To start it off, I really like this disk. It is the kinda CD you don't hear all the time. Brown by P.O.D. is a good CD. Note I did not say great. P.O.D. captures the essence of rap-core with this Sophomore re-release. It's follow up album Fundamental Elements is still the best, but this disk is so very different. This disk is a lot harder and has a different style of music. This Rescue Records masterpiece is one of many that I will never get bored on.
Many other rap-core albums get me disgruntled and sometimes restless with its repetitive sound but not P.O.D.'s Brown. This disk also has hardly any trace of Snuff the Punk, which was released three years earlier.
The band is together well and the music is fluent. Bass is LOUD!, and the guitar work is so cool. It makes it jumpy and distorted. Boy what I would give to see this band live. And Sonny is less hard-core and raps more. This is P.O.D.'s real beginning as a real rap-core band because on Snuff the Punk the band was more hard-core.
I like to think of P.O.D. as a renaissance band with all the different styles they have used. I mean the list is huge. You got Spanish, reggae, hip-hop, hard-core, rap-core and many others. Now back to Brown. It has very good songs. Lots of death and gang lyrics. I enjoyed "Selah". Very hard and the raps are simple and well rounded. Diverse?, extremely! They have funk music and some reggae. I love it, but I like hard and I like rap.
I would recommend this to anyone who asks simply because this disk was so good, but if someone is into death metal, or doom/black, this ain't your disk. I enjoyed it a lot and gave it an 8.5. If you want more news on the band visit www.payableondeath.com.
8.5/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #86Reviewed by Doug Van PeltEven though this comes from the "they're not half as good in the studio as they are live" era, this is a very important album with some very good songs. I mean, "Full Color," "Selah," and "Breathe Babylon" are now classics! Brown has been remixed and remastered. The fuzz is gone and the guitar tones are better. Brown is improved, but the change is not as drastic as the two Snuff The Punk…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Andy ArgyrakisP.O.D. has had an amazing run of success over the last year, thanks to their Atlantic Records contract, which spawned the album The Fundamental Elements of Southtown. That project has already reached gold selling status and is on its way to hitting the one million copy platinum mark. In addition, the band has been plastered all over M.T.V., particularly with their hit video "Rock the Party,"…7ball #13Reviewed by Ginny McCabeThe color brown may be defined as a combination of red, black and yellow. But Brown, the latest release from P.O.D. is much more striking than that. The album displays a number of pictures through songs that are more complex than mere "paint by numbers" sketches. P.O.D. addresses current issues, but their bottom line is always leading people to the cross of Christ. "Full Color," Sandoval's…The Phantom Tollbooth 1997Reviewed by Tony LaFianzaWhen the first sounds I heard emanating from this cd were a funky dj beat, I wondered if I'd gotten a wrong disc in my package; where was the pounding metal music I was expecting? Checking the song list, I saw the first cut was just "Intro" so I was patient for a minute until I heard the rising sound of pounding guitars. Let the head-banging rock-fest begin! From the first strains of "Know Me" it…Garlic Press #4Reviewed by UnknownThe second release from these guys. I like to think of them as the kind of people that could beat Rage Against The Machine up in an alley. Of course, they wouldn't, but their music does. With a similar diversity as Rage or Downset, Payable On Death mixes elements of rap and hip hop with straight ahead hardcore. The message is in your face, like hardcore was meant to be. P.O.D. are not afraid of…Similar sounding releases
2001Mindrage / Nailed PromiseMindrage & Nailed Promise
2003Look What I DidMy First Time
2000SeotaijiSeotaiji VI
1997BlindsideBlindside
2001Like DavidIt Started With Twelve
2001Space in Your FaceThe True Essence Of LifeMore from P.O.D.
2002Still Payin' Dues (Video)
2002Satellite
1993Payable On Death (1993)
1999The Fundamental Elements of Southtown
1994Snuff the Punk
1997Live At Tomfest
