Devarishi and Youth Crew Records have released a repress of the 1998 album "Value Driven" from Better Than A Thousand.
After the huge success of "JUST ONE" released on Revelation Records in August of 1997, Roadrunner Records basically forbid Ray Cappo (YOUTH OF TODAY, SHELTER) from releasing "VALUE DRIVEN", BETTER THAN A THOUSAND's second full length, for fear of it over shadowing SHELTER and thus hurting the money they invested in the project.
So Ray, like any good hardcore singer, bootlegged his own record. In Australia, "Value Driven" was originally released on CD by Trial and Error Records, with similar labels across the world also releasing the album.
"I was sick of going into the studio for 3 months to record a CD", Ray said reflecting on just coming out of the studio finishing SHELTER's "beyond planet earth".
"With BETTER THAN A THOUSAND we wanted to capture something spontaneous and raw on tape. Get rid of all the flashiness and gloss of expensive studios and just get there and pour out your heart. We erected a studio in Ken 's bedroom (KEN OLDEN from Battery, Damnation AD) and whipped off a crunchy and emotional CD that completely captured the essence of what this band was about."
"The CD was a do it yourself thing. Totally independent and totally under our control," says Ken, "that's what made it special.
"Because we were doing it sort of secretly, (Ray was a signed artist on Roadrunner Records and technically not allowed to record and release anything), we had no big budget to do an expensive recording anyway - but since all of us have been in and out of the studio so many times, and Ken and I have done a lot of production work, we're so excited with the great sounds that came out of there considering it was a bedroom production" said Ray.
Pressing Info:
300 transparent orange
200 transparent green
Tracklist:
Demand Independence
Born to Give
Self Worth
Poison in your Brain
I'll not resist
Crisis of Man
Once Again
Like the Wind
Power Within
Transformation
We must believe
What are Competing for (Bonustrack)
Twelve