What do you get when you cross a recently converted Christian rapper, a recently converted Christian rapper's reggae-loving cousin, a recently converted Christian rapper's reggae-loving cousin's friend, and a recently converted Christian rapper's reggae-loving cousin's friend's jazz-loving friend? One redundant joke. Well, actually, you get P.O.D., a top-notch rapcore quartet hailing from San Diego. The boys from the South may have hit big with 1999's Southtown (which featured the TRL hit "Rock the Party"), but they reached an even wider audience with the ubiquitous Satellite. And it isn't hard to see why: every song is simply explosive, the production is professional but far from overdone, and the lyrics are thoughtful and inspiring without being trite.

Satellite begins with a jolt of energy that carries throughout the album; it's hard to put into words just how enchanting "Set It Off" is at first "sight," when the hotshot drums roll in and we're emerged in a blistering metal hook. After the high-voltage opener, Satellite pulls out the big guns, the hits: "Alive," a simple, yet inspiring look at life through the eyes of a believer; the buoyant rap-rock sports anthem "Boom," which brings to mind the lighthearted spirit of punk rock; "Youth of the Nation," a hodgepodge of Latin guitar, tight metal beats, and socially conscious rapping, topped off with one of those moving, yet distinctly simple choruses P.O.D. is famous for; and title track "Satellite," in which lead singer Sonny Sandoval indicts the conflicting faith in and doubt of God's presence of the struggling Christian, with refreshing honesty and seamless creativity.

In most cases, firing off all your singles at once would be a big no-no, because they're the songs listeners recognize before they pop in the disc, and in most band's cases, the album's strongest selections. Not in P.O.D.'s case.

Take the potent alternative metal cut "The Messenjah" for instance, which is right up there with the glorious "Set It Off." The song's rapping, screaming and guitar riffs are typical n? metal fare, but its Santana-inspired guitar licks and dark industrial undertones add a certain level of depth to the cut. You could say "Anything Right" is ahead of its time, with its deeply emotional verses (performed with Christian of blindside), inhumanly furious, rapped metalcore hook, and intricate use of elegant strings. Not only will it appeal to your emo roommate who hates P.O.D., but it marks one of Satellite's best-executed lyrical moments; while verses seem to cope with a "perfect" person who loves to tear you down, the chorus suggests otherwise with a sarcastically loud "I can't do anything right!" before demanding the person to "stay out of my life."

As you can well imagine, Satellite has its share of angst, but this sort of venting releases anger as opposed to feeding it. When you're done rockin' to the testosterone-fueled anguish that is "Masterpiece Conspiracy" (one of the album's most distinctly rapcore moments), you can enjoy the quirky expression of faith that is "Without Jah, Nothin'": after one serious headbanging session, set to Sonny's hardcore performance (in which the words "without Jah, you sayin' nothin'" are as deep as it gets), you can truly feel ease within as you listen to H.R.'s odd performance (which ends with the words, "Jesus loves you."). The Grammy-nominated "Portrait" sounds almost exactly like modern work from Underoath, from its haunting metal ambience to its immediate transitions to hardcore thrashing, returning from whence it came as Sonny sings beautifully, "I know you will complete this work started in me / I need You more than ever now that I know who you are." "Ghetto" is perhaps Satellite's weakest cut, but still stands tall; it realizes the solution (love) before assaulting the problem: the world is a ghetto, dang it!

And yet Satellite is its very best when beauty takes center stage. "Thinking About Forever" is sure to make more than a few shed a tear as Sonny reminisces about his mother (who died of leukemia at the age of 37, converting her son with her last words) and remarks about his own child ("I married my sweetheart, even got a little baby girl / I wish you could see her, I swear she looks just like you.") It also reflects his spiritual growth. ("Now I know what it means to live for someone else / To give up yourself / Things have changed, at times it gets kind of strange / Your love remains the same.") And on top of all that, it's set to a backdrop of lovely Latin strumming and contrasting hip-hop beats and synthesized effects, with larger-than-life, reggae-splashed balladry for the chorus. What more could you ask for?

Satellite could be described as cathartic, redemptive, angsty, devout, and fun. In one word: amazing.