30 Seconds To Mars - 'This Is War: Deluxe Edition' (Virgin) Released: 27/11/10

The cult that is 30 Seconds To Mars really can’t get any bigger, can it? With three albums under their belts, Jared, Shannon, and Tomo release a deluxe version of their hugely popular ‘This Is War’ album. Featuring three added bonus tracks not featured on the original track listing, and also including a DVD containing over 45 minutes of material, as well as being distributed with various different colour themed album covers, it’s a great addition to any alternative music lovers CD collection.

With time comes understanding, and since its release ‘This Is War’ has had plenty of time to soak in to as many ears and minds as humanly possible. What might not have sat well originally, song-wise, might do now. It’s always difficult to review a project within a certain timescale. Not allowing it to resonate within an individual’s soul and mean something to them based upon personal experiences isn’t always fair. For example, ‘Hurricane’ might have seemed a tad bit average upon debut exposure, however, after its recent twisted yet epic video accompaniment there’s absolutely no question that it’s a powerful, meaningful and ultimately flawless piece of modern day emotional rock music. The band’s extremely popular single, ‘Kings And Queens’, while at first seemed a solid effort, is now a full blown ‘rally up the troops’ type record. Inspiring with ease, and giving the kids something to think about, 30 Seconds To Mars are today’s alternative ‘it’ band.

New tracks featured on the Deluxe Edition include the ‘Hurricane’ remix, simply titled, ‘Hurricane 2.0’, which hears Kanye West add his ‘808 & Heartbreaks’ inspired autotune lyrics. Not much has changed in the way of the track layout. In fact it sounds the same apart from the occasional Kanye ad lib and outro verse. Still a great song, but the original version is definitely the better of the two. The other two additions are both BBC Live Lounge performances. The first being the band’s take on Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’, the second being an alternate version of Kanye West’s ‘Stronger’. Both tracks hold merit, and add even more weight to an album jam packed with addictive instrumentals and awe-inspiring vocals.

The DVD aspect of this release includes the music videos for ‘Closer To The Edge’ and ‘The Ride (Kings And Queens)’, as well as makings of, and the ‘War Is Coming’ short films. The only missing element is the recently censored ‘Hurricane’ 13 minute video. Interestingly brash and at times breathtaking, it’s such a shame it didn’t make the DVD. Let’s just put it down to deadlines shall we?

All in all, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t go and pick this album up. It’s as good as it ever was before plus a whole lot more.