 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 . 
