In a recent interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, P.O.D. vocalist Sonny Sandoval confirmed that the three-time Grammy Award-nominated rock quartet has spent some of the coronavirus downtime compiling ideas for its next album. “Yes, we’ve been working on a new record,” he said. “I think everybody has during the whole COVID time. But not being able to go jam — I mean, we’re a band that jams. A lot of these new bands all live in different states, and they just send files, and all of a sudden, they create music. Well, P.O.D. is not like that. We like to sit with each other and play music and figure stuff out. And so it’s kind of been a rough thing. So we’ve been trying to write as individuals, but it’s just a learning process. Not that it’s difficult, it’s just we like to get together like what a real band is supposed to do and hang out and talk and vibe out and just jam. That’s what bands do. So, we’re working on new stuff. I know we’re gonna do the [20th-anniversary] re-release of ‘Satellite’ [P.O.D.‘s fourth studio album this month], and then I’m sure soon after that we’ll be dropping a single at some point.”
P.O.D. dropped “Satellite: 20th Anniversary Edition” as a double-CD and digitally on September 3 for $24.98 through Rhino. Releasing a few days before the album’s official anniversary on September 11, the 27-song collection introduces a newly remastered version of the original album, plus a selection of rarities, remixes, and four previously unreleased demos, including “Alive (Semi-Acoustic Version)”. A few weeks later, on October 8, “Satellite: 20th Anniversary Edition” will be released on vinyl as a double-LP as a part of Rhino‘s Rocktober campaign.
After debuting at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, “Satellite” went on to sell more than seven million copies worldwide, including three million in the U.S. The record generated four singles: the title track, “Alive”, “Youth Of The Nation” and “Boom”. In addition to its commercial success, “Satellite” also earned P.O.D. three Grammy nominations for “Alive” (“Best Hard Rock Performance”, 2002), “Portrait” (“Best Metal Performance”, 2003), and “Youth Of The Nation” (“Best Hard Rock Performance”, 2003).
“Satellite: 20th Anniversary Edition” has a bonus disc that includes B-sides like “Critic” and “Sabbath” that were initially released in Europe, plus remixes for “Boom” by THE CRYSTAL METHOD and “Youth Of The Nation” by Mike$Ki.
P.O.D.‘s latest album, “Circles”, was released in November 2018 via Mascot Label Group. The disc saw the band collaborating with the Los Angeles-based production duo called the Heavy (Jason Bell and Jordan Miller), who ensured the album is contemporary sounding without losing any of the band’s core sonic signifiers.
