Life Won't Wait

Rancid

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 30, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Epitaph / Ada
• ASIN: B000007OED
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (167 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,826 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #7 in	Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Ska Punk
  #23 in	Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Ska
  #34 in	Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Punk Revival

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Life Won't Wait bursts with a thrilling ambition. On Rancid's past albums, these Clash-via-Cali punks came on with an invigorating twin guitar attack that sounded like it wanted to take over the world--to set it free!--and their fourth release continues in this radical vein, insisting that "all people must rise and decide your fate." But there's newfound ambition in the music, too, as the band's raging attack is supplemented now by new sounds (rocksteady and rockabilly, even doo-wop and soul), new musical textures (the exhilarating "Crane Fist" features a piano battling a B3 organ), and new sources of inspiration, as the boys shout out for Salvadoran immigrants and brag like rappers in anthem after anthem of urgent, beautiful poetry. --David Cantwell

Spin
Rancid’s familiarity isn’t a sound, it’s an ache. The catch in singer Tim Armstrong’s voice can remind you of friendship, but not the everyday, lunch-having, hang-out kind of low-key camaraderie.

Maybe punks are attracted to reggae because the best reggae leads a double life, superimposing social rage onto the sound of pleasure. Similarly, Rancid’s sentiments are at odds with the music. A song like "Backslide," for example, has the cool guitars and come-together choruses of radio rock even though the words are "Nobody knows me/I’m all alone." Because this band is so resolutely just that--a band--any mention of loneliness by [Tim] Armstrong is overtaken by the moshing of mates around him.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rancid's last "great album, March 24, 2008

By	Zelie Nic (Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews

Rancid hasn't released anything since this album that I can stand... but this album is them at their best and their most varied. Whereas "Let's Go" is a straight forward punk record and "Out Come the Wolves" is more ska influenced, "Life Won't Wait" is varied. There's punk, ska, big band almost horns on a couple songs... there's a real gritty Chicago-style harmonica present... most every song here is great. This album is the high water mark.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life wont wait, but this album will wait for you to like it, August 5, 2003

By	Angela M. Healey "AngelaMHealey" (Hull) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

i've owned this album for what seems like quite a long time now (about a year) and before now i wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

my first thought was "great, it's long". 22 tracks of your average rancid is definately worth parting with your money for. however, when i got home and started to listen to it, i was disappointed. i found it boring and not very easy to listen to.

for this reason, it spent a good few months at the back of my cd rack...

but a few weeks ago, i turned out my cd collection and decided to give it another go. and for some strange reason, i now love it. i don't think my music taste has changed much, i still like everything i used to like, but now i like this too...

hmm...

will some knowledgable person please explain this to me?

its just... so very good. the first 8 or 9 tracks are heavyish, more punkish stuff... then it moves into a series of fun, happy melodic ska type tracks... i can't quite explain it...

i think my main piece of advice about this album is not to give up on it. keep going. i'm not sure if it's worth you buying, but if you like rancid in general then you'd probably like this.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing record by a great band, June 20, 2002

By	sc_demandred (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Rancid is one of those rare bands who can crank out album after album of similar-sounding music without stagnating. Their sound is born of the Clash and the Sex pistols, with a touch of Black Flag political sensibility thrown in. To say Rancid is not derivative would be a lie, but to discount them because of their influences would be a crime.

"Life Won't Wait" was the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to 1995's "...And Out Come The Wolves," and it showed surprising levels of innovation and musical exploration from what had been a band with staid musical style.

"Bloodclot" is the leadoff shot, a typical Rancid-esque song with Lars' raw-throated vocals getting the record off to a super-charged opening. There are a lot of great tracks on this record that are not straight-ahead punk songs, and if people complain about Rancid trying out Ska and Reggae, the lyric "Desmond Dekker was singin" from "Roots Radicals" is obviously lost on them.

"Hoover Street" is one such reggae song, though it mixes rocking choruses in for a great blend of sounds all tied together with Tim Armstrong's drawling vocals. "Who would've thought" and "Corazon De Oro" are also in the reggae/ska vein. Both are beautiful songs that bespeak brash and youthful love, and are a far cry from the hard-edged punkishness that had been Rancid's trademark up to this point. While the departure is uncharacteristic, the songs' strength and sheer enjoyability cannot be denied. "Life Won't Wait" and "Wrongful Suspicion" also have the Jamaican style, though they are more serious and political than the aforementioned selections.

Lars does even more singing on this record, and his voice is an excellent counterpoint to Tim's. There are so many amazing songs on this album, it's hard to pick any favorites, but my favorites are "Coppers," "Something in the World today," "Cash Cutlture and Violence," and the brilliant "Crane Fist."

Listening to this album takes you through almost all ranges of human emotion. From adrenaline-fueled aggression to anthemic exaltation, Rancid has crafted a masterpiece with this album. I've had it for four years and never gotten sick of it once. If you like bands like Green Day, the Clash, the Ramones, and any of the new Pop-punk bands, give this one a try. I think you Blink-182 fans might just be pleasantly surprised.