• Voto:
I 30 Seconds to Mars. Mai avuto voglia di ascoltarli. Anzi proprio evitati. Perchè i 30 Seconds to Mars sono degli Emo, sono dei buffoni, un banale punk-pop, magari anche fatto male. Un giorno però, quasi costretto da un mio amico, ho scaricato questo "This is War" e lo ho avviato, pronto a riempirmi le orecchie di m***a. E quel giorno ho avuto la riconferma che non bisogna credere agli stereotipi.
Si parte con "Escape", intro d'effetto, dove dopo il sussurro rauco di Jared Leto, esplode nelle orecchie l'urlo della folla. Interessante, ma un po tamarro. Ero ancora scettico. "La Nuit du Chasseur" ci surrurra la flebile voce di una francese. E ora si fa sul serio. "Night Of The Hunter", è il primo pezzo sostanzioso dell'album, e anche uno dei suoi capolavori. Uno stupendo mix tra suoni diversi: una tastiera pop, una chitarra punk, e una batteria quasi tribale. Jared comincia piano, poi ingrana, con delle armonie studiate magistralmente. Orecchiabile, ma d'impatto. Ed è questo il binomio vincente che caratterizza la prima metà dell'album. Pezzi di alto livello sono anche "Kings And Queens", "This Is War", dove Jared dà una prova delle sue doti vocali, ottime sia in un registro basso, quasi sussurrato, che in uno alto, urlato e esaltante, e "Closer To The Edge", cioè i tre singoli di maggior successo. Vero capolavoro dell'album è "Hurricane", riuscitissimo mix tra sonorità pop, tecno con un tocco di rock, dove parte del merito va a Kanye West, che crea una stupenda melodia nella strofa a lui affidata.
Pezzi più banali, ma di ottimo livello emozionale sono "A Call To Arms" (rinominata "Vox Populi") e "Search And Destroy". E qui il merito va a un idea geniale della band: far cantare la folla (e ci sono riusciti alla grande). Forse è proprio questo il punto più sorprendente di questo album, il coinvolgimento, che secondo le mie impressioni, è l'ideale principale dell'album. "We Are The Kings And The Queens", recita il ritornello della terza traccia. Nel video di "Closer To The Edge", tra i partecipanti sono annoverati "1 363 960 of you". E' questa idea di "Anche tu puoi fare parte di questo", che rende il tutto così esaltante. Sicuramente è più lecito pensare a una geniale trovata commerciale, però ascoltare l'album con questa convinzione permette di dargli molto più senso. E permette di emozionarsi, perchè questa non è musica per cinici.
Tornando alle questioni puramente musicali, l'album a un primo ascolto sembra molto vicino al pop e commerciale, ma l'errore che condanna questo genere di opere è escludere che qualcosa possa essere commerciale (o anche solo orecchiabile), e anche ben fatto, come in questo caso. Vanno infatti denotate, le stupende polifonie vocali, i suoni caldi e corposi delle chitarre, e la violenza con cui la batteria riesce a esprimersi, oltre all'originalità che caratterizza la prima metà dell'album, sia nei suoni sia nelle strutture. Quindi il mio consiglio è di eliminare ogni genere di pregiudizi nei confronti dei 30 Seconds to Mars prima di ascoltare quello che secondo me è un ottimo album, che voto 8.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
03 Kings and Queens (05:47)
Into the night
Desperate and broken
The sound of a fight
Father has spoken.
We were the kings and queens of promise
We were the victims of ourselves
Maybe the children of a lesser god
Between heaven and hell, Heaven and hell.
Into your eyes
Hopeless and taken
We stole our new lives
Through blood an pain
In defense of our dreams
In defense of our dreams
We were the kings and queens of promise
We were the victims of ourselves
Maybe the children of a lesser god
Between heaven and hell, Heaven and hell.
The age of man is over
The darkness comes and all
These lessons that we've learned here
Have only just begun
We were the kings and queens of promise
We were the victims of ourselves
Maybe the children of a lesser god
Between heaven and hell.
We are the kings
We are the queens
We are the kings
We are the queens
04 This Is War (05:27)
A warning to the people, the good and the evil
This is war
To the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim
This is war
It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die
The moment to fight, the moment to fight
To fight, to fight, to fight
To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world from the last to the first
To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world, it's a brave new world
A warning to the prophet, the liar, the honest
This is war
Oh, to the leader, the pariah, the victim, the messiah
This is war
It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die
The moment to fight, the moment to fight
To fight, to fight, to fight
To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world from the last to the first
To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world, it's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
I do believe in the light
Raise your hands up to the sky
The fight is done, the war is won
Lift your hands toward the sun
Toward the sun
(It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie)
(The moment to live and the moment to die)
Toward the sun
(It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie)
(The moment to live and the moment to die)
Toward the sun
(The moment to fight, the moment to fight)
(To fight, to fight, to fight)
The war is won
To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world from the last to the first
To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world, it's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
A brave new world
The war is won
The war is won
A brave new world
06 Hurricane (06:12)
No matter how many times that you told me
You wanted to leave
No matter how many breaths that you took
You still couldn't breathe
No matter how many nights that you lie wide awake
To the sound of the pulsing rain
Where did you go? Where did you go?
