Rock
Posted March 05, 2008
By Nathan,
P.O.D. (payable upon death) has a fascinating story, a band who was at the bottom, got a Christian label offer rejected it to reach more people in mainstream music, and becomes a hit. Greatest Hits: the Atlantic years covers the ground that they sung with 17 of their rock hits.
P.O.D. has a very professional sound, from their hard rock, down to the rap and reggae. The song "Southtown" starts things off, and it's a heavy, gritty rock song, next is "boom" which has a heavy chorus but is not a lights out rock song, although the music for the verse and the bridge are awesome. The reggae music does have a huge theme in most of the music on the compilation but it shows up the most on "Roots in the stereo", ""execute the sounds", and "set your eyes on Zion" which has a very cool sound. The anthem "youth of the nation" has a little reggae, a little rock and a little rap all mixed together, that all equals to be a tremendous song that is excellent from the verses which flow perfectly to the background vocals.
However heavy rock is what P.O.D does best. "going in Blind" has a very professional rock sound, and "Alive just rocks, as the chorus really ignites the song. "sleeping awake" is heavy but the refrain is not catchy, and "rock the party (off the hook)" also lacks something. "here we go" and "will you" are both solid rock songs. The heavy "Lights out" is just that, and "satellite" is an elite rock song. The moody "goodbye for now" is absolutely brilliant and it flows expertly. The ending song, "if it wasn't for you" has a rock/rap sound to the verses and really is done well.
The guys from P.O.D. wanted to open up a larger listening audience that would touch more people, most bands however let their lyrics slide with the larger popularity, but P.O.D. does not shy away from faith filled lyrics. the first two tracks don't seem to say much, but "going in blind" talks about working for the almighty 'do all these roads lead back to you?'. "Roots in the stereo" has God and scripture all around, as does "set your eyes on Zion" has a ton of God's word thrown in there. Ironically "alive" came out on September eleventh 2001; the opening lines of the song are: 'everyday is a new day/ I'm thankful for every breath I take'.
"Youth of the nation" is depressing, yet it points out the family relationships matter, and how broken families are the cause of many of society's problems. God is all around in the music on songs like "sleeping awake", and execute the sounds". "Goodbye for now" is about a man who is determined to outlast pain. Except for one silly line about love 'she comes and she goes', "truly amazing" is good. Referring to God on "Satellite", we find that clarity and purpose appear when we follow God. "If it wasn't for you is about man questioning the bible and other truths and events, but the song ends with a strong message for Christ ('if it wasn't for you/it's all for nothing').
While discussing P.O.D,'s overall work Mark Joseph says: 'unlike the prophets of old, if these messages are not accompanied by compelling music the message will have little effect', Interesting. P.O.D., a band of Christians who wanted to reach more people have not compromised there lyrics, and they have a large listening audience in the mainstream music world, plus their messages are even more challenging than other Christian artists. Greatest Hits: the Atlantic Years covers a lot of great music and it has a lot of great things to say, but count this writer out of their fan club.
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