Life Won't Wait

This article is about the Rancid album. For the Ozzy Osbourne song, see Scream (Ozzy Osbourne album).
Life Won't Wait
Studio album by Rancid
Released June 30, 1998 (1998-06-30)
Recorded 1997-1998
Studio
Genre Punk rock, ska, reggae
Length 64:00
Label Epitaph
Producer Tim Armstrong, Lars Frederiksen
Rancid chronology
...And Out Come the Wolves
(1995)
Life Won't Wait
(1998)
Rancid
(2000)

Life Won't Wait is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band Rancid. It was released on June 30, 1998 through Epitaph Records. It was released as the follow-up to ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995).

Writing and production

Around early 1997, still riding high off of the success of ...And Out Come the Wolves, Rancid decided to immediately enter the studio following the ...And Out Come the Wolves tour to record the next album. The recording of Life Won't Wait took place in the United States (from San Francisco to Los Angeles, New York City, New Orleans) and Jamaica. Two of the songs were recorded in Kingston: "Hoover Street" and the title track, "Life Won't Wait". With the cooperation of numerous Jamaican reggae artists (such as Buju Banton) is very distinctive on this album, not just in the vocals, but also in instrumental parts, which all makes Life Won't Wait very different from most of the other Rancid releases.

During the writing process the band had recorded over 50 songs, many still unreleased. Some of the released non-album tracks ended up on singles, compilations, and the B Sides and C Sides collections. The song Emelia was co-written by Vic Ruggiero and recorded during these sessions. The song was later re-written and featured on Vic's first solo album in 2001. The cover photo pays homage to John Lennon's 'Rock 'n' roll' and Neil Young's 'After the goldrush' cover designs.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Robert ChristgauA− [2]
Rolling Stone [3]
Select [4]

Life Won't Wait was released on June 30, 1998, and was the final Rancid album to be released through Epitaph Records. After its release, the band moved to frontman Tim Armstrong's label (a sub-label of Epitaph), Hellcat Records, who released their next album, 2000's Rancid. Although not as successful as ...And Out Come the Wolves, the album peaked at number 35 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it one of Rancid's highest ranking albums.[5]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described the album as having a ska influence. He praised the music as a "powerful slice of old-school punk — as powerful as any of their records" and claims "it actually sounds a lot like ...And Out Come the Wolves". The album received a rating of four out of five stars.[6]

Track listing

All tracks written by Tim Armstrong, except where noted. 

No. TitleLead vocals Length
1. "Intro"    0:48
2. "Bloodclot" (written by Armstrong, Lars Frederiksen)Frederiksen 2:45
3. "Hoover Street"  Armstrong 4:10
4. "Black Lung"  Armstrong 1:53
5. "Life Won't Wait" (written by Armstrong, Frederiksen, Vic Ruggiero, Buju Banton)Frederiksen, Armstrong, Banton 3:48
6. "New Dress" (written by Armstrong, Frederiksen)Frederiksen 2:51
7. "Warsaw"  Armstrong 1:31
8. "Hooligans" (written by Armstrong, Frederiksen, Ruggiero)Frederiksen 2:33
9. "Crane Fist" (written by Armstrong, Frederiksen)Frederiksen, Armstrong 3:48
10. "Leicester Square" (written by Armstrong, Frederiksen)Frederiksen 2:35
11. "Backslide"  Armstrong 2:54
12. "Who Would've Thought"  Armstrong 2:57
13. "Cash, Culture and Violence"  Armstrong 3:10
14. "Cocktails"  Armstrong 3:21
15. "The Wolf"  Frederiksen, Armstrong 2:39
16. "1998" (written by Armstrong, Howie Pyro)Armstrong 2:46
17. "Lady Liberty" (written by Armstrong, Frederiksen)Frederiksen 2:20
18. "Wrongful Suspicion" (written by Armstrong, Ruggiero)Armstrong 3:32
19. "Turntable"  Armstrong 2:17
20. "Something in the World Today" (written by Armstrong, Frederiksen)Frederiksen 2:34
21. "Corazón de Oro"  Armstrong 3:59
22. "Coppers" (Armstrong, Frederiksen, Dr. Israel)Frederiksen, Armstrong, Dr. Israel 5:02

Chart positions

Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album

Personnel

Additional musicians

Production

References

  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Life Won't Wait - Rancid". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  2. Christgau, Robert. "Review: Rancid: Life Won't Wait (Epitaph, 1998)". Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  3. Chonin, Neva. "Review: Rancid - Life Won't Wait". Jann Wenner. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  4. Upton, Sam. "Review: RANCID - Life Won't Wait, Epitaph". Select. EMAP Metro (August, 1998): 93.
  5. "Life Won't Wait's entry at Billboard.com". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 2008-04-25. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  6. "Life Won't Wait". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
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