Testify (P.O.D. album)
Encyclopedia
Testify is alternative metal
band P.O.D.
's sixth studio album
and fourth major-label album. It was originally set for a December 2005 release but finally slated for January 24, 2006 by Atlantic Records
. This is P.O.D.'s first major-label album not produced by Howard Benson
. The full album was leaked to file-sharing networks on January 20, 2006, just four days before its release. It was also their last album with Jason Truby
on guitar, before he left the band in December 2006.
This album was also available in the Testify (Limited Edition) version with a bonus CD featuring commentary by the band on every song on the album, as well as 4 bonus songs and a remix that didn't make the album. The album's first single, "Goodbye for Now
," went on to become the #1 music video
on MTV
's TRL
and became P.O.D.'s unprecedented 4th #1 video. The song also enjoyed heavy play on the radio. Testify became the #1 selling Christian album on Billboard
for several weeks and, as of May 2006, had been in the Top 25 for a total of 16 weeks. It opened at #9 on the Billboard 200
with 58,000 scans
and has sold over 210,000 copies in the US and over 500,000 copies worldwide.
, P.O.D. had begun writing and demoing songs for the album. Vocalist Sonny Sandoval
described working with Ballard, citing "We didn't even expect him to work on the heavy stuff, just more of the laid-back stuff, but once he heard everything, he wanted to be a part of it." The ambitious Ballard also included elements such as his own piano work.
Whereas Payable on Death
shifted away from the nu metal
style P.O.D. had previously established, Testify saw its return in tracks like "Lights Out
" and "Sounds Like War". "On the Grind" particularly focuses on hip hop
. Other songs rely on more formal singing, as heard in "Goodbye for Now" and "This Time," and reggae
singing, namely those featuring Matisyahu
.
Said bassist Traa Daniels
, "This album defines who we are musically as a foursome more than any other album that we've ever done." He added, "What we tried to do on this album. . . was to take people on a journey musically. . . I think we have a lot of different elements." Sonny Sandoval also noted, "We have one of the heaviest songs we ever wrote and one of the softest songs we ever wrote."
Jason Bracelin of Blender
proclaimed, "on their fifth disc, these 'jah
soldiers' run low on ammo" and elaborated that "on the ska
-tinged 'Strength of My Life,' they sound like the world’s most polite rude boys, while 'Goodbye for Now' is the kind of listless modern rock that could be bottled and sold as a sleep aid." Rolling Stone
s Christian Hoard similarly noted "Testify is not as pompous or overblown as you might think; it just feels tired. . . The most notable aspect of Testify, in fact, is how little P.O.D., or their guitars, have to say."
Allmusic's Matt Collar, however, gave the album 4/5 rating and considered guitarist Jason Truby
's work a "truly inspired and technically brilliant performance." He also commended Sandoval's enthusiastic vocals regarded the album as representing "a band reborn."
Bonus Tracks
Unreleased tracks
There is also a Limited Edition copy that has a second disc featuring exclusive web content, commentaries for all the songs, and the following bonus tracks:
Other Crew/Guest Musicians
Alternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...
band P.O.D.
P.O.D.
Payable on Death is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels. Their Christian faith is an important part of their music.They have released seven studio albums and...
's sixth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
and fourth major-label album. It was originally set for a December 2005 release but finally slated for January 24, 2006 by Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. This is P.O.D.'s first major-label album not produced by Howard Benson
Howard Benson
Howard Benson is a two-time Grammy-nominated music producer and aerospace engineer.-Biography:Howard Benson has a degree in materials engineering from Drexel University and studied composition at the Philadelphia College for Performing Arts. Later he worked for Garrett AiResearch, where he worked...
. The full album was leaked to file-sharing networks on January 20, 2006, just four days before its release. It was also their last album with Jason Truby
Jason Truby
Jason Truby is an American musician. He began his career in 1989 when he formed the Christian metal band Living Sacrifice as its lead guitarist. Even though he was a founding member of the Arkansas-based band, he left Living Sacrifice in 1997 to spend time with his family. However, in 2003, the...
on guitar, before he left the band in December 2006.