Where did you go?
As days go by, the night's on fire
Tell me would you kill to save a life?
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn
This hurricane's chasing us all underground
No matter how many deaths that I die
I will never forget
No matter how many lies that I live
I will never regret
There is a fire inside that has started a riot
About to explode into flames
Where is your God? Where is your God?
Where is your God?
Do you really want?
Do you really want me?
Do you really want me dead or alive
To torture for my sins?
Do you really want?
Do you really want me?
Do you really want me dead
Or alive to live alone?
Tell me would you kill to save a life?
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn
This hurricane's chasing us all underground
The promises we made
Were not enough
The prayers that we have prayed
Were like a joke
The secrets that we swore
We'll never know
The love we had, the love we had
We had to let it go
Tell me would you kill to save a life?
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn
This hurricane chasing us all underground
This hurricane
This hurricane
This hurricane
Do you really want?
Do you really want me?
Do you really want me dead or alive
To torture for my sins?
Do you really want?
Do you really want me?
Do you really want me dead or alive
To live alone?
08 Vox Populi (05:42)
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
Did you ever believe?
Were you ever a dreamer?
Ever imagine heart open and free?
Did you ever deny?
Were you ever a traitor?
Ever in love with your blood lust and need?
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
Ever want to be free?
Do you even remember?
Want to be god and devil like me?
Ever want to just stop?
Do you want to surrender?
Or fight for victory?
Here we are at the start, I can feel the beating of our
hearts
Here we are at the start...
Darkness falls, here comes the rain to wash away the
past and the names
Darkness falls, here comes the rain to end it all, the
blood and the game
Far, far away in a land that time can't change
Long, long ago in a place of hearts and ghosts
Far, far away in a land that time can't change
Long, long ago in a place of hearts and ghosts
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war (Far, far away...)
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war (Long, long ago...)
This is a call to arms, gather soldiers
Time to go to war (Far, far away...)
This is a battle song, brothers and sisters
Time to go to war
This is a call to arms, way of the night
This is a battle song, way of the night
10 Alibi (05:59)
No warning sign, no alibi
We faded faster than the speed of light
Took our chance, crashed and burned
No we'll never ever learn
I fell apart, but got back up again
And then I fell apart, but got back up again yeah
We both could see crystal clear
That the inevitable end was near
Made our choice, a trial by fire
To battle is the only way we feel... alive
I fell apart, but got back up again
And then I fell apart, but got back up again
And then I fell apart, but got back up again
Way, oh, way, oh
Way, oh, way, oh
Way, oh
So here we are, the witching hour
The quickest tongue to divide and devour
Divide and devour
If I could end the quest for fire,
For truth, for love and my desire
Myself
And I fell apart, but got back up again
Way, oh, way, oh
Way, oh, way, oh
Way, oh, way, oh
Way, oh, way, oh
Way, oh
I fell apart, I fell apart
I fell apart, I fell apart
I fell apart
But got back up again
11 Stranger in a Strange Land (06:54)
Enemy of mine, I'll fuck you like the devil.
Violent inside, beautiful and evil.
I'm a ghost. You're an angel.
We're one and the same, just remains of an age.
Lost in a day dream, what do you see?
If you're looking for Jesus, get on your knees! (If you're looking for Jesus, then get on your knees! )
Enemy of mine, I'm just a stranger in a strange land.
Running out of time, better go, go, go!
Angel or a demon, I gave up my soul,
I'm guilty of treason, I've abandoned control.
Tonight...
The end is coming,
Everybody run now,
We're gonna live forever,
Gonna live forever tonight,
Tonight, Tonight.
The end is coming
Everybody run now,
We're gonna live forever,
Gonna live forever tonight
Tonight, Tonight.
The end is coming,
Everybody run now,
We're gonna live forever,
Gonna live forever tonight,
Tonight, Tonight.
The end is coming,
Everybody run now,
We're gonna live forever,
Gonna live forever tonight,
Tonight, tonight.
The end is coming,
Everybody run now,
We're gonna live forever,
Gonna live forever tonight.
Lost in a daydream,
What do you see?
If you're looking for Jesus,
Then get on your knees!
Angel or demon?
I gave up my soul.
I'm guilty of treason,
I've abandoned control. (abandoned control)
Your soul!
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di zeandres
Leto sfoggia un registro capace di passare dal rock più duro a un pop ben interpretato.
Leto e compagni sono tornati più carichi che mai e a quanto pare in vena di stupire gli ascoltatori.
