I've gone through a lot of phases with the band P.O.D. First it was, "Ow, my head, turn that off", back in the days when they were a small-time underground band liked by a few Christians and I'd hear them on a sampler CD or late-night radio show here and there. Then it was, "Why do these guys, with their blunt lyrics and brute-force style, get popular when much more talented Christian bands don't?", when they first broke into the mainstream in 2000. After that came, "Alright, their music isn't my style, but I respect what they're doing, and hey, this one song's kind of catchy", when I discovered "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)". Then came the final admission that I was a fan, thanks to their Satellite album, which still had a heavy feel to it, but was much more melodic and easy for me to digest. And then came the realization, with the anemic record Payable on Death, that maybe I wasn't that big of a fan at all. I mean, playing in a heavy style that I just couldn't get into made not being a fan due to my personal musical tastes, not due to them being bad at their particular style of music (or at least, if they were on those early records, I had no way of discerning that). Now, it seemed that they had ditched the rap and mellowed the hard edges and were just going for vague modern rock radio-friendliness. That bugged me. I still bought the album, but I realized that P.O.D. wasn't all that and a bag of chips and two radishes.

Early in 2006 came the band's sixth record (I think?), and their fourth for a major label, called Testify. It's one of those albums that, at first glance, brings back the heavy rap/rock and melodic aspects of Satellite and cements my fandom again. The musical climate is different now than it was in 2001, and the rap/rock trend may have evolved (or faded a bit), leaving P.O.D. a bit out of the loop, but part of me appreciates them sticking to what works for them, rather than making a half-hearted attempt to observe changing trends and remove what makes them enjoyable to listen to in the first place, like they did in 2003.

But having said that, there's a part of me that just isn't connecting with Testify the way I did with Satellite. I'd be hard-pressed to find a song that irritates me on a musical level on Testify (which is more than I can say for Satellite, actually), and yet, despite nearly every song having a fairly solid hook, so little of this album actually sticks with me after its final track grinds to a halt. It's almost as if P.O.D. has perfected their brand of hard ear candy, and yet, while doing that, they either have less important stuff to say, or they're failing to say it in a way that matters much to me. In short, while I like most of this record, virtually none of it has the quality that makes me expect a song to be remembered many years later as a bona fide P.O.D. classic. Who knows; maybe I just attached more powerful memories and emotions to an album that was coincidentally released on September 11, 2001, and had many songs that offered a lot of hope in the wake of that awful day? Nah, that can't be the case. Sure, there were the fun fluff tracks like "Boom", but "Youth of the Nation" and "Thinking About Forever" would have hit me hard at any point in my life. Nothing here is replicating any such feeling, even though I know that some of the songs were written with very serious situations in mind.

I think my biggest complaint about Testify is based on its title - what exactly are these guys testifying to? The obvious answer would be their Christian faith. I'm not one to nitpick the "ministry value" of a band or count Jesus references or whatever, but it does annoy me sometimes when a band who is highly acclaimed for being a "light to the world" is actually spending a lot of time singing about themselves or just about how cool the music is. I'm not saying those aren't valid subjects - I listen to plenty of bands, some of them Christian, whose focus is mostly just being good entertainers (and when I can tell the bragging is tongue-in-cheek). And P.O.D. certainly does not shy away from their faith on this album, either. (Heck, there's a pretty good "worship song" buried in this album - I say that when I normally abhor the practice of Christian bands being made to feel that they must include such a song on their albums.) It's just that a lot of time seems to be spent on "the boys are back, and they're gonna rock your face off with their superior music which blows away all enemies. The line between spiritual warfare and battle rapping (or whatever) is not I'm so sure that I'm comfortable with when it gets blurred.

Nevertheless, the band plays the hell out of these songs in almost every instance (insert your own "hell" joke here), showing a lot of passion for their craft that seemed to be missing from the middle section of Payable on Death. A few of the lyrics might aggravate me, but there's nothing dull here, and that's a very good sign. Testify turns out to be a highly listenable and enjoyable album, even if few of its songs are extremely memorable in the end.

