"Conquistador" | |
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Song by Thirty Seconds to Mars | |
from the album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams | |
Recorded | 2012–13; The International Centre for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound, Los Angeles, California |
Genre | Alternative rock |
Length | 3:12 |
Label | |
Songwriter(s) | Jared Leto |
Producer(s) |
|
"Conquistador" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, who also produced the song with Steve Lillywhite, "Conquistador" features combative lyrics and call-and-response verses. Described as the "wild child" of the album, it is an alternative rock song with influences and elements from electronica. Thirty Seconds to Mars premiered the song on Vevo on May 2, 2013, two weeks before the album's release.
"Conquistador" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who praised the composition and its raw energy. The song appeared on the UK Rock Chart upon the album's release at number 24 for a single week, being one of two songs from Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams to appear on the chart, the other being "City of Angels". Thirty Seconds to Mars included the song in the setlist of their Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams Tour and the subsequent Carnivores Tour.
"Conquistador" was written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, who also produced the song with Steve Lillywhite. The latter had previously worked with Thirty Seconds to Mars on the production of the band's third studio album, This Is War (2009). The song was engineered by Jamie Reed Schefman and mixed by Lillywhite. Clay Blair engineered it for mixing at Boulevard Recording in Los Angeles, California. It was recorded at The International Centre for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound and mastered by Howie Weinberg and Dan Gerbarg at Howie Weinberg Mastering in Los Angeles. [1] Thirty Seconds to Mars unveiled six songs from their fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams , including "Conquistador", during a preview held at the Electric Lady Studios in New York City on March 14, 2013. [2]
"Conquistador" was officially revealed on March 18, 2013, at a press release for the announcement of the band's fourth album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams. [3] In the weeks preceding the album's release, the band promoted a Twitter hashtag, namely #MARSmay21st, to which, on May 2, 2013, it successfully reached the worldwide trending topics on the social platform. As a way of saying thanks to their fans for trending the hashtag, the band released the lyric video for "Conquistador" on Vevo the same day, two weeks before the album's release. [4] Jared Leto explained that Thirty Seconds to Mars were "very excited" to release the song and to show the "flip side of the coin" to "Up in the Air", the album's lead single which had a more electronic-influenced sound. [5]
"Conquistador" is an alternative rock song with influences and elements from electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. [2] [6] It opens with an electronic buzz followed by the sounds of guitars and drum beats, with a heavy bassline. The song features call-and-response verses leading to an anthemic chorus as Jared Leto voices the line "Say a prayer". It includes the contribution from the band's fans, credited as the Knights of the White Shadow, who provide additional vocals recorded at the band's studio. [7] During the song's bridge, Leto proclaims "This is a fight to the death" over a "crushing" riff by guitarist Tomo Miličević and "pounding" drums by Shannon Leto. [5] James Montgomery, writing for MTV News, felt that the sentiment "seems oddly fitting" as the song "crashes and careens" around Leto's vocals. [8]
In an interview with Loudwire , Jared Leto named the song the "dark wild child" of Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams. He explained, "Unbridled, and full of anarchistic madness, this song is crushed full of passion and energy." [5] He further described it as "big and bombastic and full of guitars". [9] The track features combative lyrics and repeated chants of "We will rise again". [10] Nadia Noir of CBS News felt that "conquistador" is an "apt title" for the "bombastic blitzkreig-rock tune, an apocalyptic summons to something greater". [11] Michael Depland of MTV explained that the song's lyrics suggest "tumult and upheaval", [12] while critic Emily Zemler from Billboard magazine wrote that its chanting chorus makes the song feel "almost like a war cry". [13] In a preview of the record, Jeff Benjamin from Fuse felt that the track is "self-detonated with the band's recognizable alt-rock bombast, complete with soaring violins," and noted that it "closed with a massive, stadium-filling chorus, delivered in [Leto's] famous screamo vocal." [2]
"Conquistador" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Emily Zemler of Billboard called it "one of the grandest numbers" on the album and an "appropriately compelling early track". [13] Kaitlyn Hodnicki from Stature magazine described the song as a "sleazy rock stomp" that works "perfectly" with drummer Shannon Leto's "addictive beat", with lead guitarist Tomo Miličević delivering "one of his best riffs so far". She also felt that the grit in Jared Leto's voice is "surprising" and "works well" with the tone of the track. [14] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic praised it as one of the album's highlights. [15] Alex Lai from Contactmusic gave the song a positive review, calling it a "thumping anthem" which is "instantly grasped" with the various chanted vocal parts. [6] Brent Faulkner from PopMatters felt that the song "reveals" the total picture of the album, noticing the "dirty guitars that rock from the onset". He stated that "Leto never fights the production for vocal clarity, even when things grow gargantuan on the anthemic chorus." [16]
