Payable on Death

Biography

Payable on Death is the eponymous fifth studio album and third major label release by Californian metal quartet P.O.D.. Following the controversial departure of Marcos Curiel, it was their first album to feature guitarist Jason Truby and their last album produced by Howard Benson. Payable on Death was released on November 4, 2003 through Atlantic and marks a notable de-emphasizing of the band's distinctive rapcore style. While a commercial disappointment compared to the monumental Satellite, it...

Payable on Death is the eponymous fifth studio album and third major label release by Californian metal quartet P.O.D.. Following the controversial departure of Marcos Curiel, it was their first album to feature guitarist Jason Truby and their last album produced by Howard Benson. Payable on Death was released on November 4, 2003 through Atlantic and marks a notable de-emphasizing of the band's distinctive rapcore style. While a commercial disappointment compared to the monumental Satellite, it has sold over 1,300,000 copies worldwide. Critical response Reviews of Payable on Death varied and were generally negative. Truby's guitar style gained much attention and was considered more technical and somewhat heavier than that of Curiel's. Allmusic's Matt Collar considered it a "darker album than its predecessor" and found that "Truby unfortunately lacks some of the unexpected spark that Marcos brought to P.O.D. Fans of the band shouldn't find much to complain about here though, even if the overall sound doesn't stand out as distinctly from the nu-metal pack as Satellite did." Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly gave a largely scathing review of the album, stating, "On track after formulaic track, perfunctory verses rush into roaring refrains of compressed guitar arrrgh and charmless didacticism." This negativity was largely mirrored by reviews in Blender and Rolling Stone. Commercial success Having sold 106,000 copies in its first week, Payable on Death debuted at #9 on the Billboard Top 200 chart on the strength of the first single and music video for "Will You." The band filmed a video for the next single, "Change the World," but it was never shipped to MTV. However, it did air on the lesser known Fuse TV. The album's relatively poor sales compared to P.O.D.'s mammoth success, Satellite, have been partly attributed to a shakeup at Atlantic Records, leaving P.O.D. with no label support. Atlantic was sold to a private investor resulting in several thousand people, many of whom close to P.O.D., losing their jobs. According to Soundscan, Payable on Death sold a little under 500,000 copies as of January 2006. However, it has shipped over 500,000 copies in the U.S.; therefore, Payable on Death was certified gold by the RIAA. Not until June 2004 did it pass the one-million sales mark. It has sold over 1,300,000 copies worldwide. It is credited as the last commercially successful album released by P.O.D. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.