A Beautiful Lie is the second studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The album was released on August 30, 2005, through Virgin Records. It was produced by Josh Abraham.
A Beautiful Lie differs notably from the band's self-titled debut album, both musically and lyrically. Whereas the eponymous concept album's lyrics focus on human struggle and astronomical themes, A Beautiful Lies lyrics are "personal and less cerebral". It is the first to feature guitarist Tomo Miličević and the only one to feature bassist Matt Wachter, who left the band in 2007. The album produced four singles, "Attack", "The Kill", "From Yesterday", and "A Beautiful Lie"; of which three of those four singles managed to chart within the top 30 on the US Modern Rock chart, with "The Kill" and "From Yesterday" entering the top three.
A Beautiful Lie received positive reviews from music critics, many praising the album for diverging from the sound of the band's previous work. It has been stylistically described as post-hardcore, hard rock, and alternative rock. The success of the album had helped the band receive accolades for their singles such as "The Kill" and "From Yesterday".
History
A Beautiful Lie was recorded on four continents in five countries over a three-year period to accommodate lead singer Jared Leto's acting career. The album's title track, as well as three other songs, were composed in Cape Town, South Africa, where Leto was later met by his bandmates to work on the tracks. It was during this time that Leto conceived the album's title. Prior to this, the album was tentatively to be released under the title Battle of One. It was leaked onto peer-to-peer file sharing networks almost five months before its scheduled release; the version of the album that leaked was unmastered. Because of this, the band was forced to set back the album's release date.
Alternative versions
Deluxe edition
On November 26, 2006, a special edition of A Beautiful Lie was released and features different artwork, a third bonus track (all versions have at least two); the UK version of the song "The Kill" entitled "The Kill (Rebirth)", and a DVD that features the music video for "The Kill", the making of the video for "The Kill", live performances and MTV2 moments involving the band.
Before production of the Deluxe Edition, the band requested that the members of the "Echelon" send in their names so that they could be thanked for their support over the years. As a result, the inside cover(s) of the Deluxe Edition contain a large list of printed fan names. In addition to this, the front cover contains a lenticular image consisting of the Mithra (phoenix) and the Trinity (skulls).
2007 re-release
A Beautiful Lie was re-released on November 26, 2007, following extensive touring throughout Europe, in an attempt to expose themselves to a larger audience. The re-release is essentially the same as the original release, although includes different artwork. The album was re-released in Ireland again in November 2007, the version contains the UK version of "The Kill" and a second bonus track, and an acoustic version of the song "A Beautiful Lie" recorded live on a radio session.
20th anniversary deluxe edition
On January 14, 2026, the band started releasing cryptic teasers, believed to be related to the 20th anniversary edition of the album, which was teased at their 2025 Kia Forum anniversary show of the album. On January 23, 2026, the band released "God's Eye", a reworked demo from the album's original sessions, alongside CD and vinyl pre-orders for the album. And on February 27, 2026, the band released "Over My Head", another reworking of an album session demo.