P.O.D. Going In Blind Video

The legitimacy of "Christian rock" owes a great deal to P.O.D., the most successful hard music band of Christians since Stryper. They opened the floodgate for bands like Underoath and Norma Jean, both of whom took the reigns and have again raised the bar. This greatest hits compilation comes on the heels of the band's departure from Atlantic Records and covers only their releases for the label (1999-2006), along with a brand new song, recorded with Travis Wyrick, and a previously unreleased song from the session for the band's current release, Testify. The album also includes songs that appeared on The Matrix: Reloaded soundtrack and The Passion of the Christ: Songs respectively.

Since this album only covers the Atlantic years, it flows nicely. All the songs are well produced and sound huge, something previously non-existent on P.O.D. recordings. The new songs are the draw here and rightfully so. "Going In Blind" is the best song the band has offered their listeners since Satellite was released. I didn't care for Testify at all so "Going in Blind" served to, personally, spark my interest in the band again. I'm sure I won't be the only one as this could be a great sign for the future of P.O.D. "Here We Go" is the song that was recorded during the Testify sessions and it is pretty good as well. It's at least as good as anything on that album, probably better than most of the songs. It's hard to figure out why it wasn't included.

Of course the band's hits still stand firm, offering healthy doses of hope, justice, and backbone in an all too often wishy washy music scene. "Southtown," "Youth of the Nation," "Alive," "Execute the Sounds," and "Will You" are all here, as are the party tracks like "Boom" and "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)." There are three songs from Testify, which is a little surprising due to the fact that there also only three songs from The Fundamental Elements of Southtown. Fundamental... caused a much bigger stir than Testify last time I checked. Still it all sounds pretty decent in this context.

If nothing else it's easy to see how P.O.D. made their mark when listening to this album. Their sound is tremendously familiar yet no one sounds anything like them. They are truly unique. Another interesting thing is that the transition from Marcos Curiel to Jason Truby is barely noticeable in this context. If anything Truby's work with the band is much more creative sounding than Marcos ever was. I never thought I'd say that, but here I am. Overall this is a solid release that plays well from start to finish in the background or at the forefront, you choose.