Due to this it was often compared to The Clash's Sandinista!. That album branched out from Rancid's previous musical styles, and combined punk rock with elements of roots reggae, rockabilly, dub, hip-hop, and funk. In 1998, Rancid returned to the scene with their fourth album, Life Won't Wait. It was also certified platinum on September 23, 2004. The critically acclaimed album, also the band's most successful, debuted at number 45 on the Billboard 200, produced three singles, " Roots Radicals", " Time Bomb", and " Ruby Soho", which all charted on the North American Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, and the band performed two of these songs on Saturday Night Live.And Out Come the Wolves has continued to sell consistently well since its release, and on Januwas certified gold by the RIAA. In August 1995, Rancid released their third album. With the success of the album Rancid were pursued by several major labels, including Madonna's Maverick Records, but the band eventually turned down the idea of signing to a different label and decided to just stay on Epitaph. The Offspring took Rancid on tour with them, and helped Let's Go make it to number 97 on Billboard's Heatseekers and Billboard 200 charts, respectively. That year their label-mates, The Offspring, experienced a huge success with their album Smash. release date, June 14, 1994, was also Freeman's 28th birthday. After Billie Joe declined, Frederiksen changed his mind and decided to join Rancid, making them a four piece.įrederiksen was present on Rancid's second album, Let's Go, which was released in 1994 and spawned the radio hit " Salvation", which reached number 21 on the modern rock charts. Armstrong had previously asked Lars Frederiksen to be Rancid's second guitarist, but he turned down the request. Armstrong eventually asked Billie Joe to become a member of the band, but he decided to continue playing in Green Day.
This led to him playing a live show with the band. While Rancid was writing a second album, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, a friend of the band, joined them to co-write the song "Radio". Later that year, they signed to Epitaph Records (a label owned by then-former and now-current Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz) and released their self-titled debut album in 1993. The band signed to Lookout! Records, and released its first EP, Rancid, in 1992.
Rancid were formed in 1991 by vocalist and guitarist Tim Armstrong and bassist Matt Freeman, who then recruited drummer Brett Reed.