Fluid is the “lost” Knott solo album that almost didn’t get released. It was originally recorded for Knott’s Siren Records, but that record label folded before it could be released. Fluid was finally released in 1996. It is also one of many “rock operas” that Michael has created. The story told on this album is about a girl that gets mad at her boyfriend and crashes his Cadillac (this part was a true story about bass player Brian Doidge). God and Satan then battle for her soul as she lays dying in the hospital. Michael said that he was inspired by Echo & the Bunnymen at this time, so he experimented with a lot of feedback on this album.

See also Fluid Revealed by Aaron Taylor, where Aaron details a conversation he had with Knott about the story that the album tells

When reminiscing about the work of Doug Doyle on the record, Knott shared this bit of information: “Years Later, Doug was mastering music and mastered my Fluid Record. I ask him if he could come up with a cool reprise on a song, and he smiled really big! So after I heard what Doug did with the reprise of “The Sky,” I asked him if he could do something like that near the tail of the original, and he thought for a few seconds, kinda laughed and said “Ya. I can do that!” Doug asked me if its OK to put secret messages on my CD. I said yes!”

“Knott said he has long been fascinated by the sonic textures of echo-delayed guitar and has long wanted to create an album with that same ‘liquid-type quality’ to it. Fluid follows the story line of a young woman who steals a friend’s vintage Cadillac and crashes it. Then as she lies in a coma, her spirit crying out to God, Satan comes to try and claim her soul.

‘It’s about the struggle between light and dark,’ Knott says, ‘She’s lying there near death, talking to God, and Satan comes to God and says, ‘You can’t help her. She’s into the stars and astrology. She doesn’t belong to you.’ All the while she’s crying out to God.'”

– Michael Knott, from an interview with Brad Caviness for CCM magazine, 1994

At a concert in 2000, Knott mentioned that a couple churches that turned Fluid into a play. Knott fans confirmed that this is true. One was an attempt by a youth group in Tampa, Florida around 1997-98, but unfortunately the cast fell apart and it never staged. However, another Knott fan did watch one at a town in Florida.

Lyrics and Credits

To read the complete lyrics and credits, please see this document. If anything is incorrect, please let me know.

Listen / Stream

Related Paintings

Michael Knott often liked to paint paintings that related to or referenced his music. These are two that he painted related to this album: “Fluid Cover Redux” and “9-Thru-You” (inspired by the song “Thru”) (click to enlarge).