Indestructible

by

Rancid

Edit

well, i am a bit older, so i may have a different take. i consider rancid to be a natural progression of operation ivy. saying that i consider this album to be almost perfect. the boys mix it up from the start. i won't bother going into the different genres this album encompasses, but i will say this: tim has become a songwriter. a real musician. there is a definate application of craft and melody that most newskool "punks" (and i use the term loosely 'cause if you purchase your attitude at a store, your not punk) react to as betrayal. honestly rancid 2000's the sellout album. rancid NEVER made music like that before, and only did so as a knee jerk reaction to garner cred with the "hardcore" fans. even their first album in '92 was more melodic. anyway, this is a truly excellent album. melodic hardcore, raggea, and just plain damn good songwiting are "indestructable".

Well, at least the album cover is punk.....

Actually, I shouldn't be too hard on the album, it does have its charms. Just not enough drunken charm.

Like everyone else I was waiting so hard for this album that I crapped my pants about ten times. Then I heard the first single 'Fall Back Down' and wanted to hurl my feaces at the TV. Good Charlotte on the film clip? That stupid Ozbourne girl? Playing pop punk songs? I was deflated. I almost wished that they would break up before they could release the album.

But they didn't, and I am glad of it in hindsight. They have besmirched their good names with songs like 'Fall Back Down', 'Arrested in Shanghai' and 'Start Now'. (Don't get me started on how poppy Start Now is.)

After a cursory listening I was ready to give up on Rancid and the album and was getting ready to start pretending that I never liked them so that I could laugh at kids who liked songs like 'Fall Back Down'.

But after a couple of weeks I came back to the album and listened to it with fresh ears. I lstened to it without the burden of expectation and as a standalone album, and, when you take it like that, it's really not so awful.

Tracks like 'David Courtney' and 'Out Of Control' see Lars at his agressive and intense best. While tracks like 'Travis Bickle' and 'Django' do the same for Tim. 'Spirit of '87' is possibly one of the best punk songs ever written in my opinion; it's catchy and sing-along-ish but still with good pace and with a raw edge. 'Roadblock', 'Born Frustrated', 'Ivory Coast' and 'Otherside' are all good songs too. The rest (apart from the utterly horrible 'Fall Back Down, 'Start Now' and 'Arrested in Shanghai') are decent songs but far from exceptional.

As a standalone album this is still far better than most of the 'punk' floating around in the music sucCESS pool, but as a Rancid album this is easily the worst. if I were to give this a score as a standalone album I might edge up towards three and a half stars....but seeing as it does come after some great albums and dissapoint quite a bit I can only squeeze out 3, and only now after the bitterness has subsided.

Personally I would like to see them heading back in the direction of their latest Self Titled which is a masterpiece.

If you love Rancid, there is still alot to like here, but my prediction is, if you're anything like me, that you will spend all your time listening to their older and better albums and only fish this one out to listen to some select songs, with your finger always twitching over the 'NEXT TRACK' button.

Incidentally, pick up the single for 'Fall Back Down' (Yes I know the song itself is awful). The two tracks that come with are great. Stranded is an awesome song by Tim that is better than half of the album and Killing Zone is an awesome song by Lars that is also better than half the album. Perhaps Good Charlotte made the final selection of which tracks would make the album...who knows.