Raising Hell

I relate very strongly to the song about someone going to KFC and accidentally ordering a Big Mac.

The cover of Walk This Way charted higher than Aerosmith's original and is one of the most important and pivotal tracks in hip-hop history and I would gladly give this album 8 stars if I could for that track alone. Also I wish the honkies that run this thing would give us more rap and hip-hop.

I have been known to be wildly inconsistent with my reactions to expensive items. I will happily overpay for a pair of jeans, and later that same day bemoan the state of the world when an ice-cream costs a fiver, despite both items having a similar manufacturing cost. My biggest blind spot in terms of this is with prostitutes. In Amsterdam I will greedily piss away thousands on the women in the windows, but when I'm in Barnsley, I wouldn't pay a tenner for a handjob. Even though it all leads to the same result. What I'm trying to say is, Run DMC are really good value for money. I think.

What a four track run Peter Piper, It's Tricky, My Adidas and Walk This Way is. I needed a little sit down after that. The rest of the album, as good as it is, is a bit underwhelming in comparison.

Finally a non-rock album, feels like I've been waiting so long. This shit is classic, every song on here is catchy af. This is the kinda shit I was waiting for.

These guys are also absolute pioneers of an entire genre and played a key role in bringing it to the mainstream, with some of the tracks from this album at the heart of that. Some people might say inventing rap/rock was perhaps not the greatest gift to music 😂 but the impact of their cover of Walk This Way is immeasurable. Plus it's pure vibes as a listening experience! 9/10

Thought I’d love this album but for some reason it fell short of expectations. A few really great tracks in there - It’s Tricky, My Adidas, Walk this Way - but ultimately the other tracks just blended into one another. I’ve always felt with Run DMC that if you’ve heard one of their tracks you’ve heard them all. I get their importance in hip hop and you wouldn’t have bands such as The Beastie Boys without them, but I’d just rather listen to the Beastie Boys. Pioneers no doubt, but there’s a reason I’ve never really listened to a full Run DMC album before.

A haiku: Their name’s DMC Here you see, it’s fun to rap Repetitively

Fucking classic. Just a legendary album with many iconic tracks.

Such a fun and cheesy romp. I see why this is such a historical album, kicking of hip hops golden age. Great rhymes and lyrics, and even better beats. The only issue I have with it is the fact that it’s a little too samey throughout, in regards to flow in particular. Hats off to Aerosmith for showing up and playing their own sample and joining in on the fun, too. Baller move.

Stone cold classic.

If there’s anything to bring me back to a 9 y/o version of myself skateboarding, shoplifting, and trespassing it’s this album.

A classic, defining album in hip hop history. One of the first mainstream albums that lead us to hip hop as we know it today. Wonderful MCs with masterful production from two of the best to ever do it.

Ahh it's pretty good for what it is, isn't it? I'd never stick it on at home, but yeah, sound. If it was an item of furniture, it'd be a diamond encrusted lamp shade that screams "Tricky" every time you turn it on.

So in the summer of 2023, Aerosmith announced their final tour would be held later that year… I bought tickets, as I had seen them 10-12 times over the years going back to 1978… Anyways, I decided to Audible a biography about them in advance of the show, and downloaded “Walk This Way” by Geoff Edgers, and off I went… Unfortunately, I chose the WRONG “Walk This Way” biography – as I wanted the one by Stephen Davis – but I listened to it anyway… Long story short, the Edgers book was basically the story of how Rick Rubin (i.e. the producer of “Raising Hell”) was able to convince RUN-DMC & Aerosmith to collaborate on the “Raising Hell” album via the track “Walk This Way”. You get some decent background about both bands, some good background about Rubin, especially his early years @ NYU – and the story behind how that song came to be on that album… Obviously, that is the epic track on “Raising Hell”, and what I found fascinating in the book, was that Rubin felt the album would not be anywhere near as successful without “Walk This Way” – and that neither Aerosmith – who had really hit the skids by then, had no interest in doing it, and neither did RUN-DMC… But Rubin was able to get RUN-DMC, Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry in the studio for one evening to try and pull it off… RUN-DMC knowing this would be happening, didn’t even bother to learn the lyrics, and Tyler & Perry were still using, less than enthusiastic… BTW – Rubin didn’t tell the rest of Aerosmith – as he just wanted to the 2 main guys – which is why the drum part is pretty pedestrian, and why the rest of the band was pissed once they found out about it… Anyways – for a couple of artists who were struggling at the time, who came into the session with some seriously bad attitudes, Rubin was able to get what he wanted – and he was absolutely right about that song “making the album”… As for the album, Side 1 is absolutely stunning with the run of “Peter Piper”, “It’s Tricky”, “My Adidas”, & “Walk This Way” – and is truly the heart of the album… “It’s Live” is decent, but “Perfection” is nothing special… As for Side 2, things start out strong again with “Hit & Run”, and the title track – “Raising Hell” as both are quite excellent – but things start to lose a lot of steam from that point on… That said, that’s 6 out of 12 tracks that I really enjoyed, and of course the magic of Rubin’s “Walk This Way” being the centerpiece of the album – exactly as he had imagined it… Not a rap guy by any measure, but this is an excellent album… Would probably give it a 4.25 based on the actual song quality (i.e. although it is interesting when you check Wiki, that Simmons & McDaniels are only credited with writing 2 of the 12 tracks – so not sure what other magic Rubin may have worked back then…), but given the cross-over break-thru of “Walk This Way” and it’s historical significance – I gotta give this album a 5 – and I don’t give very many of those…

