RANCID • ...And Out Come The Wolves (Reissue) • LP

Four releases catapulted U.S. punk rock from the alternative youth center to the stadium in the 1990s and ensured the revival of punk in music and fashion worldwide: "Stranger Than Fiction" by Bad Religion (1994), "Dookie" by Green Day (1994), "Smash" by The Offspring (1994) and "And Out Come The Wolves" by Rancid (1995). In retrospect, it is striking that apart from "Dookie", the other three albums mentioned were released by Epitaph (sort of). On the occasion of the twentieth release anniversary of "And Out Come The Wolves", the label is now releasing a remastered version of this style-defining album, which is also Rancid's most successful and best-known. In contrast to "Smash" and especially "Dookie", "And Out Come The Wolves" seems much more aggressive and, due to the ska-influenced sound (The Clash, The Specials), also much more creative. The album reached number 45 in the Billboard charts in 1995.