P.O.D.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the band. For other uses, see POD.
P.O.D.
Traa Daniels, Wuv Bernardo, Marcos Curiel, Sonny Sandoval
Traa Daniels, Wuv Bernardo, Marcos Curiel, Sonny Sandoval
Background information
Origin San Diego, California, United States
Genre(s) Alternative metal
Christian metal
Nu metal
Rapcore
Years active 1992–present
Label(s) Rescue (1994–1998)
Atlantic (1998–2006)
Columbia (2007–present)
Associated acts The Accident Experiment
Living Sacrifice
Website www.payableondeath.com
Members
Sonny Sandoval
Wuv Bernardo
Traa Daniels
Marcos Curiel
Former members
Jason Truby
Gabe Portillo

P.O.D., initials standing for Payable On Death, is a multi-platinum, nu metal band from San Diego, California.[1] Formed in 1992, the band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels.[1]

With their third studio album, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, they achieved their initial mainstream success; the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2000.[1][2] Their following studio album, Satellite, continued the band's success with the hit singles, "Alive" and "Youth of the Nation", pushing it to go 3x platinum.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] Band history

[edit] Early Years (1992–1998)

While the exact date of the formation of P.O.D. is unknown, friends Marcos Curiel and Wuv Bernardo engaged in jam sessions in a band called Eschatos, without a vocalist sometime in the early 1990s. After his mother's fatal illness, Sonny Sandoval converted to Christianity and was asked by his cousin, Wuv Bernardo, to join P.O.D. as a way to keep his mind straight as mentioned on their DVD, Still Payin' Dues. Traa Daniels joined the band in 1994 when they needed a bassist for a concert, to replace Gabe Portillo, who appeared in the original demo tape. P.O.D. signed with a relatively unknown Christian label, Rescue Records, and released three albums under the label between 1994 and 1997, Snuff the Punk, Brown and Payable on Death Live.[1]

Shortly after the release of Payable on Death Live, Essential Records offered P.O.D. a $100,000 recording contract, but Sonny Sandoval spoke for them all when he politely but firmly told band manager Tim Cook to decline the offer because, “God has a bigger plan for P.O.D.”[4] In 1998, A&R rep John Rubeli from Atlantic Records caught a show at The Roxy on the Sunset Strip, and the band was quickly signed to a major-label deal.[4] P.O.D. soon released The Warriors EP, a tribute EP to their loyal fans, as a transitional album from Rescue Records to Atlantic Records.

[edit] Mainstream success (1999–2002)

P.O.D.'s third studio album, 1999's The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, spawned the hits "Southtown" and Total Request Live favorite "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)", which became their first video to reach #1.[5] At a time after the 1999 album, "School of Hard Knocks" was featured on the soundtrack for Little Nicky. All three music videos endured heavy play on MTV2 and the songs were rock radio hits. The album went on to become RIAA certified platinum.[1]

P.O.D. praying before going on stage.
P.O.D. praying before going on stage.

In 2001, on the same day as the September 11, 2001 attacks, P.O.D. released their fourth studio album, Satellite. The album's first single, "Alive," went on to become one of MTV's and MTV2's top played videos of the year. The video's popularity, as well as the song's positive message, helped the song become a huge pop radio hit.

The album's second single, "Youth of the Nation," was influenced in part by the school shootings at Santana High School, Columbine High School, and Granite Hills High School. The 2002 singles, "Boom" and "Satellite," also became quite popular. An addition, the concluding track of the album, "Portrait," received a number of awards and was Grammy nominated for Best Metal Performance in 2003. Satellite went on to become RIAA-certified triple platinum.[3]

[edit] Marcos leaves the band; Payable on Death (2003–2005)

On February 19, 2003, guitarist Marcos Curiel left the band due to his side project, The Accident Experiment and "spiritual differences." However, Marcos argued that he was actually kicked out of the band.[6][7] Sonny, Wuv and Traa were devastated about Curiel leaving, they considered breaking up the band, but decided to stay together and recruit another guitarist.[8] Curiel was replaced by Jason Truby, former member of Christian rock band Living Sacrifice, and assisted with the recording of P.O.D.'s single "Sleeping Awake", from The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack. In an interview with Yahoo! Music, Sonny stated that Jason is the reason why the group is still together,

“He did us a favor by helping us out with this song, and then once it was all said and done it kind of confirmed that maybe we should keep doing what we loved... and that's making music. So now he's helping us do that."