Chris Maguire, writing for AltSounds, was impressed with the song, calling it a "solid rock track", [17] while Ian Winwood from Kerrang! found it "rousing". [18] Adam Silverstein of Digital Spy named it a stand-out track from the album and felt that songs like "Conquistador" "power up the vibe". [19] James Montgomery from MTV praised its "massive guitars, stabbing strings and thundering drums". [8] Andy Baber of musicOMH noticed the song's "big guitar riff" and the "combative lyrics". [10] PureVolume's Tom Lanham called it a "marching" that "keeps upping the sonic ante". [20] In a mixed review, John Watt from Drowned in Sound described the track as a "weird Brit-rock stomp" which "fails to resonate". [21] Dan Slessor of Alternative Press felt that the song sounded "just too easy" for the typical sound of the band. [22]
"Conquistador" was first performed at special concerts, dubbed as Church of Mars, in May 2013, shortly before the release of the album. [23] It later became a signature part of the following Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams Tour. The song, along with "Birth", usually served as a set opener during the entirety of the tour, much like their appearances on Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams as opening tracks. However, it was later moved to the middle of the setlist. [24] Fans and critics responded favorably to the song in a live setting. Ashley Zimmerman from the New Times Broward-Palm Beach felt that "everyone got even more amped" as the band performed songs like "Conquistador", [25] while Ed Masley of The Arizona Republic deemed it a highlight of the show. [26]
Thirty Seconds to Mars performed "Conquistador" at multiple major festivals, including Rock Werchter, Pinkpop, Download, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, which saw the band playing as headline act. [27] The song was also included in the Carnivores Tour, a tour on which Thirty Seconds to Mars co-headlined with Linkin Park, and usually appeared approximately halfway through the set. [28]
Credits adapted from Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams album liner notes. [1]
Chart (2013) | Peak position |
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UK Rock (Official Charts Company) [29] | 24 |
Jared Joseph Leto is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award. Additionally, he is recognised for his musicianship and eccentric stage persona as frontman of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Stephen Alan Lillywhite, is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big Country, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Simple Minds, Ultravox, the Psychedelic Furs, Toyah, David Byrne, Talking Heads and Kirsty MacColl, as well as U2, the Rolling Stones, the Pogues, Blue October, Steel Pulse, the La's, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey, the Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Counting Crows and Joan Armatrading. He has won six Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2006. In 2012, he was made a Commander of the Order of The British Empire (CBE) for his contributions to music.
Thirty Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of brothers Jared Leto and Shannon Leto. During the course of its existence, it has undergone various line-up changes with the Leto brothers being the only consistent members.
30 Seconds to Mars is the debut studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. It was first released on August 27, 2002, by Immortal Records and distributed by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue, and Thirty Seconds to Mars, and was recorded in rural Wyoming during 2001 and early 2002. It had been in the works for a couple of years, with lead vocalist Jared Leto writing the majority of the songs.
Shannon Leto is an American musician best known as the drummer of rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. He co-founded the group in 1998 in Los Angeles, California, with his younger brother Jared. Their debut album, 30 Seconds to Mars (2002), was released to positive reviews but only to limited success. The band achieved worldwide fame with the release of their second album A Beautiful Lie (2005). Their following releases, This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013), received further critical and commercial success. As of September 2014, the band has sold over 15 million albums worldwide.
Tomislav "Tomo" Miličević is a Bosnian-American musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars from 2003 to 2018. Born in Sarajevo but raised in the United States, Miličević moved to Troy, Michigan, in the early 1980s, where he became active in the local heavy metal scene and played in a number of bands, co-founding Morphic. In 2003, he joined Thirty Seconds to Mars, with whom he achieved worldwide recognition in the mid-2000s after recording the band's second album A Beautiful Lie (2005). Its full-length follow-ups, This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013), received further critical and commercial success.