Roots in Stereo
To live by words, if Scripture is roots
And the wise hold they tongue when the youth speak the truth
You learn real quick, where I'm from, if you don't belong
Only the strong survive Southtown and Babylon...
This here opening track is pretty darn good, I must say. As put off as I am by the fact that Sonny Sandoval announces that this track is being performed by "P.O.D. and Matisyahu" within the first ten seconds of it, I'm excited about the actual presence of Matisyahu. This was my first exposure to the Jewish reggae singer who has achieved a bit of notoriety lately, and while his somewhat nasal chanting and interjections take a little getting used to, he and Sonny make a great team. The song has an excellent, semi-heavy groove to it - there aren't any reggae trademarks present other than the chanting, because the rest is chug-a-chug rap/rock that actually sounds a lot more spirited that the genre's norm, thanks to guitarist Jason Truby. Sonny and Matisyahu are basically declaring the need to stand up amidst violent streets and declare what they're all about - a mission to achieve peace by way of making killer music. Despite a few references to God/Jah/whatever, it's mostly just a lot of hip-hop and reggae slang, but the vocals flow well over the many syllables even if it often results in nonsense such as the shout of "Boom-biddie-bye-bye!" that precedes the chorus. The band makes a slick move by ducking out of the established groove and flowing into a sweet 3/4 rhythm during Matisyahu's bridge, shifting effortlessly back to 4/4 for the last chorus, and then back to 3/4 again for the outro. There's a real sense of being free to this song, and it's probably the closest thing to a P.O.D. classic on this album.

Lights Out
We bang boogy through your system, subliminal
We lyrical murderin' like we criminals
It's life or death, medical decision
We so dope out the lab that you need a prescription...
The band has pretty much admitted to writing this one with extreme sports in mind. It doesn't take a genius to listen to it and realize that not much more is being said than "We got more game than you do". OK, it doesn't actually say that, but its repeated declaration of "Lights out! Game over! Make way 'cause the kings is back!" pretty much sums it up. (Why do these rap/rock groups like to get us all excited about them being "back" when most of them never went anywhere? What, are they apologizing for making a bad album last time or something?) Sometimes a track that is just a fun shot-out to your hood can be a blast (that's basically what "Boom") was, but this song feels like it's trying to be a hit by sheer brute force, with its jerky rhythm and the way it smacks the chorus into my skull. And the band has to name-drop themselves again (that's twice in two tracks, and I'm surprised that they haven't informed us that it's 2006 by this point), declaring that "We triple O, oh triple, triple O.G.!" Alright, so you're once, twice, twenty-seven times a gangsta. Yay for you.

If You Could See Me Now
And is this what you want for me to feel?
Or am I going out of my mind, what is real?
Stay by my side, so I can live
And I will be alright, don't leave me...
I knew there'd have to be a "sensitive guy" track before too long. That's not a disc, as I like the more laid-back, melodic feel of this track, and it opens up intriguingly with Wuv's intricate drum work and Jason's light, quick-fingered guitar playing, before settling into its relaxed electric groove. The song is about reaching out to a person that they've lost touch with, perhaps who they left things on bad terms with it, and wanting the person to see how much they've changed over the years. The song comes up a bit short on lyrics, choosing repetition over exposition, which ultimately drags it down a bit. But the screams that punctuate the chorus near the end add a decent amount of oomph to make sure there's a climactic feeling to it.

Goodbye for Now
I'm not the type to say "I told you so"
I think the hardest part of holding on is letting it go...
I'm not sure why this track was chosen as the album's first single. It's not terrible by any means - I actually like its blend of rap with melodic vocals, particularly on the chorus, where a few of the guys sing together while Sonny raps a little bit in between, and all of it gets capped off by the question, "When will we sing a new song?", which infuses the song with a good deal of pathos. In some ways, it's like a mellower version of Satellite's title track. While there's a lot of emotion here, the song doesn't really appear to have more meaning to it than just the general sense of looking forward to brighter days - part of that whole "catchy but not memorable" problem. The appearance of Katy Perry (formerly Katy Hudson) on background vocals near the end is interesting, but I kind of wish she got to do a little more.

