Artist: Frankie Knuckles Album: A New Reality

Year: 2004
Duration: 59:40

A Critical Review of the Album A New Reality by Frankie Knuckles: Exploring the Best Songs, Innovative Parts and Giving Honest Criticisms

Frankie Knuckles was an American DJ and record producer known as The Godfather of House Music due to his huge contribution towards the music genre of house music, originating from disco. A New Reality was his second posthumously released album that features several collaborations with talented artists like Jamie Principle, Eric Kupper and The City Soul Orchestra. In this blog post, we'll review the album in detail, including its history, music genre, best songs, innovative parts and our honest criticisms.

Frankie Knuckles' A New Reality is the perfect album to showcase House music's evolution from underground clubs to a mainstream genre. The album offers a varied sound, blending traditional house aesthetics with contemporary electronic influences and soulful, rich vocals. The album's opening track, Your Love, is a classic that's still played today and easily recognizable, making it the perfect introduction to the album. Another standout track is Circles, featuring the soulful vocals of the late singer Robert Owens, who had worked with Knuckles in the past. The track sounds soft and peaceful, yet the uplifting vocal sets it up for being the perfect party track.

The album's blend of styles will be captivating to music enthusiasts, but it really shines through the collaborations. For example, the City Soul Orchestra's beautiful arrangements on I'll Take You There or the electronic pulse of Get Over U- with B. Slade’s impressive vocal sample at the start - and the house beats of You Can Do It. What’s more, the album itself depicts a cohesive storyline, starting slow and transition into fast-paced party tracks that's perfect for the listener's enjoyment.

Among the many strengths of this album, its innovative sounds are worth mentioning. Alongside traditional House inspirations, Frankie Knuckles effortlessly blends different styles, including soulful vocal chops and energetic percussion beats, which gives the album great versatility. The instrumental innovation on Milan is revolutionary with the use of metal percussion and funk influences throughout. Baby Wants To Ride sounds flirtatiously seductive yet boldly mechanical, making it innovative and very fitting for House music.

However, not all tracks in the album were perfect. Some tend to be repetitive, like the incessant beat on I'll Take You There, although this song has some of the album's best vocals. Additionally, the choice to have the tracks on the album mix together into an hour-long performance might take away the album's pacing, where the tracks' repetition might not have enough standing on their own.

In conclusion, A New Reality by Frankie Knuckles is an exceptional album, showing the genius of an all-time great artist and how house music slowly took over clubs and radios worldwide. From the start of the album to the ending track, Frankie Knuckles and other members of the album, offered versatility, unique electronic music sounds, and soulful vocals. However, the album does have a couple of repetitive tracks that might not strike a chord with some listeners and having the album track list mix together into one long hour might take away the full potential of some of the songs. Despite its challenges, A New Reality is a timeless album that we wholeheartedly recommend to anyone with an ear for good music.