There was something disconcerting about L.S.U.’s 1992 album The Grape Prophet. The cover artwork, the sound, the concept were all initially perplexing, but magnetizingly sinister. It was my first knowing encounter with a concept album, a rock opera exploring how flimsy faith can be at times, how people are so ready to glom on to the next best medicine show. Michael Knott, the creative force behind The Grape Prophet and L.S.U. (Lifesavers Undergrond) in general, sculpted an album that depicts a first-hand experience with a questionable church figure that lured followers with his supposed prophecies come true and claims of having actually dined with Jesus (not symbolically, like straight up, ‘Hey Jesus, can you pass the potatoes,’ kind of thing). Knott explored such varied sounds, recording tricks, tones and genres, but it never comes off as indulgent or fragmented, but instead a cohesive effort that is really easy to wander into and lose yourself for the full duration.

It’s challenging at times, unsettling at others, but always hypnotizing, rocking and a truly innovative work.

Song Breakdown:

“Ellis in the Orchard,” the album’s first track, opens with a gigantic guitar sound and smooths into the vocals that introduce the protagonist, Ellis. Knott’s pleasantly treated vocals somehow segue into a jarring howl that is part metal, part hair band. It was the kind of moment during those first couple of listens that made you unsure of how you really felt about the album, but that you absolutely had to hear more, that you need to listen to it again.

After the full-on rock throbbing of “Ellis in the Orchard,” the listener is given an interlude of sorts with “Traveling.” It’s an instrumental piece with forceful guitar melodies, positioned as a  “let everything sink in, catch your breath” moment before proceeding on with the story.

The instrumental leads you into the brutal third track, “The Fold.” The guitar progression is simply unrelenting and foreboding. Knott’s strained vocals turn into a screeched refrain of “I think I see her now.” Then all at once, after you are driven into a euphoric rock frenzy ready to dole punishing volume to all around you, it all drops out and gives way to what sounds like an acoustic guitar and bass and bells, then seconds later, a children’s choir that repeats, “Come into the fold.” By this point, you’ve either decided that this is really novel and I’m hooked or, I’m out.

The fourth track, “Wino of the Red Is Stained” is full of flanged-out guitars, touches of reversed vocals and is all underlined by an 80s style pop beat. This may serve as the most unremarkable track on the album, but it moves the story forward.

“The Grape Prophet Speaks” has a way of catching you off guard. I mean, you’ve been bombarded with enormous, distorted guitar sound and howling vocals, but those waters are parted and you hear crowd noise which makes way for a piano that seemingly has a delayed effect on it. It’s really apparent when the speaker chimes in, you’re being sold something . . . something you should be wary of. The speaker’s voice eventually parts for his personal interpreter who gives the audience the plain language explanation of what the Grape Prophet is getting at. And the fantastic children’s choir is back to sing the refrain “He’s a sensation, He’s such a sensation.”

The song segues without ever stopping into “English Interpreter of English” which may be the most infectious, maybe most conventional track on the album. To this day, this song pops in my head. As far as the story is concerned, it’s a clever way of pointing out that the Grape Prophet, despite speaking in English, needs translation because he speaks in riddles, poetry and generalized parables. Sounds crooked to me!

Next up is “Ellis Speaks with Prophets.” So Ellis, not happy with what’s going down, gets the chance to jaw with some of the minor prophets and learn of their origin. And they’re all like, “You should hang with us Ellis, being a prophet is like totally rad.” But Ellis rejects the offer and loses a number of his friends for doing so.

Track 8 is where things start getting really dark. I mean, there is reversed instrumentation – what could be more wicked? But it’s more the sparse presentation and occasional bass stabs that give this track a really unsettling tone, but it still retains a head-bobbing beat despite the unconventional percussive approach. This song has the ever-so-catchy title, “A Group of Prophets Predict the Pickers’ Future without Them.”

“She Said” is the climax of the story and the album. Ellis confronts another of the characters in the story line, a woman who represents the pickers. He’s kind of like, “Look, babe, why are you listening to these morons?” And surprisingly, she doesn’t wake up to her folly or the ridiculousness of it all, but instead claims she’s ready for the prophets to take her body, to mold her into what they want her to be. Kind of a crushing blow and a bummer of a note to end the story on.

The last track, “Back to the Orchard,” is an instrumental. I get the feeling that the two instrumental pieces on the record represent traveling. That could possibly be because they are respectively called “Travels” and “Back to the Orchard.” You can just call me Columbo. And despite having a horn lead, the song is morose but feels conclusive. You can see Ellis making his way back and thinking, “Wow, really, did that all really just happen?”

You can read the more cohesive story of The Grape Prophet from Michael Knott himself. Be sure to check out all of his work that has come in various bands and solo projects. He’s always been an innovative, forward looking artist with a penchant for writing music that crosses genre, style and tone. You can visit his official website and stop by L.S.U.’s bandcamp page to listen to and download The Grape Prophet. This record is a staple in my stack and I always feel like I get something out of it with each listen . . . even today while writing this article. And it seems wildly appropriate with all the rapture talk that’s circulating.

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