Christian rock music from P.O.D.

The letters P.O.D. stand for a banking term that means, Payable on Death. I do not know how it works and many rock music lovers all over the world probably don’t either. But they couldn’t care less. Nowadays P.O.D. is merely the name of a rock band that creates loud and aggressive music that is so real it also inspires.

The most prevalent perception about head-splitting music is that it arouses violent emotions deemed by some people as the work of the devil. Not so in this instance, although P.O.D. does tackle controversial topics like killings, drugs and sex. But despite this and it seems most unintentionally, the songs of P.O.D. have already earned the classification of Christian rock music. So how does it happen that a group as hard-rocking as P.O.D. is more associated with positive feelings than anything depraved or at the very least, angst-ridden?

It is really all in the lyrics. Everyday is a new day/I’m thankful for every breath I take/I won’t take it for granted/so I learn from my mistakes, sings P.O.D. in Alive. And it’s because of you that now I can see/so now can I run? I follow the Son and ride on to Zion/ and dance this last song of freedom..." goes Satellite. There is also Portrait, which says, Some people call you Father/maybe you could set me free/these people hate each other/but you’ve always been there for me.

Alive, Satellite and Portrait are cuts in P.O.D.’s new album release also titled Satellite. It is a tight package of excellently-crafted rock of the hardcore sort but peppered here and there with dashes of reggae, hip hop, punk and other music types. This mixture, of course, does not make P.O.D. much different from many other rock bands nowadays. But once more, the contents of the lyrics come in. The songs affirm belief in a Higher Being and celebrate the greatness of being alive.

Because of P.O.D. there is no need anymore to stay away from power-decibeled rock tunes because of the negative vibes they often produce. You can now head-bang to your heart’s delight while imbibing the inspiring messages in the music of this California group.

P.O.D. is made up of Sonny on lead vocals, Marcos on guitars and vocals, Traa on bass and vocals and Wuv on drums and vocals who all collaborate on their songs. They are based in San Diego and are all from the city of San Ysidro near the California/Tijuana border. The group was born when Sonny joined the group formed by Wuv and Marcos 10 years ago. Traa came in a year later.

After several releases on their own indie label, they themselves formed, they were finally signed to a major label. Released three years ago, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown with the singles Southtown and Rock the Party (Off the Hook) became P.O.D.’s first major hit. Satellite, which is even bigger, came out late last year. The first hit out was the anthemic Alive. This was followed by the poignant Youth of the Nation, a tune they wrote after the Columbine shootings. Next up will be Boom, a song about making it big as a rock band.

Top-selling tunes in the US

Here now are the top-selling tunes from the US of A according to Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 tabulation: Ain’t It Funny from J.Lo featuring Ja Rule; Always on Time by Ja Rule featuring Ashanti; How You Remind Me by Nickelback; In the End by Linkin Park; Wherever You Will Go by The Calling; Hey Baby by No Doubt featuring Bounty Killer; What About Us? by Brandy; Blurry by Puddle of Mudd; U Got It Bad by Usher; and Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue.

The top 10 albums are the following: Under Rug Swept, the latest by Alanis Morisette; O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the motion picture soundtrack by Various Artists; Fever by Kylie Minogue; Songs in A Minor by Alicia Keys; [Hybrid Theory] by Linkin Park; Drive by Alan Jackson; J To Tha L-O! The Remixes by Jennifer Lopez; Word of Mouf by Ludacris; Living Proof by Cher; and All That You Can’t Leave Behind by U2. Take note that O Brother Where Art Thou?, Songs in A Minor and All That You Can’t Leave Behind all bounced back to the top 10 after winning at the Grammys.