Life Won't Wait

Infobox Album |
Name = Life Won't Wait
Type = Album
Artist = Rancid


Released = June 30, 1998
Recorded = 1997 – Mid-1998
Length = 64:00
Label = Epitaph
Producer = Rancid
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kdjgtq1zmu46 link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/cd/review.asp?aid=28284&cf= link]
*Review-Christgau|A-|album=2873|
Last album = "...And Out Come the Wolves"
(1995)
This album = "Life Won't Wait"
(1998)
Next album = "Rancid"
(2000)

"Life Won't Wait" is the fourth album by the punk rock band Rancid. It was released on June 30, 1998 on Epitaph Records and is the follow-up to the successful "...And Out Come the Wolves".

Musical style and lyrics

In relation to Rancid's consistent comparison with The Clash, this is seen as Rancid's own "Sandinista!". The album branches out from Rancid's punk and ska roots to explore roots reggae and rockabilly, and dabbles in elements of dub, hip-hop, funk and other forms of music as The Clash did with "Sandinista!". The album's personnel includes some of Rancid's influences and contemporaries such as members of The Specials and The Slackers respectively.

Lyrically, the album discusses riots, revolution, politics, and historical events as well as making references to the Illuminati and Bakunin.

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 not just in the U.S. (from San Francisco to Los Angeles, New York City, New Orleans), but also in Jamaica, the island of reggae. 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.

"Life Won't Wait" was also the first Rancid album not produced or engineered by Brett Gurewitz since their 1993 self-titled debut.

Reception

"Life Won't Wait" was released on June 30, 1998, and was the final Rancid album distributed via the main label of Epitaph Records. After its release, the band moved to frontman Tim Armstrong's vanity label (and subsidiary 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 so far.cite web|title=Life Won't Wait's entry at Billboard.com| publisher=Billboard.com|url= http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=33491&aid=302866|accessdate=2008-01-17]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described the album as 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.cite web|title=Life Won't Wait | publisher=Allmusic.com|url= http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kdjgtq1zmu46|accessdate=2008-01-17]

Track listing

#"Intro" (Tim Armstrong) – 0:48
#"Bloodclot" (Armstrong/Lars Frederiksen) – 2:45
#"Hoover Street" (Armstrong) – 4:10
#"Black Lung" (Armstrong) – 1:53
#"Life Won't Wait" (Armstrong/Frederiksen/Vic Ruggiero/Buju Banton) – 3:48
#"New Dress" (Armstrong/Frederiksen) – 2:51
#"Warsaw" (Armstrong) – 1:31
#"Hooligans" (Armstrong/Frederiksen/Ruggiero) – 2:33
#"Crane Fist" (Armstrong/Frederiksen) – 3:48
#"Leicester Square" (Armstrong/Frederiksen) – 2:35
#"Backslide" (Armstrong) – 2:54
#"Who Would've Thought" (Armstrong) – 2:57
#"Cash, Culture and Violence" (Armstrong) – 3:10
#"Cocktails" (Armstrong) – 3:21
#"The Wolf" (Armstrong) – 2:39
#"1998" (Armstrong/Howie Pyro) – 2:46
#"Lady Liberty" (Armstrong/Frederiksen) – 2:20
#"Wrongful Suspicion" (Armstrong/Ruggiero) – 3:32
#"Turntable" (Armstrong) – 2:17
#"Something in the World Today" (Armstrong/Frederiksen) – 2:34
#"Corazon de Oro" (Armstrong) – 3:59
#"Coppers" (Armstrong/Frederiksen/Dr. Israel) – 5:02

Chart positions

Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album
* 1998 The Billboard 200 No. 35

Personnel

*Tim Armstrong - vocals, guitar, engineer, mixing
*Lars Frederiksen - vocals, guitar, engineer
*Matt Freeman - bass guitar
*Brett Reed - drums

*Buju Banton - vocals
*Dicky Barrett - vocals
*Alex Désert - vocals
*DJ Q-Maxx 420 (Marq Lyn) - vocals
*Dr. Israel - vocals
*Lynval Golding - vocals
*Greg Lee - vocals
*Ollie Lattgenau - vocals
*Roger Miret - vocals
*Neville Staples - vocals
*Will Wheaton - vocals
*Vic Ruggiero - guitar, piano, percussion, Hammond organ
*Roddy Byers - guitar
*Simon Chardiet - guitar
*Stephen Perkins - steel drums, percussion
*Eric Stefani - piano
*Dave Hillyard - saxophone
*Mark Mullins - trombone
*Jamil Sharif - trumpet
*Lester Butler - harmonica
*Santa Fazio - harmonica
*Thomas "T.J." Johnson - percussion, engineer, mixing
*Bob Ludwig - mastering
*Jerry Finn - mixing
*Jim Albert - engineering
*Robi Banerji - engineering
*Albert Cayati - engineering
*Michael "Cooley" Cooper - engineering
*Kevin Dena - engineering
*John Ewing, Jr. - engineering
*Grace Falconer - engineering
*Lior Goldenberg - engineering
*Cappy Japngie - engineering
*Walter Mauceri - engineering
*Steve Mixdorf - engineering
*Jonathan Mooney - engineering
*Ronnie Rivera - engineering
*Michael Rosen - engineering
*Kevin Smith - engineering
*Rohan "Jimjay" Stephens - engineering
*Claus Trelby - engineering
*John Tyree - engineering
*Howard Willing - engineering
*Joe Zook - engineering
*Jesse Fischer - artwork, photography

Trivia

*The second track, "Bloodclot", is featured on the Playstation 1 game ESPN X-Games Pro Boarder.

References