Thursday, July 14, 2016

Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell (30th anniversary)

Today (July 14th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Raising Hell, the third studio album from rap pioneers Run-D.M.C. This 1986 record spent seventy-one weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 3.

For my full review of this rap classic, click here.

For more from Run-D.M.C., click here.
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1 comment:

  1. HERCJuly 26, 2016 at 6:07 PM

    Being a big fan of their first two albums, I was very excited to hear Raising Hell when it was released. Don't recall there being an advance single or anything, just all of a sudden it appeared on shelves around the same time as Top Gun, Peter Gabriel's So and AC/DC's Who Made Who at the beginning of Summer 1986.

    It is a great album to listen to - doesn't sound dated musically - and it turned just about everyone I knew into "rap" fans which was both good and bad. Good because the acceptance of the music (initially labeled a "fad") paved the way for more of it and bad because the album marked the beginning of the end for Run-DMC as they began to sound tired and derivative and even began chasing trends throughout the rest of their career before Jam Master Jay's death.

    The first three songs on the album still hold up for me today and I love how the initial beat of "Walk This Way" kicks in right on the last beat of "My Adidas" when I listen via Spotify with crossfade tracks set at 5 seconds. It is spot-on! But I've always preferred the Aerosmith original rap to the straight outta rehab Aerosmith and a drum machine take.

    Still, the album is an universally acclaimed historical and influential album by deserving Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame members and its only a matter of time before producer Rick Rubin is inducted.

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