[9]

P.O.D. with ex-guitarist Jason Truby on TRL.
P.O.D. with ex-guitarist Jason Truby on TRL.

On November 4, 2003, P.O.D. released their fifth studio album, Payable on Death, which saw the group shift from their well known hard rock sound to a darker, more melodic sound.[10] The album was hit with controversy due to its "occult" cover, which lead as many as 85% of Christian bookstores across the United States to ban the album.[11] With the help of the album's hit single "Will You" and "Change the World", it went on to sell over 520,000 copies and was certified Gold.[12] Sometime after the tsunami in Asia, many singers, musicians, and actors/actresses, including Sonny and Wuv, participated in the recording of, "Forever in Our Hearts", with all proceeds going to benefit the tsunami relief.[13]

[edit] Testify (2006)

Testify was slated for a December 2005 release, but was pushed back to January 24, 2006. On November 15, 2005, P.O.D. released The Warriors EP, Volume 2, which featured demos from the upcoming album, to help build up the fans' anticipation for the pending January release. The album's first single, "Goodbye for Now", went on to become a #1 video on MTV's TRL, along with having a solid radio presence, it also became the band's unprecedented 4th number one video on Total Request Live.[14] The second single off the album, "Lights Out" was a minor hit, but was featured as the "official theme song" to WWE's Survivor Series on November 27, 2005. In another contribution to WWE, they performed fellow San Diego native Rey Mysterio's theme song "Booyaka 619" at WrestleMania 22.[14] To promote their latest album, P.O.D. went on a nationwide tour called the "Warriors Tour 2: Guilty by Association", which began in April, and included the bands Pillar, The Chariot and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster.[15]

[edit] P.O.D. leaves Atlantic Records; Marcos returns

On August 11, 2006, P.O.D. announced in their online newsletter that they had left Atlantic Records.[2][12] The newsletter stated: "P.O.D. have left Atlantic Records. We’ve been proud to be Atlantic Recording Artists, but it’s not the same place anymore. For most of our stay, we were blessed by a staff that was gracious towards our vision, faith, and love of music.... resulting in more than 7-million records sold. It’s time to dream again with a new staff and we leave with grateful hearts. By the people, FOR the people - P.O.D. - Aug. 2006"[12]

On September 16, 2006, P.O.D. announced that they have teamed up with Rhino Records to release a greatest hits record simply titled, Greatest Hits: The Atlantic Years, which was released on November 21, 2006. They shot a music video for their single "Going In Blind", one of the two new songs they included in the tenth album, and they have been taking meetings with various record labels to begin working on new material for an album they hoped to release in mid 2007.[2]

In a statement made by the band's manager on their MySpace page, it was officially announced, on December 30, 2006, that Jason Truby had left the band. They had said God worked it out because Jason decided to leave the band the same day Marcos asked to rejoin. [1] Marcos performed for the first time since his departure on the 2006 New Years Eve episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[2]

[edit] Columbia Records; When Angels & Serpents Dance (2007–present)

On February 2, 2007 the band made a new record deal with Columbia Records.[16]

POD, San Diego, 2008
POD, San Diego, 2008

On May 13, 2007 the band appeared on Carlos Mencia's show on Comedy Central, Mind of Mencia, when Carlos premiered his new music video for the song "Beaner Man". The band played the instruments and screamed the chorus, while Carlos rapped the lyrics and wore dreadlocks in parody of frontman Sonny Sandoval.[17][18]

On June 1, 2007, at the Rockbox in San Diego, the band performed and revealed a new song entitled "Condescending", along with another new song performed on June 16, 2007, at the Journeys Backyard BBQ tour entitled "Addicted". They also revealed the title of their new album to be When Angels & Serpents Dance.

On August 4, 2007, the band played at Angel Stadium of Anaheim's annual Harvest Crusade where they revealed a new song entitled "I'll Be Ready", originally thought to be entitled "When Babylon Come For I," for a crowd of 42,000, the largest number in attendance for the three day event.[19]

The album cover was officially revealed on December 10, 2007.[20]

On January 25, 2008, the band made the title track, "When Angels & Serpents Dance", available free for download on its official website.[21]

On February 5, 2008, P.O.D. announced "Addicted" would be the first single off "When Angels & Serpents Dance", and the song would be available to download via iTunes on February 19. They also announced that making appearance on the new record would be Helmet's Page Hamilton, Suicidal Tendencies' Mike Muir and the Marley Sisters.[22]

The album was released on April 8, 2008.

