This Is War
| This Is War | ||||
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| Studio album by Thirty Seconds to Mars | ||||
| Released | December 8, 2009 | |||
| Studio | The International Centre for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound, Los Angeles, California |
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| Length | 60:40 | |||
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| Thirty Seconds to Mars chronology | ||||
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| This Is War Deluxe edition | ||||
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| Singles from This Is War | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Alternative Press | |
| Billboard | (favorable) |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B-) |
| Kerrang! | |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| Melodic |  |
| Q | |
| Rock Sound | (9/10) |
| Spin | (3/10) |
This Is War is the third studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, released through Virgin Records and EMI on December 8, 2009. Upon its release, it peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200.
30 Seconds to Mars were sued for breach-of-contract by their record label, Virgin Records, in mid-2008. The label sought $30 million in damages, claiming that the band had failed to produce three of the five records they were obligated to deliver under their 1999 contract with the now-defunct Immortal Records. In 2004, Virgin took over the contract. Jared Leto responded to some of the claims in the suit on the band's website and was coerced into dismissing rumors that the group had disbanded. He said the claims were "ridiculously overblown" and "totally unrealistic", before stating "under California law, where we live and signed our deal, one cannot be bound to a contract for more than seven years." 30 Seconds to Mars had been contracted for nine years, so the band decided to exercise their "legal right to terminate our old, out-of-date contract, which according to the law is null and void."
After nearly a year of the lawsuit battle, the band announced on April 29, 2009, that the case had been settled. The suit was resolved following a defence based on a contract case involving actress Olivia de Havilland decades before. Leto explained, "The California Appeals Court ruled that no service contract in California is valid after seven years, and it became known as the De Havilland Law after she used it to get out of her contract with Warner Bros." 30 Seconds to Mars then decided to re-sign with EMI (the parent label of Virgin). Leto said the band had "resolved our differences with EMI" and the decision had been made because of "the willingness and enthusiasm by EMI to address our major concerns and issues, (and) the opportunity to return to work with a team so committed and passionate about Thirty Seconds to Mars". He said it was "the most challenging business obstacle that we've ever gone through as a band."
Upon completion of the record, Leto spoke of the troubles the band faced while working on This Is War; "We spent two years of our lives working on that record, and it was us against the world... There were times that it was overwhelming. Everything that was going on was brutal... It was a case of survival, to tell the truth."
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Wikipedia