Life Won't Wait

Life Won't Wait
Studio album by Rancid
Released	June 30, 1998 (1998-06-30)
Recorded	1997-1998
Studio	Sunset Sound Recorders Bloodclot Studios Brooklyn Studios NRG Recording Studios Ocean Way Recording Record Plant The Complex American Sector Studios Penthouse Studios Coyote Studios The Site
Genre	Punk rock, ska punk, reggae, 2 tone
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).

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 United States (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. 

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