Better Than a Thousand was essentially a side project that, like many
such projects in the hardcore punk scene, eventually took on a life of
its own. The group's genesis lay in the creative duo of
guitarist/songwriter Graham Land and drummer Ken Olden, a Washington,
D.C.-area straight-edge kid who played guitar for the straight-edge
revival outfit Battery and the decidedly metal Damnation AD. The two of
them desired to craft a body of songs that recalled the spirit of the
bygone "youth crew" era of positive-thinking espousing, fast-paced
moving, sing-a-long inducing hardcore. They made a bunch of songs and
thought, "who better to sing on this than Ray Cappo?" Cappo had
virtually led the genre through it's previous incarnation, fronting
straight-edge flag wavers Youth of Today, before disbanding the group to
devote his life to being a Hare Krishna monk and preaching the
religion's ideas through the band Shelter. Shelter played hardcore music
for a time, but had by that point evolved into something much slicker
and more commercial, so Cappo jumped at the chance to revisit his past
barking-vocal style. He enthusiastically laid down all of his parts in
two days, in a bedroom studio setup. His voice can even be heard getting
noticeably hoarse by the end of Just One, Better Than a Thousand's
debut album, released in July 1997 through Revelation Records. The group
began touring when it could, between its members full-time projects'
schedules. They even released a second album, Value Driven, in the late
'90s, before quietly dissolving, partially over Cappo's decision to
abandon the straight-edge lifestyle.
Tidak ada komentar :
Posting Komentar