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. It is also the only album to date not to feature producer/engineer Brett Gurewitz in any capacity, with Armstrong and Frederiksen opting to produce it themselves. However, as Armstrong noted during his appearance on the podcast One Life, One Chance with Toby Morse, Gurewitz sequenced the album.

During the writing process the band had recorded over 50 songs, many still unreleased. For the album, Brett Gurewitz helped pick the songs to be on the record and also help sequence the final album. "Little Rude Girl" as recorded, but ended up being a song on Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards album. 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 Gold Rush cover designs.

Release and promotion "Bloodclot" and "Hooligans" were released as the album's singles along with music videos for each song while "Who Would've Thought", which also had a music video, was released as a promotional only single. Music videos for "Backslide", "Crane Fist" and "Leicester Square" were also released. "Bloodclot" went on to reach number 98 on the UK singles chart, "Hooligans" also went on to reach number 162 on the chart.

Life Won't Wait was released on June 30, 1998, and was the last Rancid album for 16 years to be released through Epitaph Records until Honor Is All We Know (2014). 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, internationally it charted higher in the UK peaking at number 32.

Reception

The album was met with positive reception. 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". Kevin Ruggeri of Pitchfork added "Although Rancid may have substituted some of their intensity for the sake of musical growth, the changes seem sincere and natural rather than the result of a mainstream- minded compromise. Rancid may be far from being "the only band that matters," but as Life Won't Wait suggests, they're more than willing to fight for the title." A reviewer from Ultimate Guitar wrote "This album is completely different from much of Rancid's music. Life Won't Wait is much more experimental which attributes to their continual comparison to The Clash and their sound. The over all sound involves Reggie, ska, many additions of brass instruments and in the last track, "Coppers" steel drums."

The album won Outstanding Punk/Ska Album at the 1999 California Music Awards.

Track listing

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

Additional musicians Buju Banton – additional vocals on track 5 Dicky Barrett – additional vocals on tracks 4 and 13 Billie Joe Armstrong – backing vocals (Hey Hos) on track 2 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 Will 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

Charts Chart (1998)Peak positionAustralian Albums (ARIA)41Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)40New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)46Scottish Albums (OCC)49UK Albums (OCC)32UK Physical Albums (OCC)32UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)1UK Independent Albums (OCC)1US Billboard 20035

References