halfway point, describing the entire project as "top-heavy". Canadian critic Karin Lowachee found the group's sound and vision reminiscent of their "concept-styled forbears" but "uniquely owned" for a contemporary audience, and wrote that the band "defies the trend by stepping out ahead of it and into the future", giving the listener something original to enjoy. Amber Authier from Exclaim! echoed this sentiment, stating that the band stretched musical borders and represented something that is "a little different", offering a "solid sound". Mitch Joel from Blistering commended the band's musical diversity, noting that they are "worth more than most of their peers on a song-by-song magnitude." Elizabeth Bromstein of Now magazine found the track-to-track variation limited, although she appreciated the range of styles. Peter Relic of Rolling Stone gave a mixed response, stating that the album has its finer moments but felt that it is undone by Jared Leto's "baffling, pretentious poetry" and the "sanitized quality of the heavy guitars. Q magazine described it as having "a polished sheen", but opined that the "earnest, sci-fi-tinged lyrics gets monotonous" over the course of the album. In contrast, Jason D. Taylor from AllMusic commented that the "space-age themes complement the group's advanced musical achievements wonderfully". Megan O'Toole of The Gazette felt that every track on the album is a "unique masterpiece that simultaneously operates on a number of different musical and spiritual levels", writing that its music has the potential to "affect and infect the deepest recesses" of the soul. Commercial performance In the United States, 30 Seconds to Mars entered the Billboard 200 at number 107 on the issue dated September 14, 2002. It also debuted at number one on the Top Heatseekers. After nine weeks, it fell to number 40, with sales of over 40,000 units. As of August 2006, Nielsen SoundScan estimates actual sales of the album at over 120,000 in the United States. Its lead single, "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)", entered the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart at number 40 and eventually reached a peak of number 31. In the United Kingdom, although the album never charted, it was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in July 2013, denoting shipments of over 60,000 units. In France, 30 Seconds to Mars debuted at number 142 on the national albums chart on October 5, 2002. After its release to the Australian market, the album entered the ARIA Charts at