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I first heard about Betrayed in the early '90s, from self-styled metallistic friends of mine in those days. They had a collection of indie-label tapes (yesss, casette tapes) and alternative albums that don't get radio airtime (we liked listening to music like that; it kind of felt like we had our own special world that the fans of the Michaels and Madonnas did not know about). The Betrayed album had this not-so-polished feel to it; the music was rough and raw, apparent with the influence of late-'70s/early-'80s punk. The album cover was so indie in it's plain-ness, it looked like it was just coughed out by a teenager for a demo tape; it was just black, white and red with the word "BETRAYED", and was printed on only one side. Never Meant To Be This Way was the song that I liked the most; I liked it so much that it stuck in my mind though I never heard it again in more than a decade.
Hearing music like this again reminds me of a time when rock was not performed in a way that sounded like moping, with the occasional pretentious growl to make it a bit more hardcore, sung by guys with hair covering one eye and too much eyeliner on the other. "Punk" used to literally mean trashy and degenerate, so it's really not supposed to be polished and presentable. It was kinda more about expressing things as is, rather than being sellable enough to make money.
Ah, well. What do i know, right? :p
I found this video of Betrayed playing live at a reunion gig of sorts, at some random blog. They play Never Meant To Be This Way, a bit more upbeat than the recording.
