P.O.D. Don’t Understand Why They Never Got as Popular as Their Nu-Metal Peers

Remember P.O.D.? Of course you do, for better or worse. The Christian nu-metal act had a number of big hits in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, even though they had been around since 1992. Songs like “Southtown,” “Rock the Party (Off the Hook),” “Alive,” and “Boom” could be heard all over the radio back in the day. Yet, there’s still a sense that P.O.D. never took off with the rest of their nu-metal contemporaries.

In a recent interview with Classic Rock, vocalist Sonny Sandoval was asked if the band were comfortable with the nu-metal label, and Sandoval tried to give himself credit for helping to create nu-metal:

“We’re among the pioneers in this game! Every time we do a record or play a show, we don’t understand why we don’t get the same respect as bands who came later. People might think we’ve got these big songs, so it’s all just money in the bank, but for some reason we missed that boat. Our friends are playing arenas and have money to burn, but here we are proving that you can do it.”

He then continued:

“When we first started, people would look at it like: ‘They’re heavy, but they’re rapping. They must be like Body Count.’ Then the same thing happened with Rage Against The Machine. Then Limp Bizkit comes out and we’re being compared to them. ‘Nu metal’ was just another name. Before that it was rap rock, or rapcore… We didn’t care because we were just doing it. Now we embrace it; if someone says: “You’re my favourite nu-metal band”, I’m just happy to be their favourite [laughs].”

It’s true that P.O.D. were one of the earliest nu-metal bands, with their debut album Snuff the Punk coming out in the same year as Korn’s self-titled album, but even then, Korn had a much bigger influence, and influence is generally how you measure if someone is a “pioneer.” Still, they’re right that they were around as long as anyone else and were just as good as most of the nu-metal crowd.