Most of the material for Volume 1 was written and arranged by original CKY lead vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller, prior to Ginsburg's addition in 1998 which marked the official formation of the band.

Despite not registering on any record charts, Volume 1 is notable in CKY's back-catalogue for featuring a number of the band's signature songs, including arguably their most well-known track "96 Quite Bitter Beings".

They later asked Ginsburg to join the band as a second guitarist, which marked the dissolution of Oil and the official formation of CKY (under the full name Camp Kill Yourself).

[3] Opening track and lead single "96 Quite Bitter Beings" was the last song written for the album, with Miller noting that he wrote the riff during an impromptu session with Margera at the drummer's house after their normal rehearsal space was flooded.

[5] In a 2015 interview, Miller dubbed the co-crediting of Ginsburg and Margera for songwriting as "fake" and called it a "cosmetic measure", reiterating the claim that he had written the entire album himself.

[6] Finally, after signing with The Island Def Jam Music Group in 2001, the album began to be released consistently from June 26, 2001 – 5,000 each with blue, orange and purple cover artwork, and unlimited with red.

[6] In promotion of the album, CKY joined the 1999 edition of the Warped Tour, but were later removed after taking part in a protest started by fans regarding vending prices.

[12] For Volcom's reissues and most future releases, the cover was changed to artwork featuring a photo of Ginsburg performing on the 1999 Warped Tour.

[2] Slant magazine's Aaron Scott was more positive, praising the vocal and guitar performances on the album, which he described as "more entertaining (and refreshing) than the misogyny that has plagued hard rock of late".