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.

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 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 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 by the band not to feature producer/engineer Brett Gurewitz in any capacity, with Armstrong and Frederiksen opting to produce the album themselves.
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 Gold Rush cover designs.

Reception

Life Won't Wait was released on June 30, 1998, and was the final Rancid album for 16 years to be released through Epitaph Records. After its release, the band moved to frontman Tim Armstrong's label, 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.
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.

Track listing

Chart positions

- album