NOISE

When I saw you guys play a few years ago, you seemed very reserved on stage. Have you gotten more animated?

Maybe just a little bit more. That's not my deal. I'm not a clown. I'm not there to jump around, and I'm not big on, hey, I want to make sure that everybody's eyes are looking at me. I could care less. That's not what I'm there to do. I'm there to deliver the words, melody of the songs to the best of my ability there in a live setting. I'm just one part of the band, and I'm just one part of the song that's being delivered. And that's kind of how I've always approached it. And I can approach it even more that way now because I play guitar for most of the set now. So it enables me to just stand there in front of the mic and play my guitar and do my part. I feel no need to be the center of attention.

Does it frustrate you that your heavier songs aren't able to reach a bigger audience on mainstream radio?

No, not at all. The heavy songs aren't—that's not what they're looking for. And that's totally fine by us. If we give them songs that are going to end up getting heard by 50 million listeners instead of 10, that ups our chances a little bit of selling enough records, in the state of the business that it's in right now, for the record label to not drop you. Record sales is a hot commodity these days. It just doesn't happen anymore. People go on their computer and they download it. To be able to sell enough records for the record label to still be interested in giving you money at the end of that record to make another record, you've got to utilize all your resources. It comes back to utilizing all your resources in this crazy career, in this cutthroat business. If Top 40 is a resource that you're actually able to utilize—a lot of rock bands aren't able to utilize that format, because they don't cover the full spectrum like we've always covered, and they don't write songs that could hypothetically cross over and get played on Top 40 radio. They're stuck not being able to use that option.

Even after all your success, then, do you still feel like you're in a precarious position with your record label?

Absolutely. I think that probably has something to do with why we're still here, too, is because we treat every show and every new situation and every everything like it's our last, like it's the one that has to shine the brightest. That's just how we do things. You're only as good as your next song. The most sincere moment I have in the whole evening every single night is thanking every person in that crowd for allowing us to stick around and continue doing what we do. It's only because of them that we're still here. I'm pretty convinced that most everybody else would rather see us disappear so that their flavor of the week can fill the spot that we're holding. I think that more people were upset about the fact that we had a third No. 1 debut in a row than were happy for us. It feels that way. We got nothing but killed by 80 percent of the people that do write-ups and do everything else. It could be perceived as that way, that people would just rather see us disappear so that one of their new, hot, trend-driven flavor of the weeks can fill that spot. That's how it feels. It motivates us to do even more and work even harder. Because f--k 'em all.

Whether panned for its rap-rock origins or its heavy Christian influence, P.O.D. (or Payable On Death) just can't get any respect—except, of course, from hundreds of thousands of "Warriors," the dedicated followers of the San Diego quartet that made the band's last three albums Billboard Top 10 hits. For listeners unafraid to get beyond P.O.D.'s stigma, however, the band's fusion of such musical styles as reggae, punk, hip-hop and metal with uplifting lyrics and streetwise social commentary is an earnest treat in the increasingly sugar-coated world of mainstream "alternative" rock.

We forgot to send a card, Ma, so please accept these fine tunes instead.

1. Johnny Cash: "Send a Picture of Mother"

I Walk the Line mom Shelby Lynne would be so proud.

2. Paul Simon: "Mother and Child Reunion"

Also a name for a Chinese chicken-and-egg dish. But which came first, the delicacy or the song?

3. Kate Bush: "Mother Stands For Comfort"

"Mother will hide the murderer/Mother hides the madman." Who can you count on if not your mom?

4. Son House: "Yonder Comes My Mother"

Immortal Delta bluesmen with fanciful pseudonyms have mothers, too.

5. Ghostface Killah: "Momma"

Turns out everything was really Daddy's fault.

6. Danzig: "Mother"

As long as my mom doesn't have to watch the video.

GOODING


Angel/Devil (2.5 stars)

This Wichita, Kansas, trio has played more than 400 shows, attracting a cult-like fan base by fusing electronics with elements of straight-ahead rock, smooth jazz and mellow pop. On Angel/Devil, it adds up to an inoffensive yet entirely unremarkable experience.

MINISTRY


Rio Grande Blood (3 stars)

Industrial-metal godfather Al Jourgensen stays surprisingly relevant with this all-out assault on the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. New Ministry members Tommy Victor (Danzig) and Paul Raven (Killing Joke) breathe life into a disc highlighted by the bruising "Señor Peligro," a rapid-fire remix of the Grammy-nominated "The Great Satan," and the Jello Biafra-aided "Ass Clown."

Sirhan Sirhan


Sirhan Sirhan (1.5 stars)

Cacophonous and often sloppy, this six-song EP from San Diego hard rockers Sirhan Sirhan features short, loud, grating songs that very occasionally coalesce into a recognizable structure. It's aiming for punk abandon, but it sounds more like plain ineptitude.