Frankie Knuckles - Your Love / Baby Wants To Ride

, May 13, 2005

Up until I heard this track, Frankie Knuckles was nothing but a legend in writing. Since I discovered House music many, many years after what many consider House to no longer be House, I suppose it points out that I have a genuine interest in whats going on on both sides of the fence.

I first heard "Your Love" whilst playing the infamous Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Hosted by an emotionally unstable German DJ by the name of Hans Oberlander, he referred to the performer of the track as "the Godfather of House Music, Herr Frankie Knuckles" before making it obvious that his recently-taken product was beginning to take effect. So, finally, I hear the legend with my own ears.

I thought the record was unusually simple in composition - compared to the overproduced material of today - but it seems the best concepts are the simple ones. Production-wise, the record is quite unique from its cousins of the time (c. 1989), Knuckles opting to use a somewhat more live, organic approach to the drums and using a less dense, more sparse bass line pattern. Kicking off with a vibrating synth, the track gradually builds and builds, bass lines climbing higher and higher, strings increasing in drama until the whole thing appropriately climaxes when the "I need your love, dont make me wait" vocals pulls everything together and leaves the listener with that famous "House is a feeling" after-effect.

So under rather bizarre circumstances, I was introduced to the legend which has, in turn, increased the depth of my own House feeling and opened up the door to discover other legendary producers.

Was the above review useful to you? Yes  No  (report)