American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars has released six studio albums, three extended plays, eighteen singles, four promotional singles, one video album and seventeen music videos. The band was formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1998 by brothers Jared Leto and Shannon Leto, with Tomo Miličević joining the band later. The band's debut album, 30 Seconds to Mars, was released through Immortal and Virgin Records in August 2002 and peaked at number 107 on the US Billboard 200 and number one on the US Top Heatseekers, selling more than two million copies worldwide as of March 2011. The album produced two singles, "Capricorn " and "Edge of the Earth".
This Is War is the third studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, released on December 8, 2009 through Virgin Records. It was the band's first studio album in four years, after the breakthrough of their previous work, A Beautiful Lie (2005). The album was recorded over a span of two years while the band was in the midst of a legal dispute with Virgin over an alleged breach-of-contract. The case was later settled in April 2009, and the band signed to EMI later that year.
"Kings and Queens" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their third studio album This Is War (2009). Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto across the United States and South Africa, the track was produced by Flood, Steve Lillywhite and Thirty Seconds to Mars. According to Leto, the lyrics of "Kings and Queens" explore the triumphant feeling of human possibilities. The melody of the song contains several qualities similar to that of 1980s adult contemporary musical works and is imbued with elements of progressive rock. The song was released as the lead single from This Is War on October 13, 2009.
"Night of the Hunter" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their third studio album This Is War. Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, the song was released as the fifth and final single from the album in 2011. The track was produced by Flood, Steve Lillywhite and 30 Seconds to Mars, and was inspired by Jared and his brother Shannon's youth in Louisiana.
"Up in the Air" is a song recorded by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fourth studio album, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, who also produced the song with Steve Lillywhite, "Up in the Air" is an introspective and passionate track reflecting upon human consciousness. It marked a departure from much of the band's previous work as it incorporates a more electronic-influenced sound as well as elements from new wave music.
Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams is the fourth studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, released through Virgin Records in the Netherlands on May 17, 2013, in the UK on May 20 and in the US on May 21. It was their first album in four years, following This Is War (2009), as well as their last album released through Virgin.
"City of Angels" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, who co-produced the song with Steve Lillywhite, "City of Angels" was inspired by Leto's experience of living in Los Angeles with his family and was influenced by the city's culture. Imbued with elements of synthrock as well as music from the 1980s, the track was cited as an example of the album's variety and experimentation. It was one of the first songs to be written for Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, but required a long period of time to record.
The Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams Tour was the third worldwide concert tour by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars in support of the band's fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams.
"Do or Die" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). Written and produced by lead vocalist Jared Leto, "Do or Die" explores the feeling of standing up and living one's dreams using also ironic undertones. The song is styled in electronic rock and imbued with elements of arena rock. It was serviced to mainstream radio in July 2013 in Europe, and was released as a promotional single in the United States in March 2014. A version of the song remixed by Dutch music producer Afrojack was digitally released in March 2014 and later included on the deluxe edition of Afrojack's debut studio album Forget the World (2014).
The Carnivores Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American rock bands Linkin Park and Thirty Seconds to Mars. It was launched in support of Linkin Park's sixth studio album The Hunting Party (2014) and Thirty Seconds to Mars' fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). The joint tour was officially announced in March 2014 at a press conference, with the full itinerary being revealed. It began on August 8, 2014 in West Palm Beach, Florida and ended on September 19 in Concord, California, visiting arenas and stadiums throughout North America. It was promoted by Live Nation and sponsored in-part by Infinity. American rock band AFI served as the opening act for the tour.
Bartholomew Cubbins 2006–2014 is a collection of music videos by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, released in the United States on April 13, 2015 by Sisyphus. It features all of the music videos directed for the band by frontman Jared Leto from 2006 to 2014 in addition to behind-the-scenes footage, covering the period from A Beautiful Lie (2005), This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013).
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"Rescue Me" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fifth studio album America (2018). It was written and produced by Jared Leto and KillaGraham. "Rescue Me" was described as a song exploring themes such as pain, empowerment, faith, and freedom. Critics acknowledged eclectic influences that resonate throughout the track, including elements from dance-rock.
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