I love all kinds of music … except maybe punk; I have tried, honest, but it just doesn’t do it for me. Today I’m picking one of my favourites that I discovered last year – ’30 Seconds to Mars’.

From California, they’ve been around since 1998, so I’m more than a little late to the party, but so glad I ‘found’ them. I’ve listened to all 4 of their albums, and love most the songs. Each album has a different sound; it isn’t a case of listening to an extended symphony of similar sounds. Their lyrics have real meaning, more philosophical instead of the usual ‘love story/broken heart’ lyrics … not that there’s anything wrong with those, I listen to plenty of them …

The band consists of 3 members – Jared Leto (vocalist, guitarist), his brother, Shannon (drummer), and Tomo Milicevic (lead guitar + other instruments).

Tomo, Jared, Shannon

According to Jared, their debut album focussed on human struggle and self-determination; their second, ‘A Beautiful Lie’ is “about brutal honesty, growth, change … intimate look into a life that is in the crossroads … A story of life, love, death, pain, joy and passion …” For their third album, ‘This Is War’, they added their fans as backing vocals. Their latest, ‘Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams’ features more instruments, and a wider range of styles; a couple of the pieces have a distinct Indian flavour to them.

Thought I’d pick a couple, but it’s not easy choosing … this one, 'Closer To The Edge', is from their third album; I love the way it captures the power and excitement of a live performance.

'Up In The Air' is from their latest album; it’s one of my favourites – for me, a true, visual pleasure, especially the riot of colour at the end.

And I have to add this one – made by a Youtuber, it’s the song 'This Is War' added to a montage of clips from one of my favourites films of 2013, ‘The Avengers’ – I think she’s done a brilliant job, as if the song and the film were made for each other.

Favourites on Friday - Music