Sounds Like War
This guns for hire, take the vow of the Nazarenes
Then come clean, they're crazy bald heads, don't ya mean
Wickedness fill the sky on the death blow
Carve the name across your chest, in case the dog catcher wants to know...
This slamming rocker took a little while to catch on with me - not that I ever disliked in, but it just took some time to really stand out. Now that it does stand out to me, it's becoming another favorite, with some spacy guitar notes and even a little bit of piano to add color to the rapid-fire riffing and spitting going on here. Sonny is a man at war here, sounding angry enough that his death threats border on gangsta rap ("Label 'em John Doe" is a much-repeated line here, presumably referring to the name given to an unrecognizable corpse), which would be disturbing if not for the context of this being a war within him (made clear during the chorus: "Sounds like the war in me - peace, love, and casualty." It's tough to describe the inward battle between good and evil without venturing into cliches, and I think P.O.D. does a pretty good job of keeping it street-smart here (even if that means the context will be lost on some folks). Part of me's just happy to hear Jason confidently leading the band into battle with some solid guitar work, rather than dragging them through a series of mid-tempo mushy songs like he did on Payable on Death. He was really an under-utilized talent on that album.

On the Grind
I break bread with hustlers, conversate with kings
Conquer kingdoms with warriors and preach to the fiends
Partake communion with dealers, love the least of these
Ask forgiveness from a priest and keep my ears to the streets...
Okay, what the... ? I guess I shouldn't be surprised to hear P.O.D. do a straight-up rap song, and to their credit, Traa lays down a nice little booty-shaking bass groove while Wuv gives the guys a good live-drum beat to rap to. Joining Sonny on vocals are a few guys from the groups Psycho Realm and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. (See how smart I am? I know who these guys all are! Um, actually, it's because they told me who they were at the beginning of the song, as well as name-dropping pretty much everyone in the band, so thanks for the primer, guys.) It could have been an inspired collaboration, but the Psycho Realm dude doesn't seem to know who's album he's guesting on, and starts going off about breaking hymens and stuff. (No, I'm not kidding.) Sonny puts in a fairly capable second verse, which establishes the context for having these guys play the roles they're playing on this song (he's talking about going into the streets and actually giving the folks there the time of day despite whatever criminal behavior he might run into, much like how Jesus hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes, I guess). That all works well as he reinforces the need to bring a message of peace and love to the ghetto, until he makes the assertion, "But I choose to use this mic to push these platinum plaques", so great, now we're bragging about our record sales. The guy from Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. finishes up with more description of the gangsta life, which alternates between being compelling and just plain silly ("We gangsta pimpin' 'cause we had to, you ever touch my sister - got you!" would be one of the sillier lines). I like the chorus quite a bit, where the guys' voices sound digitized as they sing a surprisingly melodic and sad-sounding hook about the reality of having to "hustle" just to make a living. The musical talent here is superb - I just wish P.O.D. has exercised a little quality control with their guest stars' lyrical input.

This Time
It slipped away, fell away, tried to play yourself
No turning back, all alone and there's nobody else
Who even knows I'm missing...
Here's another really, really, vague track about longing for change. I'd criticize it for being as dumb and pointless as "Waiting on Today", but it's got a fairly solid hook, so I actually end up enjoying it quite a bit when it's playing. Later on, I recall little other than the melody. Jason's doing some fairly jangly guitar work here, and the melody ensures that this track is right up modern rock radio's alley - I'm not bothered by it in this case. Perhaps it's P.O.D.'s insistence on inserting the phrase "I and I" into the chorus that makes it feel a bit silly - I know the phrase means something important in reggae music, but P.O.D. seems to just use it to fill space when simply saying "I" doesn't fill enough syllables. Still, it's another good blend of their rock and rap sensibilities that plays well if you don't think too hard about it.

