Description
The Grape Prophet is the eighth album by the American alternative rock band L.S. Underground (a.k.a. Lifesavers Underground / L.S.U.), released on Blonde Vinyl Records in 1992. The album was produced by Michael Knott.
The first of many rock operas by Michael Knott. This album is a classic. Heavy music with a heavy message (presented with plenty of irony and humor). This was pre-grunge explosion music influenced by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other Seattle pioneers. The “story” told on this opera closely follows real life events within Michael Knott’s church at the time. Due to problems with Blonde Vinyl’s distributor going under, this album was also fairly hard to find for quite a while.
This is the story of Ellis, an orange picker from the groves of Southern California. Ellis worked for Colonel Peckesen, the orchard boss, and was instructed to oversee all of the hired hands for the Colonel. One day, early in the morning, as Ellis was picking oranges before the hired hands were to awake, the Colonel climbed up the ladder Ellis was picking from and handed him a letter. The letter stated: “We the pickers have heard the call of the Grape Prophet and have chosen to leave the orchards and work on the grapevines up north.” After much coaxing by Colonel Peckesen, Ellis decides to travel to the grapevines to find out more of this Grape Prophet in hopes of returning with the hired hands before the orange crop spoils. [Album Liner Notes]
Michael Knott, and whomever he was playing with at the time, has always delivered the kind of fresh, creative sounds that turned the heads of alternative Christian music audiences and cutting edge critics. L.S. Underground’s ‘Shaded Pain‘ remains one of the darkest, most thoughtful and haunting releases of the genre. Now, after a series of albums that felt tossed off without much forethought or self-examination, Knott is back with two (count ’em) albums of great music and angry revelation.
Knott stepped out from the two pseudo-bands that were L.S.U. and Lifesavers for the solo onslaught of ‘Screaming Brittle Siren‘, a personal emancipation proclamation. Here, Knott has re-grouped the core of his L.S.U. bandmates, guitarist Brian Doidge, drummer Chuck Cummings, and Choir bassist Mike Sauerbrey, for a full-throttle rock attack. Choir drummer Steve Hindalong guests as the voice of the mysterious prophet, and sax-man Dan Michaels adds his soulful stylings to the album’s closing instrumental.
Knott’s vocals wail while the band grinds away, as the music tells the parable of ‘The Grape Prophet’, a warning against teachings of individuals that are in direct opposition to the freedom and wisdom of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Knott uses a thinly veiled allegory to scream his rage against those who manipulate and distort the teaching of Christ for their own benefit.
Again, Knott has found a vehicle for his important observations on popular faith life. The ideas and music converge in a powerful blend that fans of L.S.U. are sure to appreciate, but the seriousness of the message and the fine musicality of ‘The Grape Prophet’ deserves a wider audience. [Brian Q. Newcomb, CCM, November 1992]
Although he had hinted at such possibility in the past, never had Michael Knott produced a work of such devastating power and white-knuckle terror as The Grape Prophet. Essentially a small-scale rock opera about the cultish practices of a bizarre Christian sect, The Grape Prophet tells of an orange picker named Ellis who is charged with rescuing his fellow pickers from the sinister Grape Prophet. The Grape Prophet was the first record L.S.U ever recorded as a proper band, rather than just Knott and assorted studio musicians, and as a result The Grape Prophet sounds fuller and thicker. Brian Doidge resumes guitar duties after a five year absence, and the record is unthinkable without his singular, tortured style. Knott’s voice sounds more phantomlike than ever, howling out from within a haunted forest of sound. Vocals are run backwards, choruses are screamed rather than sung, and the action is suspended by two sinister instrumentals. Ultimately, what makes The Grape Prophet such a success is its singularity of vision – the songs bleed perfectly into one another, and are driven by a relentless black energy. Knott exposes the menacing heart of darkness lurking beneath the veneer of faith. Assuming the role of the Angel of Death, he points the way toward a shadowy end. [J. Edward Keyes, AMG]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-grape-prophet-deluxe-edition/1702065310)
CD tracklist:
01. Ellis in the Orchard – 4:31
02. Travels – 3:10
03. The Fold – 3:59
04. Wino of the Red Is Stained – 3:53
05. The Grape Prophet Speaks – 2:18
06. English Interpreter of English – 3:45
07. Ellis Speaks with Prophets – 3:13
08. A Group of Prophets Predict the Pickers’ Future Without Them – 3:36
09. She Said – 3:30
10. Back to the Orchard – 4:39
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Blonde Vinyl Records. Re-issued on CD and Limited Edition 12-inch vinyl double LP in 2021 by Lost In Ohio (with the vinyl edition pressed on both Grape and Orange vinyl). Available at Bandcamp: https://lsunderground.bandcamp.com/album/the-grape-prophet-deluxe-edition
https://blondevinyl.bandcamp.com/album/grape-prophet-unreleased-steinhaus-remaster
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