Wiki
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Release Date
1 January 2005
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Length
12 tracks
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. The album produced four singles, "Attack", "The Kill (Bury Me)", "From Yesterday", and "A Beautiful Lie"; three of the four songs managed to chart within the top thirty on the U.S. Modern Rock chart, with "The Kill" and "From Yesterday" both entering the top ten. It has also gone Platinum, shipping over 1 million copies. Also Going on to be Gold certified in Canada (50,000 copies) by March 2007.
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, and the music was heavily atmospheric, the lyrics of A Beautiful Lie are "personal and less cerebral", and the music takes on a youthful, more post-hardcore approach by introducing occasional intense screaming vocals and deemphasizing synth background effects.
A Beautiful Lie was recorded on four different continents in five different countries over a three-year period to accommodate vocalist/guitarist 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. 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; however the version of the album that leaked happened to be unmastered. Because of this, the band was forced to set the release date of the album back.
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.
The album was re-released with new artwork as A Beautiful Lie - Deluxe Edition on November 21, 2006. The set contained one bonus track — a re-recording of the "The Kill (Bury Me)", entitled "The Kill (Rebirth)". Also included was a DVD featuring the VMA-nominated video for "The Kill", making of "The Kill" video, 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).
The album was re-released yet again 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 new version of "The Kill" and a second bonus track, an acoustic version of "A Beautiful Lie" recorded live on a radio session.
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