This album was also available in the Testify (Limited Edition) version with a bonus CD featuring commentary by the band on every song on the album, as well as 4 bonus songs and a remix that didn't make the album. The album's first single, "Goodbye for Now
Goodbye for Now (P.O.D. song)
"Goodbye for Now" is a song by P.O.D. and the lead single from their fourth studio album, Testify, released in 2006. It features background vocals by Katy Perry and would be the first single she appeared on before promoting her major label debut album in 2008...
," went on to become the #1 music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's TRL
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
and became P.O.D.'s unprecedented 4th #1 video. The song also enjoyed heavy play on the radio. Testify became the #1 selling Christian album on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
for several weeks and, as of May 2006, had been in the Top 25 for a total of 16 weeks. It opened at #9 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
with 58,000 scans
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
and has sold over 210,000 copies in the US and over 500,000 copies worldwide.
Musical style and production
Six months prior to meeting their new producer, Glen BallardGlen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
, P.O.D. had begun writing and demoing songs for the album. Vocalist Sonny Sandoval
Sonny Sandoval
Paul Joshua "Sonny" Sandoval is an American singer and rapper. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band P.O.D..-Biography:...
described working with Ballard, citing "We didn't even expect him to work on the heavy stuff, just more of the laid-back stuff, but once he heard everything, he wanted to be a part of it." The ambitious Ballard also included elements such as his own piano work.
Whereas Payable on Death
Payable on Death
Payable on Death is the eponymous fifth studio album and third major label release by Californian metal quartet P.O.D.. This is also their first album to include guitarist Jason Truby and their last album produced by Howard Benson. Payable on Death was released on November 4, 2003 through Atlantic...
shifted away from the nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
style P.O.D. had previously established, Testify saw its return in tracks like "Lights Out
Lights Out (P.O.D. song)
"Lights Out" is the second single released by P.O.D. from their album Testify, and was featured in the films TMNT, Scary Movie 4, promotional videos for Superman Returns, and was the official theme song of 2005 World Wrestling Entertainment Survivor Series. It is featured in 2K Sports College...
" and "Sounds Like War". "On the Grind" particularly focuses on hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. Other songs rely on more formal singing, as heard in "Goodbye for Now" and "This Time," and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
singing, namely those featuring Matisyahu
Matisyahu
Matthew Paul Miller , better known by his Hebrew name and stage name Matisyahu, is an American Hasidic Jewish reggae and alternative rock musician....
.
Said bassist Traa Daniels
Traa Daniels
Mark "Traa" Daniels is the bass guitarist of the San Diego, California rock band P.O.D. He has been a member since 1994 and has performed on all of the bands official records....
, "This album defines who we are musically as a foursome more than any other album that we've ever done." He added, "What we tried to do on this album. . . was to take people on a journey musically. . . I think we have a lot of different elements." Sonny Sandoval also noted, "We have one of the heaviest songs we ever wrote and one of the softest songs we ever wrote."
Critical reception
Upon release, Testify was met with mixed reception from major music publications.Jason Bracelin of Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
proclaimed, "on their fifth disc, these 'jah
Jah
Jah is the shortened form of the divine name YHWH , an anglicized version of the Tetragrammaton . The name is most commonly associated with the Rastafari movement or within the word hallelujah, although Christian groups may use the name to varying degrees. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses use a...
soldiers' run low on ammo" and elaborated that "on the ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
-tinged 'Strength of My Life,' they sound like the world’s most polite rude boys, while 'Goodbye for Now' is the kind of listless modern rock that could be bottled and sold as a sleep aid." Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Christian Hoard similarly noted "Testify is not as pompous or overblown as you might think; it just feels tired. . . The most notable aspect of Testify, in fact, is how little P.O.D., or their guitars, have to say."
Allmusic's Matt Collar, however, gave the album 4/5 rating and considered guitarist Jason Truby
Jason Truby
Jason Truby is an American musician. He began his career in 1989 when he formed the Christian metal band Living Sacrifice as its lead guitarist. Even though he was a founding member of the Arkansas-based band, he left Living Sacrifice in 1997 to spend time with his family. However, in 2003, the...
's work a "truly inspired and technically brilliant performance." He also commended Sandoval's enthusiastic vocals regarded the album as representing "a band reborn."
