Satellite — P.O.D.

P.O.D.'s Satellite came out on Atlantic on 11 September 2001. It was their fourth studio album, fifteen tracks running just under fifty-three minutes (52:57). Sonny Sandoval sang, Marcos Curiel played guitar, Traa Daniels played bass and Wuv Bernardo played drums. It was Curiel's last album with the band until 2008. There are guests too. Eek-A-Mouse turns up on Ridiculous, Christian Lindskog of Blindside sings on Anything Right, H.R. is on Without Jah, Nothin', and there's a children's choir on Youth of the Nation. Four singles came off it. Alive landed on 31 July 2001, Youth of the Nation on 27 November 2001, Boom on 8 April 2002 and Satellite on 5 August 2002.

It debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, selling roughly 133,000 copies in its first week, and it stayed in the top ten for five straight weeks. The RIAA certified it triple platinum, with about three million copies sold in the US and about seven million reported worldwide. It went to No. 1 on Billboard's Christian Albums chart and finished as the No. 1 Christian album of the whole 2000–09 decade. It also picked up three Grammy nominations. Alive was up for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2002. In 2003, Youth of the Nation was up for Best Hard Rock Performance and Portrait for Best Metal Performance. Boom won the Dove Award for Hard Music Recorded Song of the Year in 2003. It's Christian nu metal with plenty of rap rock mixed in, and it sits on the metal shelf here. It scores a 9/10.

What you're hearing

Set It Off opens the record and lights the fuse before the radio singles kick in. Alive was the first single, and it's the song that got the album onto mainstream rock TV. It kept the band's hopeful side loud without softening a thing, and it's the first video up top. Boom is the bouncy one, and it went on to win that Dove award for hard music. Youth of the Nation was written in the wake of the school shootings that were in the news at the time. It's the one with the choir and the real weight. It came out as a single in late November 2001 and was the second official video. Celestial and the title track hold down the middle of the record, and Satellite was the fourth single and the fourth video. Ridiculous pulls Eek-A-Mouse into a reggae-metal groove, and it never tips over into a novelty song. The Messenjah keeps the San Diego grit, and Guitarras de Amor is the short instrumental that really burns. Lindskog of Blindside sings on Anything Right, and H.R. carries Without Jah, Nothin'. Ghetto, Masterpiece Conspiracy and Thinking About Forever fill out the back half. Portrait closes the fifteen, and it's the one that got the Grammy nod for metal.

Rolling Stone's Jenny Eliscu heard a band growing past nu-metal angst. AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier pointed to the optimistic tone running through its mix of metal, hip-hop and dub. Jesus Freak Hideout covered it when it came out, and HM Magazine later ranked it among the best Christian rock albums of its era. Revolver and Loudwire still put it on their essential nu-metal lists.

How it was made

The band recorded it between March and May 2001 at Bay 7 in Valley Village and Sparky Dark in Calabasas. Howard Benson produced it, with P.O.D. co-producing. Randy Staub engineered it, Chris Lord-Alge mixed it and Ted Jensen mastered it at Sterling Sound. This was a big major-label record on Atlantic. It wasn't a Tooth & Nail side project or some later reunion rework. Curiel's still on guitar here. He left after Satellite, and his next P.O.D. album didn't come until 2008, so this is the last full studio album from the classic four-piece line-up before that gap. Sandoval, Daniels and Bernardo stayed on vocals, bass and drums. The guests aren't just garnish, either. They really shape how the record sounds. That's Eek-A-Mouse on Ridiculous, Lindskog on Anything Right, H.R. on Without Jah, Nothin' and the children's choir on Youth of the Nation. The album came out on 11 September 2001. That's just the day it was released, and there's no need to read anything more into it. The singles ran from Alive in late July 2001 through to Satellite in August 2002.

Where the score lands

It gets a nine because so much of it still holds up. It's a big fourth album on Atlantic, made with Benson, Lord-Alge and Jensen while Curiel was still in the band. It debuted at No. 6, spent five weeks in the top ten and went triple platinum. It topped the Christian Albums chart and ended up the No. 1 Christian album of the decade. It earned three Grammy nominations, for Alive, Youth of the Nation and Portrait, and Boom won a Dove. The critics were on board too. Eliscu heard a band outgrowing the angst, and Birchmeier praised its optimism and the way it blends styles. So why not a ten? The early-2000s fight over the nu-metal formula was real, and it hangs over this whole sound. But it's not an eight either. The chart run, four official videos for four singles, a guest list that still sounds deliberate and that decade-topping Christian Albums finish earn it the extra point.

Watch

There are four official videos, and they run in the order the singles came out. Alive is first, then Youth of the Nation, Boom and Satellite.

Where this album sits on Loud Faith

Christian nu metal on a major label in the early 2000s was no side project. Satellite came out of San Diego, got onto mainstream rock TV, topped the Christian charts, picked up Grammy and Dove recognition and went triple platinum. It's the P.O.D. record that belongs on the metal shelf here. Alive leads the videos, with Youth of the Nation, Boom and Satellite right behind it.