Trouble Maker is the ninth studio album by the American punk rock band Rancid, released on June 9, 2017.[2][3] Like many of Rancid's albums, Trouble Maker was produced by Epitaph founder and Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz, and marks the band's first album since their 1993 self-titled debut to feature the original Rancid logo on the cover. The band recorded the album between December 2015 and January 2017 at Big Bad Sound, Sunset Sound, and Red Star.
| Trouble Maker | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 9, 2017 | |||
| Recorded | December 2015 – January 2017 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:26 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Brett Gurewitz | |||
| Rancid chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Trouble Maker | ||||
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The album was preceded by the first single and music video for "Ghost of a Chance". "Bovver Rock and Roll" was released as the album's second single. "Where I'm Going" was released as a promotional single. A music video was also made for "Telegraph Avenue".
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 69/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
| Consequence of Sound | B[6] |
| Drowned in Sound | 7/10[7] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10[8] |
| PopMatters | 5/10[9] |
| Record Collector | [10] |
Trouble Maker was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 69, based on ten reviews.[4]
Shane Baldwin of Record Collector praised the album, writing: "Trouble Maker is up there with their best".[10] Dan Weiss of Consequence of Sound wrote: "there's no formal breakthroughs on Trouble Maker beyond the astounding economy, unless you think the harmonica on "Buddy" or Clash-goes-"Ring of Fire" chords on "Telegraph Avenue" makes this the band's folk-punk album".[6] Zoe Camp of Pitchfork resumed: "while Trouble Maker doesn't usurp the band's primordial peak, it's far and wide their strongest effort since 2000's excellent self-titled".[8] Nick Roseblade of Drowned in Sound called the album "a return to force for Rancid, and is the musical equivalent of a football team winning a major trophy after years in the wilderness and the absolute elation that comes with that. However there is a downside", and added "Rancid could have released Trouble Maker at any point since they began".[7]
In mixed reviews, AllMusic's Tim Sendra stated: "like their disappointing 2014 album ...Honor Is All We Know, Trouble Maker is the sound of a band going through the motions, telling the same stories over and over, bashing out the same riffs, and ultimately not connecting any punches".[5] John Paul of PopMatters found the album "more of the same; retreads of staid ideas, sounds and themes better suited to teenage ennui".[9]
Background and recording
editOriginally Rancid intended to record an EPs worth of material in December 2015.
The tracks written solely by Tim Armstrong were meant for his second solo album which was recorded with Matt Freeman on bass and Joey Castillo on drums. Upon hearing the tracks Brett Gurewitz suggested Rancid go back into the studio and use these towards a new Rancid album.
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Track Fast" | Rancid | Armstrong, Freeman | 0:58 |
| 2. | "Ghost of a Chance" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 1:36 |
| 3. | "Telegraph Avenue" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 3:19 |
| 4. | "An Intimate Close Up of a Street Punk Trouble Maker" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 2:34 |
| 5. | "Where I'm Going" | Rancid | Frederiksen, Armstrong | 2:23 |
| 6. | "Buddy" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 3:03 |
| 7. | "Farewell Lola Blue" | Armstrong | Armstrong, Frederiksen | 2:26 |
| 8. | "All American Neighborhood" | Rancid | Armstrong | 1:13 |
| 9. | "Bovver Rock and Roll" | Rancid | Armstrong, Frederiksen | 3:02 |
| 10. | "Make It Out Alive" | Rancid | Armstrong, Frederiksen | 1:50 |
| 11. | "Molly Make Up Your Mind" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 1:12 |
| 12. | "I Got Them Blues Again" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 1:48 |
| 13. | "Beauty of the Pool Hall" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 2:15 |
| 14. | "Say Goodbye to Our Heroes" | Rancid | Armstrong | 2:10 |
| 15. | "I Kept a Promise" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 2:58 |
| 16. | "Cold Cold Blood" | Rancid | Armstrong | 1:42 |
| 17. | "This Is Not the End" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 1:57 |
| Total length: | 36:26 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18. | "We Arrived Right on Time" | Rancid | Armstrong | 2:20 |
| 19. | "Go on Rise Up" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 2:23 |
| Total length: | 41:09 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18. | "We Arrived Right on Time" | Rancid | Armstrong | 2:20 |
| 19. | "Go on Rise Up" | Armstrong | Armstrong | 2:23 |
| 20. | "Never Forget Us" | Armstrong | 2:43 |
Personnel
editAdapted from the album liner notes.[11]
Rancid
- Tim Armstrong – vocals, guitars
- Lars Frederiksen – guitars, vocals
- Matt Freeman – bass guitar, vocals
- Branden Steineckert – drums, backing vocals
Studio musicians
- Kevin Bivona – piano, Hammond B3 organ, melodica
- Brett Gurewitz – additional backing vocals
- Skinhead Rob – additional backing vocals
- Michael Shultz – additional backing vocals
- The Interrupters – additional backing vocals
Technical
- Brett Gurewitz – producer
- Kevin Bivona – engineer
- Clinton Welander – engineer
- Zach Fisher – assistant engineer
- Andrew Scheps – mixing
- Eric Boulanger – mastering
- Jett Galindo – mastering assistant
- Tim Armstrong – artwork, layout
- Jason A. Bonner – artwork, layout
- Ernie Parada – artwork, layout
Charts
edit| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[12] | 41 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13] | 33 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] | 60 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] | 142 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard)[16] | 55 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] | 21 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[18] | 73 |
| New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[19] | 4 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[20] | 25 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] | 38 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[22] | 57 |
| US Billboard 200[23] | 23 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[24] | 1 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[25] | 2 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[26] | 4 |
References
edit- ^ "Rancid - Where I'm Going | Releases | Discogs".
- ^ "Rancid reveal new album 'Trouble Maker' is coming in June—listen". altpress.com. 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
- ^ "Rancid announce new album 'Trouble Maker' (stream a track)". brooklynvegan.com. 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
- ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Trouble Maker – Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ a b Sendra, Tim. Trouble Maker – Rancid at AllMusic
- ^ a b Weiss, Dan (June 14, 2016). "Trouble Maker Album Review". Consequence of Sound. Young Publishing. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- ^ a b Roseblade, Nick (June 20, 2017). "Album Review: Rancid – Trouble Maker". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ a b Camp, Zoe (June 16, 2016). "Trouble Maker Album Review". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- ^ a b Paul, John (June 22, 2017). "Rancid: Trouble Maker, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ a b Baldwin, Shane (August 16, 2017). "Trouble Maker – Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ Trouble Maker (CD liner). Hellcat/Epitaph. 2017. 87465-2.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Rancid – Trouble Maker". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Rancid – Trouble Maker" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Rancid – Trouble Maker" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Rancid – Trouble Maker" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
- ^ "Rancid Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rancid – Trouble Maker" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
- ^ "Italiancharts.com – Rancid – Trouble Maker". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Rancid – Trouble Maker". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ "Rancid Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Rancid Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Rancid Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Rancid Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
External links
edit- Rancid – Trouble Maker at Discogs (list of releases)