It's funny that "Perfection" is the track that keeps this from having an absolutely flawless Side A. That said, it's not flawed enough to lower the rating. To me, this album is Run-DMC's finest. "Dumb Girl" hasn't aged well, but this is still a certified classic.

Such a great album. Loaded with classics. A must own of the genre in my opinion.

First Hip hop/rap I ever owned. Been a while since I listen to the entire album. It's still awesome and yes this album everyone needs to listen to.

This feels so iconic. I love the minimalist Rick Rubin production. A lot of the time the tracks dispense with anything more than beats and just let the MCs do their thing. "Walk This Way" was the big breakthrough, crossover hit, but the album is full of other tunes that pack just as much punch. The lyrics are still echoed in hip hop.

Here's another one that I could write paragraphs about. This album, along with Licensed to Ill and LL's BAD, were the foundation for my love for hip hop. I'm certain that I'm far from alone there as Raising Hell was the first platinum hip hop album and with the smash success of the Walk This Way crossover. For me, this album is as much about Jay's DJing and Rick Rubin's production as it is the rhymes. Granted, they lean heavily on the hard guitar riffs but once again it's a case of "is too much of a great thing a bad thing?" Along with the commercial breakthrough legacy of this album it's also a landmark transition from earlier 80s hip-hop in how clean and precise the production and scratching is. Compare and contrast to Paid in Full, for example. It's an 80s style but still easily holds up today. Four undeniable classics right at the top, along with the title track later, lead the way in making this an easy top 5-10 hip-hop album of the 80s. In fairness, some of the later tracks don't stand out as much on their own but that's a hard ask when up against so many hits. Still solid enough to hold it all together. It has to be a 4-4.5 for the music, but for influence and legacy, sentimentality, and personal enjoyment this is a slam dunk 5 for me.

10/10 energy. So many iconic samples that have been lifted from this album that your memory will recall throughout. So ahead of its time.

Run DMC had been making waves already, but this is the album that helped them and Hip Hop cross-over to the mainstream. Loaded with iconic tracks, and oozing with swagger, this is a must for old school Hip Hop.

5 stars!!! One of my all-time favorite songs is on this album. Walk This Way with Aerosmith.

I didn't know I needed this.

I very much enjoyed the track that’s named after Rev Run, but which is entirely rapped by DMC and only features Run grunting and panting like that horny wolf from Droopy. Raising Hell is the prototypical modern Hip-Hop album. Most of the direction that Hip-Hop has taken since this album’s release can be directly traced to Run-DMC, but one of the reasons for it’s influence is it’s simplicity. A fair few of the beats are purely percussion, and the rhymes and themes are mostly basic. But because of the relative simplicity, it does feel like a blueprint. The influence on the Beastie Boys is particularly clear and makes the evolution of Hip-Hop in even a few years really evident. The Beasties were using samples from Zeppelin and Sabbath, and had Kerry King doing their solos. In comparison, Run-DMC’s production seems a little thin, and outside of Walk This Way and It’s Tricky, the riffs and guitar parts seem lacking. And as such, I’d probably rate it just a four. But it’s influence is undeniable, and I can’t not reward that. I’d contrast it to my theory about ZZ Top’s Eliminator from a few days ago, that being we didn’t get a lot of ZZ Top inspired New Wave Boogie because it was so well done on that album. Raising Hell is a masterclass in Hip-Hop’s potential and inspired artists in a way ZZ Top didn’t; inspiring them to have their own go, take the blueprint and expand on it. And if that was it’s goal, it succeeded magnificently

I forgot how great this album was.

