Attempted bold political statement falls flat
Very few people in the world have ever won an Oscar or had records go platinum. Yet Jared Leto has managed to do both. As an actor, he’s played iconic roles such as The Joker in Suicide Squad and a transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club (the latter of which earned him the aforementioned Oscar). But if those accolades don’t impress enough, he’s also the lead singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars, a rock band that has sold over 15 million records. Leto, along with his brother Shannon, on drums, and Tomo Milicevic on guitar, first achieved commercial success in 2005 with the platinum album A Beautiful Lie. Arena-sized modern rock songs such as “The Kill” and “From Yesterday” propelled them into international stardom, leading to even more success with their 2009 follow-up, This Is War. Leto’s acting career led to a huge gap between releases though, as it took till 2013 to get their fourth album, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams. Following an even larger gap after that, the band has finally returned with their fifth album, AMERICA.
What immediately jumps out about this album, even before listening to the music, is that its goal is to make an over-the-top political and cultural statement. For starters, the album features several different options for cover art, each a different collection of words that list topics such as iconic names, prescribed drugs and even sex positions. This, coupled with the fact that the album is simply named AMERICA creates a vibe that isn’t trailblazing at all but instead comes across as a little obnoxious. Given the current political climate and state of divisiveness associated with the most recent election, such a marketing campaign can’t help but divide people further.
The music itself isn’t particularly pioneering, either. Since This Is War, the band have begun mixing electronics and more experimental influences into their sound. However, AMERICA goes fully to that end of that spectrum. While some songs are well produced and enjoyable, such as the fist-pumping lead single “Walk on Water” and the pensive duet with Halsey (“Love Is Madness”). However, those are offset by songs such as “Hail To The Victor,” which has the band adding a Skrillex-style backing beat for no apparent reason, and the emotionless collaboration with A$AP Rocky “One Track Mind.”
For an album attempting to reach a broad audience, the music is sadly vanilla and insincere. While the lyrics are indeed technically political, the album’s overtly formulaic nature makes these words seem insincere. In the current political climate, many artists have become bolder, and rightly so, but America is a watered-down imitation of social activism. Those who enjoy pop albums with the occasional faux-woke “what if we could solve the world’s problems” mentality periodically sprinkled throughout will find AMERICA enjoyable, but those who are more genuinely concerned about the times may want to look somewhere else.
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