Indestructible (Rancid album)

After a brief hiatus in 2001, Rancid returned to the studio with producer Brett Gurewitz in 2002 to record their next album. Work on it meant a year long for the band. Most notably, finishing up the album was extremely stressful for all of the members of Rancid. Indestructible was the most personal album the band ever recorded as it covered personal issues including Tim Armstrong's divorce from ex-wife Brody Dalle on songs such as "Fall Back Down", "Ghost Band" and "Tropical London". The other emotional part of the album was the album's last track "Otherside", which Lars Frederiksen wrote and dedicated to his brother Robert who died in 2001. The album was also dedicated two of band's mentors and influences, Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone, who both died during the making of the album. Strummer is mentioned in the album's title track.

Post production of the album consisted of cutting the record down from 25 tracks to 19 tracks. The six tracks left off of the final album were Killing Zone, Stranded, Trouble, Road To Hell, Warfare, and Squatter House. Killing Zone and Stranded were used as b-sides and bonus tracks for the record. Trouble was reworked and released as a single on Pink's third album Try This. That version of the song won Tim Armstrong and Pink a Grammy. Road to Hell was re-recorded and a Japanese bonus track on the 2nd Lars Frederiksen And The Bastards album Viking. Warfare and Squatter House remain unreleased.[5]

From June to August 2003, the group went on the 2003 edition of Warped Tour.[6] "Fall Back Down" was released to radio on July 22, 2003.[3] "Red Hot Moon" was released to radio on October 28, 2003.[3] "Tropical London" was released to radio on April 27, 2004.[3]

The album was delayed a number of times before its official release. First scheduled for release was summer/fall 2002, then early 2003, mid-2003 and finally August 19, 2003. One of the reasons why Indestructible had yet to be released was their various other activities. Singer/guitarist Tim Armstrong released an album with his then-new side project Transplants and second guitarist Lars Frederiksen released an album with Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards. Warner Bros. Records released the CD version while LP was released by Epitaph.[7]

Following the release of the album, the group went on hiatus while each of the members toured and recorded albums with other bands.[8]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[9]
Drowned in Sound	6/10[10]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[11]
IGN	8.8/10[12]
PopMatters	(Favorable)[13]
Robert Christgau	A−[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]
Spin	B[16]

Prior to the album's release the band signed a special distribution deal with Warner Bros. records which was met with major backlash from many of the band's fans for abandoning their independent roots. To ease tension among the fans, the album was released with no mention of Warner Bros. on the album packaging. According to a label spokesman "It's a unique deal that doesn't play by the traditional record biz rules. It's Rancid putting out an album on Hellcat, with the possibility of additional support from [Warner Bros.]." In a statement, Lars Frederiksen discussed the Warner Bros. deal by saying "We have absolutely no complaints with Hellcat. Yes, we are considering additional support that Warner Bros. might be able to provide, but whatever happens, we're sticking with Brett Gurewitz. All I care about and all I have is my music, my bandmates and my band. We are going to do whatever we need to do to survive." [17]

The album was met mostly with critical praise and made its chart debut at #15 making it the band's biggest debut at the time however some fans criticized the album for being a bit "poppier" with its sound claiming a major label had an influence over the band's music making it more appealing to mainstream listeners (despite the album being written prior to the band's agreement with the label), while some felt the album to be a mixture of ...And Out Come the Wolves and Life Won't Wait. The album's first single "Fall Back Down", a song Armstrong wrote about his divorce and how he could always rely on his close friends, was also met with some backlash from fans for the music video for featuring members of Good Charlotte and Kelly Osbourne. The album's second single, the ska-influenced "Red Hot Moon" features a rap at the end by Skinhead Rob, a member of Armstrong's side project, Transplants.

All tracks are written by Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen except where noted.

• "Out of Control" was used for the video game Need For Speed: Underground.
• "Fall Back Down", was used on Tony Hawk's Underground 2 soundtrack, the EA Sports video game NASCAR Thunder 2004 and the Forza Horizon 3 soundtrack.
• The average score on Metacritic for the album was a positive 84%
• The LP bonus track "Killing Zone" is also available on the Give 'Em the Boot IV compilation.
• "Killing Zone" was also the last song Rancid recorded with Brett Reed in the band.

• Tim Armstrong - vocals, guitar, mixing
• Lars Frederiksen - vocals, guitar, cover photo
• Matt Freeman - vocals, bass
• Brett Reed - drums
• Brett Gurewitz - vocals, producer, engineer, mixing
• Rob Aston - vocals
• Siedah Garrett - vocals
• Vic Ruggiero - keyboards
• Luis Conte - percussion
• Joe Barresi - mixing
• Douglas Boehm - mixing
• Dave Carlock - editing
• Rob Schnapf - mixing
• Seth McLain - editing
• Edmond Monsef - editing
• Nick Raskulinecz - engineer, editing
• Andrew Alekel - engineer
• John "Silas" Cranfield - assistant engineer
• Pete Martinez - assistant engineer
• Citris Reynolos - assistant engineer
• Kevin Dran - assistant
• Nick Pritchard - design

Album - Billboard (North America)

Singles - Billboard (North America)