This was great. While I have heard songs from jt, I hadn’t really been exposed to it. I wish modern rap was like this.

Flawless. Great production just let's the rhymes shine through. A sound all of their own and not a bad track. Could mark it down for the creation of the often painful rap rock genre (but equally as killer when done right) but won't. Solid 5

It's very distinctly 80s hip-hop, which of course is going to sound a bit dated. As far as 80s hip-hop goes though, it's killer. It's impossible to not get hyped up to something like It's Tricky.

Day315 - this is a fantastic rap album with so many hits and the reason they’re in the rock and roll hall of fame

Bangers

Sounds dated now but still classic

My brother came back from a summer working in America with this on cassette. It was like he had come back from the future.

One star deducted for resurrecting Aerosmith’s career. Even with that in mind, this is just a really fun record. Hard to dislike it.

More like “Light Jog-DMC”. This album is great for cleaning your sunglasses, as you inevitably leave a smudge and have to redo it. In all honesty, it was actually pretty good…illin’ you could say. I enjoyed the heavy drums, guitar riffs and scratches on quite a few songs, as well as the beat boxing on my fav track, Hit It Run. The most notable aspect of this kind of rap is the unison on the last lyric of the bar. Where one of them sings the line and then they all yell the last word. Classic. Was more of a novelty listen for me than anything. Was very cool to get a sense for what mid-80s rap was all about. That said, I wouldn’t necessarily revisit this on the reg. It’s tricky because you gotta give props to the trailblazers. They earn an extra star because they made an Aerosmith song better than the original. Aerosmith sucks.

One of the most iconic rap albums of all time with an almost incalculable influence spanning both genres and decades. Admittedly, it does sound a tad dated given what is being made today, but all modern rap music must pay homage to the OG's who paved the way. A wildly original style for the time. Although it may sound a little dorky for today's standards, there isn't much to not like. 4/5

Man, that's just good. The only reason it doesn't rate a five is because the beats get REALLY repetitive when listening to a whole album. But every track, taken by itself, is a banger.

Kaikki isot hitit, hyvin kulkee vaikka selkeä oman aikansa levy.

YES! Montag morgen, am Weg in die Arbeit, irgendwie war ich bissl schneller! Bei denen reichts auch einfach wenn nur die drums und das gerappe sind. Macht einfach voll Spaß!

Classic old-school Hip-Hop Rock, most songs have a fairly simple hook or lyric but the verses are where they really shine. I never realized how much Beastie Boyz picked up from Run DMC, the influence is super obvious here. Raising Hell stood out, that was a great tune. Good mix of goofy tunes with some serious punchy ones.

The first thing to strike the contemporary listener is how antiquated the album sounds. I mean this neither as condemnation nor praise, but just observation. It sounds exactly how a major hip-hop act would sound in 1986. So, with that qualifier, the album is still rather fun. The shared duties and alternations between the lads still delights. Easily a 4-starrer. However, there isn't quite a sense of flow between the songs. Raising Hell feels more like a collection of songs than a cohesive album. This is not a flaw per se, but I can't declare it a masterpiece.

Energiskt, och låter före sin tid. Aldrig tråkigt.

Oh yeah, this was pretty great! Sometimes listening to old school hip-hop can be a bit of a chore, as the rhymes can sound basic and dated, and the attitudes can be, uh, regressive, but this still sounded pretty fresh! I guess the amount of rock music being sampled (and the Aerosmith collab) make this much more accessible to my goblin-pale ass. In the version of the album I listened to there was a bonus track of them recording a commercial for some live dates, and they refer to themself as "Rap n' Roll", and YES, that's a great label! Fave track - all the singles were great - also liked "Proud to be Black" for the Tubman reference!

Oh man the drum machines on this! Especially the 808s! The interplay of the MCs sounds a little dated now but if you think about it that'd be hard as hell to pull off - like constantly doing alley-oops on the basketball court.

Amazing bars, wordplay, and arrangements define this LP. An absolute blast to listen to.

No. 279/1001 Peter Piper 3/5 It's Tricky 3/5 My Adidas 3/5 Walk This Way 3/5 It Is Live 3/5 Perfection 3/5 Hit It Run 2/5 Raising Hell 2/5 You Be Illin' 3/5 Dumb Girl 2/5 Son of Byford 3/5 Proud to Be Black 3/5 Average: 2,75 Similar to their first album I just don't think this has aged that well.

I used to like this band when I was a kid, but I don't think their sound has aged well purely because other rap acts have done their schtick better, Beastie Boys in particular. Still very influential and deserves to be on the list though.

