Rancid
…And Out Come the Wolves
August 1995 – Epitaph Records
Producer: Jerry Finn

Tim Armstrong – Guitar, Vocals
Lars Frederiksen – Guitar, Vocals
Matt Freeman – Bass, Background Vocals
Brett Reed – Drums

01 – Maxwell Murder – 1:25
02 – The 11th Hour – 2:28
03 – Roots Radicals – 2:47
04 – Time Bomb – 2:24
05 – Olympia WA. – 3:30
06 – Lock, Step & Gone – 2:25
07 – Junkie Man – 3:04
08 – Listed M.I.A. – 2:22
09 – Ruby Soho – 2:37
10 – Daly City Train – 3:21
11 – Journey to the End of the East Bay – 3:11
12 – She’s Automatic – 1:35
13 – Old Friend – 2:53
14 – Disorder and Disarray – 2:49
15 – The Wars End – 1:53
16 – You Don’t Care Nothin – 2:28
17 – As Wicked – 2:40
18 – Avenues & Alleyways – 3:11
19 – The Way I Feel – 2:34

I picked this album up about a year ago. I was bored and wanted to update the album collection. I hadn’t updated my punk collection, other than buying a few greatest hits packages, replacing old albums, and getting a few live albums. So anyway, this one was recommended to me . . . and the interspersed ska stuff threw me. I know for fans of Rancid, the ska stuff is a big part of the attraction, but it just didn’t do it for me. I gave it to a guy I worked with.

Released soon after the success of Green Day and The Offspring, Rancid’s cult popularity and catchy songs made them the subject of a major label bidding war that resulted in the band sticking with their indie label, Epitaph Records (or subsidiary Hellcat Records). With a sound heavily influenced by ska.

After fourteen years of its release, …And Out Come the Wolves continues to sell well, and the album was certified gold in January of 1996, and then certified platinum in September of 2004.

Roots Radicals, Time Bomb and Ruby Soho were released as singles.

The cover art is a tribute to Minor Threat, a band from the 80’s that originally used the image Ian Mackaye’s brother Alec MacKaye with his head on his knees on their self-titled EP.

All tracks are by Armstrong, Frederiksen & Freeman; with Shaken 69 front man Erik Dinn joining in on the writing for The 11th Hour.

The 11th. Hour
“Hey little sister do you know what time it was,
When you finally seen all your broken dreams,
Come crashing down your door?
They demand an answer and they demand it quick,
Or the questions fade and the wasted days,
Come crawling back for more

Do you know where the power lies? And who pulls the strings?
Do you know where the power lies it starts and ends with you?

The face of isolation
Well that’s one you recognize
Well you can’t get straight
It’s a lonely place and
It’s one you do despise

Boredom is for sale now
And helplessness you feel
It’s a wounded dove and the hawks are above
Blood splattered on a reel to reel

I was almost over my world was almost gone
In a sudden rush I could almost touch the
Things that I’d done wrong
My jungle’s made of concrete
Through silence I could feel
My aim is true I will walk on through
These mountains made of steel.”

If you don’t own it, give it a listen, my review may be wrong.

Rating: * **** one out of five stars.

This post was the latest submission from Mike E. When he’s not writing articles of punk past (and occasional present) he manages an online comic book store. Visit him at Web Comics.