Revisiting: Satellite - P.O.D. (11th September 2001)

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Satellite - P.O.D.

Atlantic 

Produced by Howard Benson and P.O.D.

Released 11th September 2001

US Charts #6

UK Charts #16

Australian Chart #19

New Zealand Chart #4

German Chart #5

Side A

Side B

Side C

Side D

P.O.D.

    Sonny Sandoval – vocals
    Marcos Curiel – guitars, backing vocals
    Traa Daniels – bass guitar, backing vocals
    Wuv Bernardo – drums, percussions


Additional musicians
    Howard Benson – Keyboards, Loops
    Larry Corbett – Cello
    Joel Derouin – Violin
    Christian Lindskog (of Blindside) – Additional vocals on "Anything Right"
    Eek-A-Mouse – Additional vocals on "Ridiculous"
    H.R. (of Bad Brains) – Additional vocals on "Without Jah, Nothin"
    Suzie Katayama – Conductor, string arrangements

In The US the album was released on CD and as a Double Vinyl Album.

Pretty much everywhere it was released just on CD. In Europe there was a Limited Edition version that came with a DVD featuring live footage of the band in Hamburg, Germany* performing Set It Off, Without Jah, Nothin', Youth of The Nation and Outkast.

* You can watch the video from that particular show HERE. It contains pretty much most of the show apart from the encore Outkast.

There are loads of links below that will lead you to videos/audio of P.O.D. as well as other information regarding the band. Click on them to enjoy.

Singles On Satellite

Released on CD Single and Cassette Single

 

1 Alive (Album Version) 3:22
2 School Of Hard Knocks 4:04
3 Lie Down (Demo) 4:20

Released 4th July 2011

US Chart #41

UK Chart #19 

Sabbath was also included on the Australian release of the CD Single

MTV Video Music Awards 2002
    Best Video of the Year for "Alive" (nominated)
    Best Group Video for "Alive" (nominated)
    Best Direction for "Alive" (nominated)
    Best Special Effects for "Alive" (nominated)
    Viewer's Choice for "Alive" (nominated)

2002 Grammy Awards
    Best Hard Rock Performance for "Alive" (nomination)

 Released on CD Single

1 Youth Of The Nation (Album Version) 4:17
2 Alive (Semi-Acoustic Version) 3:23
3 Sabbath 4:32

Released 25th December 2001

US Chart #28

UK Chart #36

 MTV Video Music Awards 2002

 Best Rock Video for "Youth Of The Nation" (nominated)

 2003 Grammy Awards*
    Best Hard Rock Performance for "Youth Of The Nation" (nomination)

*They were also nominated in Best Metal Performance Catergory for "Portrait" (although it was not released as a single but merely an album track)

Released on 7" Picture Disc

 and CD Single

A1 Boom (Album Version) 3:09
A2 Set It Off (Tweaker Remix) 4:12
B Hollywood (Live) 5:12

Released 14th May 2002

Did Not Chart in US or UK

Released on CD Single

1 Satellite (Album Version) 3:32
2 Critic (Non Album Bonus Track) 2:43
3 Youth Of The Nation (Mike$ki Remix) 4:05

Released 20th August 2002

Did Not Chart In US or UK

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If you assumed for a moment that P.O.D. were some kind of bandwagon jumpers under the banner of Nu Metal/Rapcore then you were actually oblivious to their history. They didn't just spring out of nowhere and suddenly find themselves as one of the most requested bands on MTV's TRL with their single Alive, rather they had been on the go since 1992 and even before they had begun to gain some success with Atlantic Records they had already released three albums on their own Rescue Records (Snuff The Punk - January 1994, Brown - October 1996, Payable On Death Live - February 1997 and an EP entitled The Warriors on Tooth and Nail Records in May 1999).

The band had been offered big bucks to join Essential Records (a Christian Music label based in Franklin, Tennessee) but sensing that bigger things were on the horizon for them they were eventually signed by Atlantic Records after John Rubeli (Atlantic A&R) witnessed them in action at The Roxy on Sunset Strip.