This is probably the best type of rap that I care to listen to, sparse, creative, fresh, and fun. Almost feels like a brand new sound that aliens from a different world introduced here. I'll give 3 stars

"Walk this way" collaboration with Aerosmith and "You be illin'" are standouts.

An ode to the cow bell, which never fails to improve a song and here creates the impression that the boys are tap dancing around the beat. The only other punctuation is Jam Master Jay's guitarless rock beats and the boys' punched-out vocals.

3 car y'a des tracks dégueulasses

Fun in doses.

Bisschen lahme Drum Machine die ganze Zeit. Das Lied mit Aerosmith ist fett

Obviously dated, and while fun, my potential enjoyment for this era of rap is pretty limited - the rapping tends to be too monotone, for the most part.

Important and ferocious fun at its best, which is “Tricky”, "Walk this Way" and the opener "Peter Piper", the rest part-validates the contemporary philistine's labelling of this as novelty music: behind the then-bold eruptions of mechanised horns and vinyl scratching there's not much to hang onto.

Didn't get the love for this at the time, and still think it's a poor effort. Not really "fun" rap like Sugarhill Gang etc. earlier, and pretty weak compared to Public Enemy or even LL Cool J. Boring beats and one-note shouty rhymes, like the similarly overhyped Beastie Boys. Walk This Way is definitive, but only because the original is terrible. Barely scrapes a 3 for historical purposes [EDIT - downgraded as it's boring as shit]

Although the 80s breakin', scratchin', rappin' scene was cool, I never could get into the music. It's always comes off as hokie with pretty weak rhymes. I get that this is the early stages of the genre and MCs wanted it to be positive and approachable for all. Walk This Way was the 1st to bridge the rock/rap gap and that's why we see the album on the list. Tricky is another pretty good one but the cheeseyness takes over. They even make fsrt sounds while best boxing. Knew that Run-DMC would make the list and not the worst group in my opinion from 80s hip hop...1.9.

Wasn't my jam. Couple of good songs .

I know Run DMC is one of the most influential rap groups but I just can't stand rap "groups". Having 1 guy rap and a bunch of others help finish every sentence is just annoying as hell. And then the "music" on this album sounds like it was made on a shitty Casio keyboard using the drum beats setting. It sounds like the producer said "Let's crank up the bass drum and make the rest sound far away in an echo chamber." Bonus star only for being so influential to music.

Unsure if just dated or really that bad. Terrible cliche lyrics and terrible production on most tracks. Truly irritating kick drum plastered over almost every track. Only gets 2 because of Get Tricky being a classic

The album didn't appeal to me either when it was released or today. Even Walk this Way together with Aerosmith doesn't change that. Farewell rap rock.

amazing

This album is fire.

Great

Amazing album. Groovy, rocking, funny, timeless.

The flow and rhymes are not where hip hop would eventually go but for the mid 80s these songs were banging and also had mass market appeal.

It's Tricky!!!!!! Walk This Way. Holy shit this album rules. Somehow they manage to make the worst sounding drum samples stay fresh and exciting, while the raps and flow manage to maintain their edge and freshness. Dumb Girl is kind of a shit song. Proud To Be Black is an uplifting, if somewhat on the nose song but its earnestness is what makes it great.

I wore out this cassette back in the day. I was a huge Run-DMC fan through this album. The year after this album came out, I began my love affair with hard rock and metal, but I have no doubt that Run-DMC was at least partially responsible for my ears to be ready for the harder sounds. I never lost my love for Run-DMC. Revisiting this album after all these years was pure joy. The back and forth rapping, with their trademark punctuations they each provide to the other's lines. The beats/DJ-ing by Jammaster Jay. 5 stars.

5/5. Masterpiece, front to back basically perfection, save some aged lyrics. Sometimes you forget how good guitar riffs and solos sound with rap beats and vocals. This goes hard even today and its Run DMC. Sure the lyrics are mild sometimes but there is a raw energy that come through on each song. Didn't realize so many classics were on the same album. Gonna be on repeat for a bit. Best Song: Walk This Way, It's Tricky, Raising Hell

Fun as hell. Smile on my face for the duration of the album.

I think it finally happened. I found my first five star rap album. Maybe it’s because I’ve been exposed throughout this process and grown my appreciation. It might be the rock’n’roll influenced felt throughout this album. It might have been the catchy lyrics that land in the perfect zone of “tough” but not harmful. Whatever it is, I dig it.

