Rancid - Untitled (2000)

You don't have to be a Rancid fan to acknowledge that the band lives and dies by the punk ethic of playing every note like it's going to be its last. You'll find one hundred and ten percent attitude and music that's as honest as you can get on RANCID (not to be confused with the band's self-titled 1993 release :). RANCID finds the band leaning away from its previous ska tendencies, and throwing itself head first into a full-on punk rock onslaught that should have fans of the early Clash seeking out the nearest mosh pit. "Let Me Go" has a chorus that sticks to you like peanut butter on the gums, while "I Am Forever" captures the essence and raw power of The Descendents. There's barely a pause between the 22 blistering tracks here, and it's clear the band intended it that way. "Rwanda" and "Radio Havana" offer huge sing-along choruses, while "Antennas" is unarguably the most melodic track in the set. But don't think that Rancid's getting soft; amid these glorious melodic moments, there's more than enough hardcore here to piss off your whole neighborhood…

After several fine, if rather derivative, albums of ska-inflected punk rock, and after years of being criticized for relying unduly on gestures lifted from the Clash, Rancid has come roaring out with the harshest and most consistent album of their career. It wouldn't be entirely accurate to say that they've left their influences behind; rather, they've integrated them more completely and created a sound that is completely satisfying without having to prove anything about its own originality. That sound ends up being something like a cross between the Clash circa 1978 and the hardcore punk of the early-'80s Los Angeles scene. "Rwanda" is a stutter-step anthem of sympathy for a devastated country; "Corruption" has an atonal power-chord progression and headlong tempo that Minor Threat would have killed for; and "Blackhawk Down" is built on a ridiculously catchy descending bassline and a distinctly Oi!-flavored singalong chorus. No ska, no reggae, no dub, just 22 tracks in 38 minutes with barely a pause between songs and high tempos all the way. If you're looking for artistic subtlety, go back to the catalog; if all you need is a half-hour of undiluted adrenaline, you've come to the right place.

~ Rick Anderson, AMG

Tracklist:

01. Don Giovanni
02. Disgruntled
03. It's Quite Alright
04. Let Me Go
05. I Am Forever
06. Poison
07. Loki
08. Blackhawk Down
09. Rwanda
10. Corruption
11. Antennas
12. Rattlesnake
13. Not To Regret
14. Radio Havana
15. Axiom
16. Black Derby
17. Meteor Of War
18. Dead Bodies
19. Rigged On A Fix
20. Young Al Capone
21. Reconciliation
22. GGF

all songs written by Tim Armstrong except "10", "15" by Armstrong/Frederiksen/Freeman
"18", "20" by Armstrong/Frederiksen

Produced by Brett Gurewitz
Recorded at Westbeach & Sound City Studios

• Tim Armstrong - vocals, guitar
• Lars Frederiksen - vocals, guitar
• Matt Freeman - bass, vocals
• Brett Reed - drums

Release Date: August 1, 2000
Label: Hellcat / Epitaph
Catalog No.: 80427-2