Frankie Knuckles delivers a solid album with A New Reality, and any fan of his is urged to by this release when it comes out! There are some good tracks, some GREAT tracks, and some tracks that are just fair. A few of the standout tracks include "Master-Peace," "Journey," and "Matter Of Time." The latter song is classic Def Mix perfection, from the deep, full beats to the piano chords and organ stabs, even the message of the lyrics is uplifting! The song's only low point is its outro segue into the self-congratulatory "interlude track" consisting of one and a half minutes of a clapping, cheering, chanting crowd presumably recorded inside a club. No music, no singing, just noise. While this track really serves no purpose, "Hit The Floor" also seems to be a track which goes nowhere. Little lyrical variation (pretty much just the phrase "hit the floor" repeated over and over and over) plague this opening song, which really should've been reserved for later in the collection.
The album's first single, "Bac N Da Day" has the funky groove of a good Maurice Joshua remix and the catchy rhythm that Frankie Knuckles is known for. I can see "The Bumpkin Song (Gimme Gimme)" being a logical choice for the next single, being a fusion of dance, underground beats, and even a little country (complete with harmonica!) " this could very well be the next "Cotton-Eyed Joe"!
A lot of the tracks on "A New Reality" are great, but seem to stretch on for way too long. My three favorite tracks ("Master-Peace", "Journey", and "Matter Of Time") are all excellent tunes, but all over six minutes! "Emotional Energy" is another album highlight, despite being a less than two minute long interlude track. It does make for a good break in the rhythm though - just beautiful playing of a piano over a melancholy synth/string arrangement.
Frankie Knuckles gets back into the groove with "What's Goin" On" -- not, in fact, a remake of the old Marvin Gaye staple, but instead a midtempo number. "Journey" is a brilliant production complete with diva vocals, harps, tom toms, sweeping synths, and some amazing sound effects. "Keep On Movin" would've been a great track (the strings sounded almost Metro-ish not a bad thing necessarily!) except for the odd vocal arrangement. A full four minutes pass before the first set of vocals come in, and later on the phrase "keep on movin' don't you ever stop" sounds really misaligned with the beats (even after repeated listens). This rhythm mistake, if it was intentional, really should've been fixed in post-production, since those of us music fans following along to the rhythm by toe-tapping to the beats will be thrown off by this odd syncopation.
The final track on A New Reality is a song called "I've Had Enough", which sounds like an old 70's throwback" a perfect song which just screams "fun" and "summertime". The horns even sound reminiscent of Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" (though fifty seconds of cold vocals for the outro is a bit too long). All in all, a really strong album from one of the legendary forces in dance music.
