L.S. Underground - This Is the Healing: 35th Anniversary - Music & Performance - CD

Originally released in 1991 on the late, great Blonde Vinyl Records, This Is the Healing by L.S. Underground remains one of the most raw, challenging, and emotionally honest albums to emerge from the fringes of Christian alternative music. Led by Michael Knott, the album rejected Polish and certainty in favor of vulnerability, ambiguity, and truth-qualities that have only grown more resonant with time.Built on a stripped-down foundation of guitars, stark drum programming, and Knott's unmistakable voice, This Is the Healing leans into tension rather than resolution. From the opening track "Miracle," which tells stories of broken people longing for divine intervention amid fear and unanswered prayer, the album signals that this will not be a comfortable listen-and that discomfort is precisely it's power. Knott's lyrics confront doubt, grief, love, and faith without formulas, offering something far deeper than the tidy answers common to the era.Tracks like "G.G.G." remain among the most affecting moments in Knott's catalog, delivering a plea for love and understanding that is as bold as it is disarming. The title track, "This Is the Healing," reframes inspiration itself, suggesting that real healing begins not with platitudes but with honesty about where pain truly lives. Elsewhere, Knott's experimental instincts come fully into focus: "War" collides slashing guitars, spoken vocals, and operatic passages from Bridget Knott, weaving together biblical imagery and Gulf War-era anxiety, while "Hummingbird" ventures into one of the strangest and most compelling moments in his discography, blending industrial textures with multilingual operatic vocals.At times, This Is the Healing feels like several albums colliding-intimate, emotional songs sit alongside post-punk urgency and concept-driven experimentation. Yet that collision is the point. The album captures a restless artist unwilling to smooth the edges, resulting in a work that feels deeply human, unsettling, and ultimately compassionate.This Legends Remastered 35th Anniversary CD edition, released in cooperation with Josh Lory, honors one of the defining albums of the Blonde Vinyl era. Limited to just 300 jewel-case CDs, the album has been remastered for CD by J Powell at Steinhaus and features brand-new original cover artwork created by Michael Knott in 2023. The release includes a 16-page booklet with lyrics, photos, and an in-depth write-up by music critic Dw. Dunphy, placing the album in it's proper historical and artistic context.As the creative force behind Blonde Vinyl Records and a key figure connected to the earliest days of Tooth & Nail, Michael Knott's impact on Christian alternative music cannot be overstated. Through Lifesavers, L.S. Underground, Aunt Betty's, and Cush, he helped redefine what faith-filled music could sound like-unfiltered, experimental, and unafraid.Thirty-five years on, This Is the Healing remains both a vital document from the edges of alternative rock history and a deeply personal work that still speaks to listeners willing to sit with honesty, tension, and hope.For fans of Janes Addiction, The Cure, Undercover, The Queers, Porno For Pyros, The Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins

• L.S. Underground - This Is the Healing: 35th Anniversary - Music & Performance - CD
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