'Mars' blasts off Jared Leto's band, 30 Seconds To Mars, is charging ahead

When actor Jared Leto's band 30 Seconds To Mars debuted in 2002 with its self-titled CD, more than a few people probably thought the band would turn into another Dogstar (fronted by Keanu Reeves), Juliette and the Licks (with Juliette Lewis) or Bruce Willis and the Accelerators. Those bands featured established actors, and none of them has established themselves enough musically to be seen as much more than sidelights to the acting careers of their most famous members. But with the release of the new 30 Seconds To Mars CD, "A Beautiful Lie" - and the success that came with the CD's top five modern rock hits - it's looking like 30 Seconds To Mars, which plays Wednesday in Lowell, will become a legitimate, long-term pursuit for frontman Leto.

Leto - whose acting credits include parts in such high-profile films as "Panic Room," "Fight Club" and "Alexander" and the TV cult fave "My So-Called Life" - is dedicated to both the band and his acting career, according to his brother and 30 Seconds To Mars bandmate drummer Shannon Leto. "He'll take the time to do both," Shannon Leto said. "He's an artist and he does what he does.

He doesn't make excuses for what he does. And it all just worked out. There's time for him to do movies and there's time for him to do music, and I respect it.

I respect his ability to perform the way he performs, both acting and musically." 30 Seconds To Mars isn't a vanity project or a hobby for his brother, Shannon Leto said. Jared Leto's commitment to 30 Seconds To Mars is evident from the events that preceded the release of "A Beautiful Lie.

" He and his bandmates spent three years working on the project, eventually whittling 40 songs down to the 10 that made the CD. Perhaps more significantly, 30 Seconds To Mars, grew into a full-fledged band. The 2002 debut was mostly recorded just by the Leto brothers, with occasional contributions from outside musicians.

But 30 Seconds To Mars became a four-piece band for touring behind the first CD, with the addition of guitarist Tomo Milicevic and bassist Matt Wachter. And when work began on "A Beautiful Lie," the two newcomers were encouraged to become fully involved in the songwriting and arranging. It wasn't an easy process, Shannon Leto noted.

Finding common musical ground among the four musicians was challenging. "We're all artists," he said. "We all have a voice and we want our voices to be heard.

So you learn to communicate for it to work out. You learn to hear each other and you learn to listen and to be open and willing to people's criticisms and ideas. And that's challenging in the beginning.

But through time you all learn, you have a common goal. The four of us have a common goal and you shoot for that goal and you pick what is best for that song. You take the personalities out and you look at it objectively.

You just pick what works best for the song and what works best for the album." In the end, what worked best was a somewhat different approach to the 30 Seconds To Mars sound. The debut CD featured a sound that blended edgy yet melodic guitar rock with electronics, resulting in a somewhat futuristic feel that often caused people to label 30 Seconds To Mars as a progressive rock band.

"A Beautiful Lie," by contrast, scales back on the use of electronics and has more of a lean sound. The band still has a modern feel to its music, especially on more textured and atmospheric tracks like "Was It A Dream" and "The Story." But songs like "Attack," "Savior" and the title track deliver more of a raw, in-your-face guitar sound accented by Jared Leto's impassioned vocals.

Now the material from both CDs is getting a chance to evolve again as 30 Seconds To Mars returns to the road this winter on the Taste of Chaos tour. "We're going to do some old stuff. We're going to do some new stuff," Jared Leto said.

"We're going to do some, there are some surprises that we're coming up with that we always like ...

So everybody's going to be really excited to see what happens because we have some great, great little treats coming up." "I can't tell you what types of things we have going on, but I can tell you we want to make an experience," he said. "We want to share our emotions and the emotions of the crowd that's listening .

.. We want to be spontaneous.

We want to be impulsive and have that excitement night after night. That's our goal - is to make an amazing experience for everybody, including ourselves." r What: Taste of Chaos tour, featuring 30 Seconds To Mars and five other bands r When: Wednesday, March 22, at 6 p.

m. r How: All seats are general admission. Tickets are $29.

75 in advance and $30 on the day of the show. Call 617-931-2000 or check out www.ticketmaster.

com.