005 through Virgin Records and was produced by Josh Abraham. It produced four singles, "Attack", "The Kill", "From Yesterday", and "A Beautiful Lie"; of which three of those four singles managed to chart within the top 30 on the U.S. Modern Rock chart, with "The Kill" and "From Yesterday" entering the top three.

A Beautiful Lie is different from the band's self-titled debut album, both musically and lyrically. Whereas the eponymous concept album's lyrics focus on human struggle and astronomical themes,[1] A Beautiful Lie's lyrics are "personal and less cerebral" as well as the music is heavily atmospheric and takes on a youthful, more post-hardcore approach by introducing occasional intense screaming vocals and deemphasizing synth background effects.

History

A Beautiful Lie was recorded on four different continents in five different countries over a three-year period to accommodate lead singer Jared Leto's acting career. The album's title track, as well as three other songs, were composed in Cape Town, South Africa, where Leto was later met by his bandmates to work on the tracks. It was during this time that Leto conceived the album's title.[2] Prior to this, the album was tentatively to be released under the title The Battle of One. The album was leaked onto peer-to-peer file sharing networks almost five months before its scheduled release; the version of the album that leaked was unmastered. Because of this, the band was forced to set the release date of the album back.[1]

To promote A Beautiful Lie, 30 Seconds to Mars included the songs "Battle of One" and "Hunter" (originally performed by Björk) as bonus tracks. To further promote the album, the band included "golden passes" with three of the special versions of the album that entitled the buyer free entrance and backstage access to any 30 Seconds to Mars show for the rest of their formation.

A Beautiful Lie sold 21,000 copies in its first week of release in the U.S. and has gone on to sell more than 1.2 million copies in the U.S. alone.[3]

Alternate versions

Deluxe Edition

On November 26, 2006 a special edition of A Beautiful Lie was released and features different artwork, one bonus track, the UK version of the song "The Kill (Bury Me)" entitled "The Kill (Rebirth)", and a DVD that features the music video for "The Kill", the making of the video for "The Kill", live performances and MTV2 moments involving the band.

Before production of the Deluxe Edition, the band requested that the members of the "Echelon" send in their names so that they could be thanked for their support over the years. As a result, the inside cover(s) of the Deluxe Edition contain a large list of printed fan names. In addition to this, the front cover contains a holographic image consisting of the Mithra (phoenix) and the Trinity (skulls).

2007 re-release

The album was re-released in 2007, following extensive touring throughout Europe, in an attempt to expose themselves to a larger audience. The re-release is essentially the same as the original release, although includes different artwork. The album was re-released in Ireland again in November 2007, the version contains the UK version of "The Kill" and a second bonus track, and an acoustic version of the song "A Beautiful Lie" recorded live on a radio session.

Track listing

  1. "Attack" – 3:09
  2. "A Beautiful Lie" – 4:05
  3. "The Kill" – 3:51
  4. "Was It a Dream?" – 4:15
  5. "The Fantasy" – 4:29
  6. "Savior" – 3:24
  7. "From Yesterday" – 4:08
  8. "The Story" – 3:55
  9. "R-Evolve" – 3:59
  10. "A Modern Myth" – 14:14 (ends at 2:59, hidden track "Praying for a Riot" begins at 12:25)
  11. "Battle of One" – 2:47
  12. "Hunter" (Björk cover) – 3:54
"The Kill" (2005)
Sample from 30 Seconds to Mars' "The Kill".
Problems playing this file? See media help.
"From Yesterday" (2005)
Sample from 30 Seconds to Mars' "From Yesterday".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Bonus tracks

  2. "The Kill (Rebirth)" (Irish and Brazilian Edition bonus track) – 3:39
  4. "Attack" (Live) (Wal-Mart Edition bonus track) - 4:49
  6. "Was It a Dream?" (Acoustic) (Japanese and Australian Edition bonus track)
  8. "The Kill" (Acoustic featuring Pitty) (Brazilian Edition bonus track) – 3:45
  10. "A Beautiful Lie" (Acoustic) (Irish Edition bonus track) – 3:42

