New Release: Circles - P.O.D. (16th November)

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Circles - P.O.D.
Mascot Records
Produced by The Heavy
Released 16th November 2018

Tracklist
A1 Rockin' With The Best 2:38
A2 Always Southern California 3:09
A3 Circles 3:26
A4 Panic Attack 3:01
A5 On The Radio 3:09
A6 Fly Away 3:09
B1 Listening For The Silence 3:48
B2 Dreaming 3:02
B3 Domino 3:28
B4 Soundboy Killa 4:05
B5 Home 4:01

Sonny Sandoval Interview San Diego Union-Tribune (15th November 2018)

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If there are some who are unaware of the history of P.O.D. here's a brief summary. Included are links for albums and singles etc that you should check out. Then that should set the stage for the new album 'Circles'.

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It's been 26 years since P.O.D. (Payable on Death) first formed in San Diego and during that time they have only ever had three line up changes. The first was when original Bassist Gabe Portillo left the band in 1993 with current Bassist Traa Daniels replacing him; the second was in 2003 when Guitarist Marcos Curial departed to be replaced by Jason Truby (formerly of Living Sacrifice); and then thirdly, when Marcos asked to rejoin the band three years later on the same day that Jason Truby handed in his request to leave for pastures new. The line up has pretty much remained solid since.

 (P.O.D. left to right: Wuv, Marcos, Traa and Sonny)

Sonny Sandoval - Lead Vocals

Traa Daniels - Bass, Backing Vocals

Marcos Curiel - Guitars,
Backing Vocals

Wuv Bernando Jr. - Drums, Backing Vocals

They have come a long way since their 1993 Demo that was issued on Cassette on Rescue Records (a label set up by Wuv's Father, who was also their manager for the first few years). On Rescue Records they released three albums: 'Snuff The Punk' (January 1994), 'Brown' (October 1996),  and 'Payable on Death Live' (1997).

In 1998 the band came to the attention of Atlantic Records and after seeing them live at The Roxy in Los Angeles they were signed to the label. They released 'The Warriors' EP on Tooth & Nail Records as a transitional release in May 1998 (limited to 30,000 copies) prior to the August 1999 release of their major label debut 'The Fundamental Elements of Southtown'. Southtown peaked on the Billboard Chart at #51 and two tracks were released as singles and although neither charted they gained a lot of airplay on MTV ('Southtown' and 'Rock the Party'). A third track, not on the album also had a video, 'School of Hard Knocks', and was included as part of the Soundtrack for the film Little Nicky in 2000.

July 2001 the band released 'Alive' as the forerunner to the highly anticipated new album 'Satellite'. 'Alive' rocketed up the UK Charts to #19 whilst reaching only #41 in the USA. It would become one of the most aired videos of the year on MTV/MTV2. 

The album 'Satelitte', arrived on a day that would have life altering tragedy for many, 11th September 2001. It would go on to sell 7 million copies worldwide peaking at #6 in the States and #16 in the UK. A further three singles were released from the album: 'Youth of the Nation' (which charted on both sides of the Atlantic), 'Boom' (that featured Blindside in the video playing table tennis against P.O.D.) and title track 'Satellite'. Q magazine here in the UK said, "...heavy, angry, and very, very loud....many songs have messages of peace and spirituality....their Gen-X angst sounds genuine...", whilst giving it 3/5 stars.

'Sleeping Awake' was part of the Soundtrack for The Matrix Reloaded in May 2003 followed by 'Will You' in September 2003. The album 'Payable on Death' followed in November 2003 and whilst it reached #9 in the States its sales came nowhere close to what 'Satelitte' had sold.

A new album was due for release in December in 2005 but was pushed back. The band took the opportunity to release 'The Warriors Volume 2' EP. The seven track EP contained demos from the sessions for the forthcoming album as well as two live tracks and was released a week after the first single that would feature on their sixth album, 'Goodbye for Now'. That single and the video would feature a young lady on backing vocals who would go on to have a huge career herself, Katy Perry!

'Testify' would be their final album for Atlantic Records. Released in January 2006. In November the same year Rhino Records would release 'Greatest Hits: The Atlantic Years' that included 17 tracks covering singles and album tracks and two previously unreleased songs: 'Here We Go' and the single 'Going In Blind'. It would also reach #9 on the US chart.

Two years later there was yet another new label (INO Records in the USA and their own P.O.D. Records and Cooking Vinyl Records for Europe) and a brand new album, 'When Angels & Serpents Dance', released April 2008. It included the singles 'Addicted' and 'Shine With Me'. The album was the third one in a row to peak at #9 on the Billboard Chart.

Moving forward four years and P.O.D. had signed with Razor & Tie and released 'Murdered Love' with Howard Benson back on producing duty. Three singles were released from the album: 'Lost in Forever (Scream)', 'Higher' and 'Beautiful' and each had a promo video which you can see by clicking the link. There was also a video for the title track 'Murdered Love'.

The SoCal Sessions album was next up and was released on T-Boy Records November 2014. This one was a little different in that it was an Acoustic album and spotlighted a number of songs drawn from previous albums. 

August 2015 saw the release of their second album for T-Boy Records, a Concept album entitled 'The Awakening'. Whilst it drew some favourable press coverage it's probably the least played album by P.O.D. that I own. I think it has more to do with me not looking so favourably upon Concept albums rather than the quality of the music.

Then finally we come to November 2018 and the release of 'Circles'. They were saying that they had been co-writing with some folk for this album, something which they had not really ever done before and there was the possibility that it might offer up a rather different view of P.O.D. than expected. But the good news is that they have managed to maintain that typical P.O.D. sound and throughout the album it makes you think back to other points in their back catalogue. I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing, especially when you have fond memories of those earlier records.

My favourites so far from the album are Rockin' With The Best, On The Radio and Listening For The Silence.

The Circles Interviews with P.O.D.

How Does Circles Compare to previous P.O.D. albums?

Favourite Songs from the Record?

Touring.