I was surprised how much I liked this album. I expected it to be more "cheesy" than it is. However, there are several songs that hit really hard, and having both Walk this Way and Tricky on the same album almost makes it feel like a compilation, at this point, due to how much I've heard those in my life. Overall, it's hard to not give this 5 stars, because it is fun, and even if I won't personally listen to it much, it obviously had such a huge impact on music, in general, helping define hip-hop and rap.

The album that brought rap/hiphop to the burbs….

A classic

Riesenplatte und immer noch gut! So macht Rap Spass und das Crossover ist super, heute ja fast normal.

First hip-hop (rap) album that I ever had! I mean, the really cool kids had some before this, but it was usually Run-D.M.C. self-titled or King Of Rock. Can’t be beat for historic and nostalgia purposes, certainly, but I think it still sounds pretty funky fresh. Rick Rubin certainly knew what he was doing to specify the sound in a very particular way, and the legions followed.

Hip hop perfection.

finally, some good fucking food. classic old school hip hop with killer beats and super fun lyrics, featuring the lost arts of beatboxing and turntablism. i even liked the excursions into rock instrumentation (except the aerosmith feature, which i didn't care for. overexposure, maybe). all the hits are on side A but i found myself liking side B more. this was a delight overall. more like this, please?

Don't know how to review this masterpiece. It's tricky.

Yoooooooo dik

If you'd told me at the time of this album's release, that one day I would add a rap album to my music collection, I'd have called you sick in the head... But the day has come. This one's going in, and getting five stars. I loved listening to it.

10/10. I'm sorry, but who gave this album the authority to slap THIS hard? This is a banger!!! I was in a terrible mood, and for some reason, listening to this album made me feel a lot better. The delivery of the raps was really exciting. I love the incorporation of hard rock in several tracks (namely Walk This Way and Raising Hell). This is a really memorable album. I honestly expected to dislike it, but I was wrong. This album is absolutely brilliant!!! :) I wish that modern-day rap music sounded more like this instead of the mumble-filled jargon with the most uninspired lyrics and instrumentation possible.

LP

Bangers

This is the kind of hip hop I'm here for. Personal enjoyment: 4/5 Relevance to this list: 5/5

Very cool!

Raising Hell is hip hop at its best. From start to finish, it’s a perfect mix of beats and rhymes overflowing with positive energy. ‘Walk This Way’ (with Aerosmith) and ‘It’s Tricky’ still hold up today. No one makes hip hop like this anymore and you can hear the influence in so much music that has followed, but nothing else really captures the same vibe. Raising Hell is a classic, and for me it’s easily five stars.

5 out 5 like the beat like the lyirics not bad it its not sad song its difirent from music from today but its still really good. I like how they have like alot drums I would recomend it for the people that like old songs that are pop from old days

I hope you'll be able to listen to this album! This is one of my top favorite albums because one of my favorite songs is in! (It's Tricky) I love the hip-hop, the drums in the background, and the upbeatness. Again, I hope you can listen to this album in your life!

ive heard the first song to to be honest i could never get old of this song its perfect for memes and just goofy videos and its just funny lyrics crazy sound nice for the second one i really that guitar its very nice to my ear holes

Unmissable monument of its genre that took hip-hop to a whole other level. Run DMC's guys are legends and I pay respect.

Hell yeah. I bought a bootleg of this album a swap meet in Myrtle Beach in '86. Didn't know anything about it really, just looked cool. Loved it - almost every track kicks. Perfection and Dumb Girl I could do without but the rest of it? Yes please. Walk This Way of course made a huge impact. The fact that it has survived over time, that even though the style is pretty stilted compared to today's stuff, it all works. Probably the best example of what this can be.

My goodness what a great album. Not only is it full of amazing songs, but also changed the landscape of music. Just about every hip hop artist and rapper since owes Run DMC some credit for their existence, as do a lot of the rap rock bands. Walk This Way (even though they hated the song) introduced hip hop to the suburbs and gave the white kids like me a chance to appreciate a genre of music we didn’t really get to hear before. Rick Rubin was pure genius for hearing the e potential in that decade plus old song. Personally, I prefer Peter Piper, but then, anything that gave Jam Master Jay some spotlight was awesome.

Third day in row -an album I already own, great re listening after a while.

Great stuff. Very few reasons to fault this.

This album was hit after hit. Lots of fun. So innovative.

Bangers from start to finish

It's perfect. No notes.

Awesome

The Beastie Boys were my gateway drug to hip hop - and maybe punk - when I was in my early teens. Knowing that, how the fuck did I miss this album? THe turntable, the beats, the lyrics - this is a rare album that 38 year old me AND 14 year old me would have loved. The first 4 tracks are so solid that the rest of the album suffers by being merely great.