About three years ago, amid the hype over the nouveau punk radio revolution, Rancid blasted onto the mainstream modern rock scene with ...And Out Come the Wolves, a pop powerhouse that provided a Clash-esque revitalization of the rock airwaves. The rough-around-the-edges quartet wooed listeners and fans alike with its brash musicianship while roping in the critics despite the band's inescapable unoriginality. No matter how much Rancid sounded like the punks of old, though, the band undeniably impressed the masses with its raw street-rock energy and perspective. As Green Day resurrected the three-chord pop-punk love song and the Offspring was the frat-rock party essential, Rancid took '90s mainstream punk one step further with the group's grounded attitude and boundless fervor. The music, the ideology, the rise from destitute wanderer to successful, accessible rock star: Rancid embodied the same American dream that it had been criticizing for years.

How to reconcile Rancid's derivative nature with such promise? First, realize that over its first three albums, the band's predictability progressively withered away, although it never quite disappeared completely. At the point of Wolves's release, the punk quartet had the talent, poise and drive to break out of the mold, to tweak the Rancid sound just a bit, to adventure away from history and expectation. But much to the public's gratification, they were too busy perfecting an acutely intelligent pop rock record before deciding to move on innovatively.

One the band's fourth album, the new explosive Life Won't Wait, Rancid makes that ever important step toward significantly altering its approach while building upon the melodic punk sound that made the band so popular and radio friendly. There's still some signature Clash echoing throughout the record, especially on the track "Lady Liberty", but Rancid certainly forges ahead creatively and lyrically. Not only does the band evolve away from its unoriginal, limited beginnings, the group provides the public with a punkreggae eclecticism that is sure to please.

With Life Won't Wait destined to accumulate praise and a broader listenership for Rancid, the choice to open the album with unnecessarily self-aggrandizing lyrics was a poor one. To make such a singular hampering flaw on a record is not horrible, but to make it intentionally conspicuous is a significant misjudgment. Notable on the first track, "Intro," the band is too aware of its own destiny for personal success and public appreciation; the group members mistakenly assume that moral suasion should be flaunted outright instead of embracing the more preferable latent variety conveyed through experiences and opinions.

Shuttled along on a raucous guitar joyride with reeling harmonica overtones, this less than 30-second preface verges on pretentiousness: "the phenomena you are about to witness could well revolutionize your way of thinking/we are presenting startling facts and evidence that pick up where other explanations leave off/some of these revelations may very well go against things you have been taught or and perhaps have believed all your life." The ultimate goal of any punk band is to unveil blinders from its listeners. Call it the punk rock meaning of life or the punk equivalent of "The X-Files's" conspiracy theory. No matter how you see it, though, brandishing your mantra, basically shoving it down the ears of eager listeners awaiting the brilliant album to follow, is unnecessary.

With that minuscule but unavoidable flaw out of the way, Rancid begins unleashing the usual all-out aural assault with the album's first single, "Bloodclot." Several "hey-ho's" and "nah-nah's" later, with the melodies acting as some sort of immediately infectious drug and the muscle-bound punk cowboy aesthetic getting full play, the stage is set for the rest of the record to branch out. "Bloodclot" is a successful segue from "Wolves" to the rest of the new album.

Lead guitarists and vocalists Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen have always been great story-tellers and commentators, "streetwise professor[s]" as they call themselves in "Bloodclot." Life Won't Wait is primarily a moment for reflection, though, while most of their previous material was solely observation. Lyrically, the new album works through the head instead of the eyes by focusing and expanding on such issues broached in "Avenues and Alleyways" from Wolves, stretching the criticism and recommendations across the whole record.

Success for a punk is quite the paradox, at least in term of ideology, and Armstrong spends a whole song contemplating the fleeting whirlwind journey of Rancid's radio success in "Backslide": "nobody knows me/I'm all alone/I gotta go/Hollywood bus stop and the party's over/I gotta go." Exemplifying the amazing lines exhibited throughout Life Won't Wait, crooning, "have you ever been looked at by your past and it will never let you go." You get the impression that the members of Rancid weren't perfectly aware of what they were getting into by releasing the modern rock smashes "Salvation," "Time Bomb" and "Ruby Soho." Playing into the system isn't a respectable gesture in theunderground punk scene where the band was born:"Backslide" is the retrospective self-analysis inRancidspeak to explain the misgivings away.

Every song on Life Won't Wait deservesan explanatory mention, but with 22 tracksconstituting over an hour of enjoyable musiccovering rainbow of topics, there is just notenough space. From love songs ("Who Would'veThought") to pleading peace among races andstereotypes, from questioning American values toattacking international social problems("Warsaw"), every subject and approach are worthclose attention. The familiar personal stories ofaddiction and relationships ("Hoover Street") areeasily followed by abstract digs ("Cash, Cultureand Violence") and thoughts on global resolve.

Pure reggae tunes are absolutely new to Rancid,although reggae influences were prominent onWolves and weave their way a bit morethrough the harmonies and crossover song thatpepper Life Won't Wait. Most prominent inconveying the genre are the title song, "WrongfulSuspicion" and "Coppers." Jamaican reggae starBuju Banton guests on these tracks, strengtheningthe new Rancid voice with an authentic tongue. OnLife Won't Wait, a good chunk of the vocalsare provided by Banton, although Armstronguniquely offers his gravelly, unadorned slur tothe mix. One of the best punk-reggae confluenceson the album, "Hooligans," will get you hoppingalong to the beat and the message(and wonderingwhether Rancid inadvertently stole a short Blondieriff).

The prevalence of guests on the album can beoverwhelming at times. Add up Banton, TheSpecials, Dicky Barrett from the Mighty MightyBosstones, Hepcat and a few others, and you mustwonder whether Rancid has a lot of friends theywant to show off or if they needed a significantamount of help in making the reggae transitionappear more plausible. Only time will tell,especially whether the next album features more ofan individual reggae sound or a flat regurgitationof the authentic vibe.

For now, fans will be more than content withLife Won't Wait, although it might requirea listening transition if you've become accustomedto the traditional Rancid sound or are unfamiliarwith reggae. As long as you appreciate thechallenge to the group's style that this albumpresents, it won't take long to sink your teethin