A Beautiful Lie
Studio album by 30 Seconds to Mars
Released	August 16, 2005
Recorded	2003—2005, Pulse Recording (Los Angeles, California); The Laboratory (Los Angeles, California); The Center for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound (Alaska); Lionhead Studios (South Africa); Circle in the Square Studio (New York City, New York)
Genre	Alternative rock, post-hardcore, post-grunge, hard rock[1]
Length	56:12
Label	Immortal, Virgin
Producer	Josh Abraham, 30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars chronology
30 Seconds to Mars (2002) A Beautiful Lie (2005) This Is War (2009)
Singles from A Beautiful Lie
"Attack" Released: April 12, 2005 "The Kill" Released: January 24, 2006 "From Yesterday" Released: November 7, 2006 "A Beautiful Lie" Released: December 17, 2007

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Alternative Press	[3]
Kerrang!	[4]
Melodic.net	[5]
Q	[6]
Rock Sound	(8/10)[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Sputnikmusic	[9]
Teraz Rock	[10]

A Beautiful Lie is the second album by American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. It was released on August 30, 2005 through Virgin Records and was produced by Josh Abraham. The album 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 differs notably 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,^[11] A Beautiful Lie's lyrics are "personal and less cerebral." And the music, while previously atmospheric, takes on a youthful, more post-hardcore approach by introducing intense screamed vocals and deemphasizing synth effects.

History [edit]

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.^[12] Prior to this, the album was tentatively to be released under the title The Battle of One. It 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 back the album's release date.^[11]

To promote A Beautiful Lie, 30 Seconds to Mars included the songs "The Battle of One" and "Hunter" (originally performed by Björk) as bonus tracks. "Golden passes" were also included 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 US alone.^[13]

Alternative versions [edit]

Deluxe edition [edit]

On November 26, 2006 a special edition of A Beautiful Lie was released and features different artwork, a third bonus track (all versions have at least two); the UK version of the song "The Kill" 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 [edit]

A Beautiful Lie 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 [edit]

All songs written and composed by Jared Leto, except "Savior", "From Yesterday" and "The Battle of One" by 30 Seconds to Mars. 

	"The Kill" (2005) Sample from 30 Seconds to Mars' "The Kill".
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	"From Yesterday" (2005) Sample from 30 Seconds to Mars' "From Yesterday".
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In popular culture [edit]

• "The Kill" was featured in the January 21, 2007 Without a Trace episode, "Primed".
• "Attack" and "The Kill" are both available as downloadable content for Rock Band.
• "The Kill" is a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.
• "A Beautiful Lie", "From Yesterday" and "The Kill" are all available for download from the "SingStore", the online store for the popular games series "SingStar"
• "Battle of One" is featured in the EA Trax of Madden NFL 07.

Personnel [edit]

Charts [edit]

Album [edit]

Singles [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• A Beautiful Lie website