Mistakes and Glories
Make way to the center stage
And pretty up that face, 'cause your servants await.
It's time to play your role
So sing and dance just the way we like it!
Dude, Jason is a total guitar hero on this one. He also gets to scream the title of the song, and he sounds pretty darn fierce, too. This song in general is fierce, with Sonny spewing forth a rather frustrated-sounding rap verse about people who just bow down to please the masses. This track is a celebration of pride in who you are - warts and all, and I like that theme; it fits well with the record's title, since one can't really get too far with a Christian message if one is simply pretending to be a people-pleasing goodie-two-shoes. The war metaphor breaks through here, as well as a little bit of wrestling speak when Jason screams "Sweep the leg!" in time with his repeating, ascending guitar riff that leads into the chorus. Honestly, that's the only thing about the song that I don't like - I know what it means, but the phrase is out of context and awkward. Aside from that, this track is P.O.D. firing on all cylinders, convincingly blending their heavy side and their hook-happy side into a fairly satisfying package.

Let You Down
No one knows what goes on inside of your head
And everything seems to be okay
And you're the same as you've always been
If I'd listened, would you have talked to me?
This track really feels like it wanted to be another "Anything Right". It's actually less abrasive on the ears and easier to sing along with than that track was, but it's also less powerful in terms of its message being able to hit home. This song is about someone who is in a really dark place, so emotionally burned out that they've lost all desire to take care of themselves. Basically, they're suicidal, and through this song, Sonny is trying to imagine life through their eyes. They only wanted to make someone else proud, but now they feel that they've failed and the damage is irreparable, so death is the only way out. The lyrics build a vague frame around that idea rather than expressing it clearly, so it's hard to really get a grasp on the raw emotion that undoubtedly fueled its writing. Due to its lagging pace and its lack of a real climax, it hits with a dull thud instead of the loud noise that it likely intended to make.

Teachers
Righteous respects, and it's the best kept secret
And I can let go of my burdens that keep me from living
So I can start dying...
Sonny's opening, acapella cry of "Imperial! Righteous respect! 'Cause we ain't done yet!" sets us up for another song that seems like it's just gonna be a few more minutes of shout-outs. I can't tell if that's what it is or not, as this has been one of the hardest tracks on the album for me to remember anything significant about. It has a flowing, 3/4 rhythm too it, which is a nice counterpoint to the heavy screams that punctuate the chorus. But those screams of "Training day!", which are all but unintelligible without a lyrics sheet, are also the song's weakness, putting too much space in between the other lyrics in the chorus and causing it to get bogged down. The song seems to be yet another one devoted to P.O.D.'s fan base, the "Warriors", and it actually seems a tad pretentious to declare to them that "I man is coming and we are the Teachers". I'm probably not understanding that in its proper context, but well, you can only throw so much genre slang at a song before the sound of the words becomes more important than the words themselves.

Strength of My Life
Take away the scales from my eyes, anoint Your love upon my life
Have mercy on my soul and hear me when I cry
Do not abandon me, and don't forsake me
Lead me on the path of integrity...
Here comes the "worship song". I put quotes around that because it's one of those dreaded things these days - Christian radio demands it, seasoned fans of Christian music come to dread its forced inclusion on an album, and really, shouldn't every song that says something positive about God and/or the things that God created written by a Christian intrinsically be an act of worship? Why do we have to qualify it? In any event, this track is "worship" in the strict sense, largely because it's based on a Psalm. Matisyahu, who appears again here and helps to reggaefy the whole thing, actually hand-picked the Psalm, which says "Even if there would be an army against me, my heart will not fear." King David's original declaration of confidence in the face of enemy troops gets turned into another connected point in this common thread of internal/spiritual warfare that keeps popping up on this album. Refreshingly, the song is not filled with CCM cliches, but the Sonny and Matisyahu just sing/chant in the language that's most comfortable for them, joining together for a more simple chorus. I don't mind the slang, even if it means we won't be singing along to this one on Sunday morning any time soon (eh, we have enough of that type of song as it is), but once again, they feel the need to name-drop who they are. That's just jarring in the middle of a song like this that is supposed to have a more worshipful and reverent attitude to it. So are a few of Matisyahu's random lines like "Steer clear of weird vibes" and the positively inane declaration, "In this I trust... It's a must." Nevertheless, the collaboration is still a winning one - based on this track, "Roots in Stereo", and a hearty recommendation or two, I decided to go check out Matisyahu's stuff, and I wasn't disappointed.