The song Condescending from the album is featured on the soundtrack of the NASCAR 09 video game.

[edit] Band members

Current members
Former members
  • Gabe Portillo − bass (1992–1994)
  • Jason Truby − guitar (2003–2006)
Live members
  • Tim Pacheco − percussion, keyboards (2006)
  • ODZ − guitar (2006)

[edit] Discography

Main article: P.O.D. discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Demos and EPs

[edit] Singles

Year Title Peak positions Album
U.S.
[23][24]		 U.S.
Pop
[23][25]		 U.S.
Main
[23]		 U.S.
Mod
[23]		 UK
[26]		 AUS
[27]		 SUI
[28]
2000 "Southtown" — — 31 28 — — — The Fundamental Elements of Southtown
"Rock the Party (Off the Hook)" — — 25 27 — — —
"School of Hard Knocks" — — — 38 — — — Little Nicky soundtrack
2001 "Alive" 41 — 4 2 19 18 51 Satellite
2002 "Youth of the Nation" 28 36 6 1 36 17 16
"Boom" 123[I] — 21 13 — 43 —
"Satellite" — — 15 21 — — —
2003 "Sleeping Awake" — — 20 14 42 41 30 The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack
"Will You" 117 — 12 12 68 — 68 Payable on Death
2004 "Change the World" — — 32 38 — — —
2006 "Goodbye for Now" 47 41 17 25 — — — Testify
"Lights Out" — — 30 — — — —
"Going in Blind" — — 35 — — — — Greatest Hits: The Atlantic Years
2008 "Addicted" — — 30 — — — — When Angels & Serpents Dance
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or have yet to chart.

[edit] Awards

Grammy Award
San Diego Music Awards
  • 1999 - Best Hard Rock Artist
  • 2000 - Best Hard Rock Artist

