So why is Rancid’s Indestructible on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Several years agoSeveral years ago, I had a conversation with an old friend of mine named Aaron, who lives in Northern Ireland. We had a wide-ranging conversation about music, and when the topic of Rancid came up, we both agreed that Indestructible is sorely underrated.
While All Music gives it a solid if not spectacular 3.5 out of 5 stars, I enjoyed how Tim Sendra framed the quality of Tim Armstrong’s vocals: he “just keeps getting better and weirder with each album.”
Overall, Indestructible is Rancid operating near the peak of their powers – there are no weak tracks and many incredible ones. And that’s saying something with a running time of 19 tracks and nearly 53 minutes.
“David Courtney,” for example, locks into my brain for weeks at a time.
And the same exact sentiment goes for “Django”:
I mean, I literally can’t shake:
Django
You drag your coffin around
You drag your coffin around
You drag your coffin around
These two are more on the aggressive/caustic side of the Rancid punk rock spectrum of course, so if it’s not completely your speed, “Red Hot Moon” might be the band’s best mainstream-ish song they’ve ever produced. And that being said, “Tropical London” might give it a serious run for its money. Both are all kinds of wonderful, and would easily represent the very best song that the vast majority of bands – punk rock or no – have ever produced.
As with some Rancid albums, like Life Won’t Wait (#270 of best 1,000 albums ever), Indestructible travels into somewhat more unusual musical terrain every now and then. The slow and emotional (for Rancid) “Arrested in Shanghai” is a good example of this in action.
But more often we get Rancid in full on attack-your-face what with the punk rock, to mightily fine effect. “Travis Bickle” is a good example, but what elevates it from being good-but-maybe-not-great to something closer to flat out great is the wonderful use of organs on the catchy-as-ever chorus.
“Outsourced,” the album closer, boasts an absolutely classic Rancid sound, and would have fit in seamlessly on …And Out Come the Wolves.
Some stats & info about Rancid – Indestructible
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Punk Rock, Rock Music, SF Bay Area Bands, Punk Revival, Ska Punk
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Indestructible released? 2003
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #121 out of 1,000
Rancid’s Indestructible on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Rancid’s Indestructible that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
If I fall back down, you’re gonna help me back up again.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.