Say Hello
Can't plead my case, the jury's out, won't give me a chance
Cause I don't think the same, shut down the court, kidnap the judge
Now they sit in his place, and who are you to make your birth right deciding my fate?
I know your kind, I have, and I will carry on...
Despite being one of the least melodic tracks on the album (the vocals are pretty much all rapped/spoken), this late contender was actually the first song from Testify that really demanded my attention. I love the quick way that it just blows by - there's never a moment when it drags or feels awkward. Sonny is giving a passing wink and a nod to the people who would try to tear him down, giving them a bit of a sarcastic smack down as he reminds them that he's a sinful human just like them. "Let me introduce you to myself - say hello to the bad guy!" he quips. It's a delightful little slice of hard candy, replete with a sweet guitar solo and an abrupt ending - the whole thing clocks in at under three minutes long. Aside from the rather inane lead-in to the chorus (which idiotically declares "I know, that I know, that I know, that this is, I know, that I know, that I know, that this is real" - even the good P.O.D. songs seem to have their brainless moments), I love everything about this one.

Mark My Words
Apocalyptic, psalm scripted
Prophet's eyes, Armageddon come quick
It's a death wish, of a white witch
Come inside and I'll tell you were the beasts live...
This closing track was born out of P.O.D.'s excitement over The Chronicles of Narnia. It's only tangentially related (as was the vast majority of the stuff on a CCM record "inspired by" the movie), so unless you caught the references to the "White Witch", you'd probably just assume it was another one of P.O.D.'s usual battle tracks. The track flat-out rocks, even if it isn't as insane of a closer as "Portrait" was on Satellite, and it's probably the disconnected lyrics that drag it down for me (it also gets a bit repetitive as it leads up to its crushing end). When Sonny gets to the chorus and declares "Mark My Words" multiple times, I must admit that I'm not sure which words I'm supposed to mark. Usually, isn't the phrase "Mark my words" followed by some sort of a declaration or prediction? Well, whatever the case, even if the vague literary allusions and the rhyming-for-the-sake-of-the-sound-of-it don't really impress me, I can rock out to the thick, meaty riffing and just call it a day.

At this point, I wouldn't suggest any changes in P.O.D.'s sound. Against all odds, having Glen Ballard produce their album didn't dull their edges like it did with, say, the Dave Matthews Band. (Fans of Southtown and earlier albums may choose to disagree, but for y'all, I think the damage was already done with Satellite, which wasn't Ballard's doing.) There's only a little bit of slick here to balance out the brash loudness, and I kind of like my loudness with a little bit of melody and smoothness lurking underneath. All I would recommend changing at this point are the lyrics - keep a few fun tracks per album, but on the songs where you're really trying to say something that is a matter of life and death to you, take a closer look at what you're actually communicating and try not to let it get lost in all of the slang and posturing. Not that I want to de-culture the band in any way, but it's their choice to aim for a bigger audience now, so it's time to balance what sounds good on wax with what actually reads well on paper. If P.O.D. can do that, then they'll have a right to brag about how "the boys is back" and all of that silliness.

ALBUM WORTH:
Roots in Stereo $1.50
Lights Out $.50
If You Could See Me Now $1
Goodbye for Now $1
Sounds Like War $1.50
On the Grind $.50
This Time $1
Mistakes and Glories $1.50
Let You Down $.50
Teachers $.50
Strength of My Life $1
Say Hello $1.50
Mark My Words $1
TOTAL: $13

Band Members:
Sonny Sandoval: Lead vocals
Jason Truby: Guitars
Traa Daniels: Bass
Wuv Bernardo: Drums

Website: http://www.payableondeath.com

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving