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Revelation Records

independent record label focusing on hardcore punk

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ1759336 ↗
Source-derived summary

Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Shelter, Judge, No For An Answer, Gorilla Biscuits, and Texas Is the Reason.

Revelation, along with the bands it put out in the late 1980s, is usually credited with creating and cementing the "youth crew" sound as well as New York hardcore, which bridged the gap from the earlier bands of almost a decade before and helped carry the music through the early 1990s. Some of the label's best selling releases have been Gorilla Biscuits' Start Today, Inside Out's No Spiritual Surrender, and the In-Flight Program compilation.

History

Formerly of New Haven, Connecticut, it is now based in Huntington Beach, California. It was founded in 1987 by owner Jordan Cooper, along with Ray Cappo of Youth of Today, with the sole intent of producing the Warzone Lower East Side Crew 7-inch. Within the year, they put out two more releases and a limited 4th pressing of Youth of Today's Can't Close My Eyes 7-inch, which had been originally released on Positive Force Records, just for the two of them to trade for vintage G.I.Joes and other action figures. In the first three years, the label put out 23 releases and pressed approximately 50,000 records, and it has continued to release an average of 7–8 albums a year.

Cappo left the business in 1988, to focus on his band Shelter. He also started his own label Equal Vision Records (which he later sold to Youth of Today roadie, former Revelation employee and friend, Steve Reddy), though his albums were still released by Revelation after that, and he also operated Supersoul Records.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Revelation Records” as independent record label focusing on hardcore punk. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1987, 1988—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1987. The account is most persuasive where Revelation, Records and independent can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as independent record label focusing on hardcore punk. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1759336. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1987 and 1988.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Revelation Records” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.