Thirty Seconds to Mars and 28 Days Later

Today I have some darker music for you. This is by one of my favorite bands of all time- Thirty Seconds to Mars. This is a band that has consistently delivered incredible music even in the wake of evolving their sound. I won't lie, I am mildly in love with Jared Leto. I mean the man is extremely gifted and versatile. From producing music to creating music videos to being one of the most low key-brilliant actors of our generation, Jared Leto is a man who expresses things so well. This song is one of my favorites by the band. It doesn't use the conventional band instruments as much as it does use synths and keyboards and strings. This is a song that is weirdly gut wrenching and pulls at your heart. But not in a sad and romantic. This is more of a personal battle, a fight with yourself, and that anguish is what we really get to feel and hear in this song. And we get that feeling the most from Jared Leto's vocals. In this song, we get a more raw version of his vocals, a sound that includes all the strains and vocal breaks and cracks. These are things that really bring depth to the song. The dynamism in the way he sings creates those waves, those ups and downs that the song talks about. Now what I love about songs by Thirty Seconds to Mars is that they are purposely meant to be ambiguous. Thought they steer you in a specific direction, at the end of the day, the song is what you interpret it to be. What the song means to me is not what it will mean to you or another person. It is all relative. That being said, I think the band does an incredible job of setting the mood for the dark lyrics the song provides. Shannon Leto is on the percussion, doing what he does best. And let me tell you, Shannon Leto is quite the drummer. We don't necessarily get to hear the full extent of his skill, but we do get to hear the way he is able to calm things down and create a slower intensity. At the end of the day, I can say that the song revolves around an emotional hurricane, though who it belongs to is up to you to decide. And because there is an emotional hurricane, we kind of get a haphazard set of instruments. We have eerie electronic work, repetitive piano work, some bass drum thrown in, and the strings. Not the most common assortment of sounds. But somehow, Thirty Seconds to Mars was able to bring them together to compose this masterpiece of a song. I mean I haven't heard anything else like it! You go listen to a lot of other bands and still won't hear a song like this one. This has to be one of the most signature sounding songs that the band has come out with. The lyrics are strikingly dark and beautiful and full of so much power. The instrumental background is something that brings a subtly intensity and eeriness to the song. And then of course Jared Leto's vocals top it off with such a hauntingly gorgeous sound, something so incredible intricate and stripped away of any sense of perfection. It feels like the entire band poured all of their darkness into this song and I find that so remarkable. Today's instrumental song is from the movie 28 Days Later. Though I haven't seen the movie, I have heard some awesome things about the movie. The score is very interesting in the sense that it has a lot of different elements to it. Though they all have the same general theme, the way that mood is produced differs. This starts out a lot more melancholy before dropping into this dramatic and bombastic sound. Pretty much awesome! I hope you enjoy the music and please feel free to comment!