Note: Album and single-specific awards and nominations are listed under their respectful articles.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e MacKenzie, Wilson. P.O.D. Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e P.O.D. leaves Atlantic Records and Curiel returns. Blabbermouth. Roadrunner Records (2006-12-20). Retrieved on 2007-12-04. “P.O.D. was with Atlantic for four albums and two EPs. The band signed with Atlantic in 1998, after selling more than 40,000 copies of its independently released EPs. The group's Atlantic debut, "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown", came out in 1999 and went platinum, while 2001's "Satellite" was a multi-platinum success. But the group felt that personnel changes at Atlantic were responsible for recent sales dips — more than 500,000 copies of 2003's "Payable On Death" were sold, but less than 250,000 copies of the recent "Testify".”
  3. ^ a b Jeckell, Barry A. (2002-09-19). Satellite is certified triple-platinum. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “The triple-platinum milestone was recently reached by hard rock act P.O.D.'s year-old "Satellite" (Atlantic)”
  4. ^ a b Joseph, Mark. Promotion Crew: P.O.D. Biography. Promotion Crew. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  5. ^ Absolute TRL staff. Rock the Party hits #1. ATRL.net. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  6. ^ Moss, Corey (2003-02-19). Marcos leaves the group. Music Television. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  7. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2003-02-19). Guitarist Marcos exits P.O.D.. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-12-31.
  8. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon. There's No Crying In Rock. Music Television. Retrieved on 2008-01-04. “Sandoval, drummer Wuv and bassist Traa were devastated and considered breaking up the band. But then they came to their senses. Though Curiel had been their homey for more than a decade, the remaining members realized they still wanted to make music together, and they had fans who wanted to hear it”
  9. ^ P.O.D. Saved By 'Matrix Reloaded' Song. Yahoo! Music (2003-05-05). Retrieved on 2008-01-06. “P.O.D. was on the brink of breaking up after splitting with guitarist Marcos earlier this year. The band was saved, however, by their experience recording a new track for the Matrix Reloaded with a new member”
  10. ^ Collar, Matt. Payable on Death Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-01-23. “A darker album than its predecessor, Payable is built largely around Truby's precise slabs of distorted guitar. More quintessentially "metal" in his approach — think Metallica — and more of a conscientious technician than Marcos, Truby unfortunately lacks some of the unexpected spark that Marcos brought to P.O.D.”
  11. ^ P.O.D. Cover Artist Speaks Out On Christian Ban. Yahoo! Music (2003-12-08). Retrieved on 2008-01-23. “it's "ironic" that the album has been banned by 85 percent of Christian bookstores in the U.S., reportedly because the cover is "occult."”
  12. ^ a b c Cohen, Jonathan (2006-08-11). P.O.D. parts way with Atlantic Records. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “Hard rock act P.O.D. has parted ways with Atlantic Records, to which it has been signed since 1999. According to a statement sent to members of the group's email list, the group became disillusioned with changes at the label.”
  13. ^ Jeckell, Barry A. (2005-01-26). 'Forever' Unites Artists For Tsunami Relief. Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-01-02. “Recording artists from R&B crooner Brian McKnight to screamer Sonny Sandoval of rock act P.O.D. have lent their talents to a single that will raise funds for the tsunami relief effort in Eastern Africa and Southern Asia.”
  14. ^ a b WWE staff report. P.O.D. to play Mysterio to the ring at WrestleMania. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-25. “After the performance, P.O.D. will bring their unique sound to a new recording of Rey Mysterio’s “Booyaka 619” entrance theme. The band’s immense popularity is evidenced by its four No. 1 videos on MTV's program “Total Request Live,” which is an unprecedented achievement for a rock band.”
  15. ^ MTV News staff report (2006-02-13). P.O.D. on tour. VH1. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. “P.O.D. will hit the road this spring with Pillar, the Chariot and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster as part of the Warriors Tour 2: Guilty by Association run.”
  16. ^ P.O.D. inked deal with Colombia Records. IGN Music (2007-03-07). Retrieved on 2008-01-02. “The "classic" configuration of Sonny, Wuv, Traa, and returning original guitarist Marcos, who all last recorded together on 2001's Satellite, will begin working on a new album currently slated for a Summer 2007 release.”
  17. ^ P.O.D. appear in Mind of Mencia. Comedy Central (2007-05-13). Retrieved on 2008-01-02. “Episode # 307. Originally Aired: 5/13/07. This week P.O.D. helps Carlos introduce the world to the first Latino Super-Hero...Beaner Man! Then Carlos talks with his buddies Joseph Cano, Brad Williams, and Josh Blue about the jobs they should never have.”
  18. ^ P.O.D. sing for 'Beaner Man'. Tv.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
  19. ^ Laurie, Greg (2007-08-06). Saturday had the largest crowd from the three days. Harvest Crusades. Retrieved on 2007-12-04. “Music lent support to the talks presented by Laurie each night at the Harvest Crusade, reinforcing the message of God's love. From raucous hip-hop and rock from multi-platinum band P.O.D., to lively pop-infused music and dance steps from tobyMac, to an audience sing-a-long with the David Crowder Band, the Christian music represented at the crusade kept audiences on their feet.”
  20. ^ P.O.D. To Release New Album In April. Blabbermouth. Roadrunner Records (2008-01-02). Retrieved on 2008-01-02. “Spiritual rockers P.O.D. (a.k.a. Payable On Death) released their new album, "When Angels & Serpents Dance", on April 8 via INO/Columbia Records.”
  21. ^ Blabbermouth Staff Writer (2008-01-25). New Song Available For Free Download. Blabbermouth. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. “A new P.O.D. (a.k.a. PAYABLE ON DEATH) track, entitled "When Angels & Serpents Dance", is available for free download.”
  22. ^ Peters, Mitchell (2008-02-04). Founding P.O.D. Member Re-Joins For 'Angelic' Effort. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-04. “Keeping true to its "big rock" sound, the band is leaning toward "Addicted" as its first single.”
  23. ^ a b c d Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  24. ^ Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  25. ^ Top 40 Tracks. Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  26. ^ UK Top 40 Hit Database. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
  27. ^ Australian Charts Archive. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  28. ^ Swiss Charts Archive. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
v • d • e
P.O.D.
Current members: Sonny Sandoval · Wuv Bernardo · Traa Daniels · Marcos Curiel
Former members: Jason Truby · Gabe Portillo
Albums
EPs
Demos
DVD
Singles
Related articles