Track listing
- "Roots in Stereo" – 4:42 (featuring MatisyahuMatisyahuMatthew Paul Miller , better known by his Hebrew name and stage name Matisyahu, is an American Hasidic Jewish reggae and alternative rock musician....
) - "Lights OutLights Out (P.O.D. song)"Lights Out" is the second single released by P.O.D. from their album Testify, and was featured in the films TMNT, Scary Movie 4, promotional videos for Superman Returns, and was the official theme song of 2005 World Wrestling Entertainment Survivor Series. It is featured in 2K Sports College...
" – 2:47 - "If You Could See Me Now" – 3:07
- "Goodbye for NowGoodbye for Now (P.O.D. song)"Goodbye for Now" is a song by P.O.D. and the lead single from their fourth studio album, Testify, released in 2006. It features background vocals by Katy Perry and would be the first single she appeared on before promoting her major label debut album in 2008...
" – 4:34 (featuring Katy PerryKaty PerryKaty Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
) - "Sounds Like War" – 3:53
- "On the Grind" – 4:25 (featuring Sick Jacken (Psycho RealmPsycho RealmPsycho Realm is an american hip hop supergroup started in 1989 by brothers Sick Jacken and Big Duke from the Downtown, Pico-Union area of Los Angeles. The first recorded Psycho Realm song, "Scandalous", was released on the soundtrack of the film Mi Vida Loca in 1994...
), Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. are a hip hop group from Carson, California, composed of the Devoux brothers Paul, Ted, Donald, Roscoe, Danny, and David. Their family is from Samoa. They first began playing music in their father's Baptist church. Before anyone else arrived, they would play P-Funk and experiment...
, Amy Terrin) - "This Time" – 4:41
- "Mistakes & Glories" – 3:38
- "Let You Down" – 4:15
- "Teachers" – 4:21
- "Strength of My Life" – 3:37 (featuring Matisyahu)
- "Say Hello" – 2:32
- "Mark My Words" – 3:43 (featuring Sick Jacken)
Bonus Tracks
- "Not Your Kind" – 2:37 (Japan Bonus Track)
- "Your Eyes" – 4:23 (Wal-Mart Exclusive Bonus Track)
Unreleased tracks
- "Here We Go" (Previously unreleased but was put on Greatest Hits: The Atlantic YearsGreatest Hits: The Atlantic YearsGreatest Hits: The Atlantic Years is a greatest hits album by American alternative metal band P.O.D.. It was the first P.O.D. release since the group left Atlantic Records. Releaseded on November 21, 2006, it sold 10,000 copies in its first week. The album included The Warriors EP Vol. 1 if...
)
There is also a Limited Edition copy that has a second disc featuring exclusive web content, commentaries for all the songs, and the following bonus tracks:
- "Generation" - 4:25
- "Bridge to Burn" - 4:26 Payable on DeathPayable on DeathPayable on Death is the eponymous fifth studio album and third major label release by Californian metal quartet P.O.D.. This is also their first album to include guitarist Jason Truby and their last album produced by Howard Benson. Payable on Death was released on November 4, 2003 through Atlantic...
b-side - "Will You (Chris Vrenna Remix)" - 3:54 originally on the Will YouWill You (song)"Will You" is a song by American rock band P.O.D. and the lead single from their third studio album, Payable on Death. Released on September 22, 2003, the song charted at #17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart on December 2 that year.-Composition:...
Single - "Every Time I Die (Demo)" - 3:31
- "New Wave (Demo)" - 3:39 demo of "Let You Down"
Personnel
- Sonny Sandoval - Vocals
- Jason Truby - Guitar
- Traa Daniels - Bass
- Wuv Bernardo - Drums
- Jordan Orava - Synth
Other Crew/Guest Musicians
- Glen BallardGlen BallardGlen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
- Programming, keyboards, production
- Jonathan DavisJonathan DavisJonathan Houseman Davis is the lead vocalist and frontman for the nu metal band Korn. Davis was ranked 16th on Hit Parader 's list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists".-Early life:...
- Was scheduled to perform backup vocals on the song "Mistakes and Glories" but could not due to scheduling conflicts. Jason Truby instead recorded the sections left for Davis.