DVD track listing

  1. "The Kill (Bury Me)"
  2. The Making of "The Kill"
  3. The International Music Feed Interview
  4. "Attack" (MTV2's All That Rocks)
  5. "The Kill (Bury Me)" (MTV2's All That Rocks)
  6. "The Fantasy" (Fan-generated take) (MTV2's All That Rocks)
  7. MTV2's T-Minus Rock Interview
  8. Red Carpet Arrival (MTV Video Music Awards)
  9. MTV2 Award Acceptance Speech (MTV Video Music Awards)
  10. MTV2 $2Bill Internet Promo
  11. MTV2 $2Bill Pre-Sale Tour Promo
  12. MTV2 $2Bill Ticket Sale Tour Promo

Release history

Region Date Distributing label Format Version Catalog
United States[4] August 16, 2005 Immortal/Virgin America Enhanced CD Original 90992
Worldwide August 30, 2005 CD/LP 9463886872
Japan[4] December 7, 2005 EMI Japan CD TOCP-66653
Europe[4] February 26, 2007 Virgin CD 3896602
Worldwide December 5, 2006 Immortal/Virgin/EMI/MTV2 CD/DVD Deluxe Edition 792672
November 26, 2007 CD/DVD Deluxe Edition (Re-release) 9463896602
Japan[4] May 28, 2008 EMI Japan CD/DVD Japanese Limited Edition TOCP-66785

Charts

Album

Year Country Chart Peak position[5] Certification[6] Sales
2006 U.S. Billboard 200 36 Platinum[7] 1,200,000+[8]
2007 Australia ARIA Albums Chart 20 Gold[9] 45,000+
Canada CRIA Albums Chart 20 Gold[10] 100,000+
UK UK Albums Chart 39 Platinum[11] 300,000+
New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart 20 — —
Finland Finnish Albums Chart 15 — —
Austria Austrian Albums Chart 10 — —
Germany German Albums Chart 30 — —
Italy Italian Albums Chart 11[12] Platinum[13] 70,000+
2008 South Africa RISA Albums Chart 1 Gold[14] 40,000+
Worldwide sales 3,500,000+[15]

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
2005 "Attack" Modern Rock Tracks 22
Mainstream Rock Tracks 38
2006 "The Kill" Billboard Hot 100 65
Modern Rock Tracks 3
Mainstream Rock Tracks 14
"From Yesterday" Modern Rock Tracks 1
Mainstream Rock Tracks 11
Billboard Hot 100 75
2007 "A Beautiful Lie" Modern Rock Tracks 37

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b Redmon, Jess (2002). "30 Seconds to Mars: Welcome to their universe". Shoutweb.com: On the Record. Retrieved 2006-04-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "30 Seconds To Mars Official Site". Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  3. ^ Graff, Gary. "30 Seconds To Mars Plans to 'Extend the Interactivity' On Tour". billboard.com. December 17, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d "A Beautiful Lie - Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  5. ^ "aCharts.us - 30 Seconds to Mars". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  6. ^ Bennett, J. (2009). "30 Seconds to Mars Exclusive + Alexisonfire, The Bronx, The Blackout and more..." Rock Sound (129): 53.
  7. ^ "Recording Industry Association of America: Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  8. ^ Harding, Courtney and Kelly Staskel. "30 Seconds To Mars Recruits Fans For 'War'" billboard.com. November 23, 2009.
  9. ^ "Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA): Gold - 2007". ARIA. 2007-12-31. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  10. ^ "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum - January 2007". CRIA. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  11. ^ "British Phonographic Industry". BPI. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  12. ^ "30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie". Italiancharts.com. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  13. ^ http://worldwidealbums.blogspot.com/2008/09/italian-sales-estimations-albums-with.html
  14. ^ "Recording Industry of South Africa". RISA. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  15. ^ "Los 40 Principales - 30 Seconds to Mars 05/04/2009". Los40Principales.com. 2009-04-05. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
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