Life Won't Wait

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).

Musical style and lyrics

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.

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. 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
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Robert Christgau	A− ^[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 songs written and composed by Tim Armstrong, except where noted.

No.	Title	Lead 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
Total length:			64:00

Chart positions

Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album

1998 Billboard 200 - No. 35

Personnel

Tim Armstrong – vocals, guitar, producer engineer, mixing, cover photo
Lars Frederiksen – vocals, guitar, engineer, producer, cover photo
Matt Freeman – bass
Brett Reed – drums

Additional musicians

Buju Banton – additional vocals on track 5
Dicky Barrett – additional vocals on track 13
Lester Butler – harmonica on track 1
Roddy Byers – guitar on track 8
Simon Chardiet – guitar on track 19
Alex Désert – backing vocals on track 3
DJ Q-Maxx 420 (Marq Lyn) – backing vocals on track 6
Santa Fazio – harmonica on track 14
Lynval Golding – additional vocals on track 8
Dave Hillyard – saxophone on tracks 11 and 18
Dr. Israel – vocals on track 22
Thomas Johnson- percussion on track 12
Kristin Krisapline- gang vocals on track 2
Ollie Lattgenau – backing vocals on tracks 10 and 15
Greg Lee – backing vocals on track 3
Roger Miret – backing vocals on track 20
Mark Mullins – trombone on tracks 11 and 18
Stephen Perkins – steel drums on track 22
Howie Pyro - gang vocals on track 2
Marky Ramone - gang vocals on track 2
Vic Ruggiero – B3 organ on tracks 5, 8-9, 11, 13, 18, 21, piano on 5, 9, 12, 14, 18, 21, percussion on 5 and 18, guitar on 12
Jamil Sharif – trumpet on tracks 11 and 18
Neville Staple – additional vocals on track 8
Tim Shaw - gang vocals on track 2
Eric Stefani – piano on track 3
Wil Wheaton – backing vocals on tracks 11 and 21

Production

Thomas Johnson (music producer) – 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
Spencer Ledyard – engineering
Steve Mixdorf – engineering
Jonathan Mooney – engineering
Michael Penketh - 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

References

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

v t e Rancid

Tim Armstrong Lars Frederiksen Matt Freeman Branden Steineckert Brett Reed

Studio albums	Rancid (1993) Let's Go ...And Out Come the Wolves Life Won't Wait Rancid (2000) Indestructible Let the Dominoes Fall

EPs	Rancid Radio Radio Radio

Other albums	BYO Split Series Volume III B Sides and C Sides

Singles	"I'm Not the Only One" "Hyena" "Nihilism" "Salvation" "Roots Radicals" "Time Bomb" "Ruby Soho" "Bloodclot" "Hooligans" "Brad Logan" "Let Me Go" "GGF (Golden Gate Fields)" "Fall Back Down" "Red Hot Moon" "Tropical London" "Last One to Die" "Up to No Good" "Fuck You"

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