Their major label Debut, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown gave them a much wider platform and two singles and videos from the album - Southtown and Rock The Party (Off The Hook) - would open the doors to radio and MTV for them.

Recording for their fourth studio album had begun in March 2001 in California in the hands of producer Howard Benson (he had produced The Fundamental Elements of Southtown album) and was completed by May 2001. Benson by the way had a rather varied CV having produced T.S.O.L., Sanctuary, Motörhead, Body Count, Less Than Jake, Kilgore Smudge and Sepultura (to name but a few) before taking the controls for P.O.D..

Alive was the lead single for the album Satellite. It was released on Independence Day in the States. The Promo Video (released in August 2001) soon captured the attention of viewers on TRL and on September 5th it was the most requested video on the show. To celebrate this, instead of playing a snippet of the video they cut to a free VMA Music Week Concert performance in Battery Park, Manhattan of Alive.

Six days later Satellite would be released and a performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno was set but that didn't actually take place until 5th October because of the events of the terror attacks on 11th September 2001 in New York City (not forgetting the Pentegon in Arlington, Virginia and also United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers).

The album saw the band blend the sounds of Metal, Punk, Hardcore, Screamo, Reggae and Rap over the course of 15 tracks. 

Lyrically it would take on new meanings for listeners far and wide the day after 9/11 with it's spotlight shining on the spiritual positivity in the midst of hard times and dark days of sadness and loss:

"RISE - Let your spirit fly
RISE- Stand up for yourself
RISE- Hold your head up high"

- Set It Off

"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

It’s beyond my control, sometimes it’s best to let go
Whatever happens in this lifetime
So I trust in love
You have given me peace of mind"

- Alive

"Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim
No matter what you say
It don't take away the pain

That I feel inside, I'm tired of all the lies
Don't nobody know why
It's the blind leading the blind

I guess that's the way the story goes
Will it ever make sense
Somebody's got to know

There's got to be more to life than this
There's got to be more to everything
I thought exists" 

- Youth of The Nation

"Because I won't break (nah), and I won't shake (nah)
With lifted hands to this Man (Jah), I'll stand in faith
I'll make it through, my trust in you
Close my eyes, make a wish, kiss the sky"

- Satellite

 "I know you will complete this work started in me
I need you more than ever now that I know who you are
I know you will complete this work started in me
I need you more than ever now that I've come so far"

- Ridiculous

"This I pledge, and I'll take it to my death
I'll lay my life down for you and die over again
I and I, I'm not ashamed of the Most High
Even if I die tonight, if I die tonight
This I pledge, and I'll take it to my death
You can bet your life on my words and everything I said
You can't take away my love for this sacrifice
Even if I die tonight, if I die tonight"

- The Messenjah 

 "I believe you and I will overcome
I believe you and I believe in love

Whether you think I'm so confused
Or if you feel the way I do
So don't give in to this hate within

Living in this world of pain
Don't let it bring you down
The world is a ghetto "

- Ghetto

"I'm thinking about forever (missing you)
I know you're so much better (we made it through)

Now I know what it means to live for someone else
To give up yourself
Things have changed, at times it gets kind of strange
Your love remains the same
Do I make you proud? Mama, can you see me now?
Whatever is good in me is because you showed me how to take love by the hand
And so now I can share you with my baby
So that she can understand" 

- Thinking About Forever

"I surrender, giving up all that is me
Yielding to you
Shape me in my brokeness
Empower me forever" 

- Portrait

It's hard to believe that it's been 16 years since that dark and terrible day in New York City. What has unfolded in the world we live in since then still leaves many heartbroken with loss of loved ones and where one enemy seems to have been vanquished another has arisen to carry out even more atrocities in many places across the globe. 

More than ever the lyrics of these songs on Satellite seem to be calling out afresh to us to open our ears to hear and a call to our hearts to remain steadfast in the fight to put out the flames of fear and hatred that seem to be prevailing at this time and embrace something better for us as individuals and as a society.