Raising Hell (album)

Raising Hell
Studio album by Run–D.M.C.
Released	May 15, 1986[1]
Recorded	1985-1986
Genre	Hip hop, rap rock
Length	39:46
Label	Profile, Arista
Producer	Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin
Run–D.M.C. chronology
King of Rock (1985) Raising Hell (1986) Tougher Than Leather (1988)
Singles from Raising Hell
"My Adidas" Released: May 29, 1986 "Walk This Way" Released: July 4, 1986 "You Be Illin'" Released: October 21, 1986 "It's Tricky" Released: February 8, 1987

	"Walk This Way" Run-D.M.C.'s "Walk This Way" from Raising Hell
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Raising Hell is the third studio album by hip hop group Run–D.M.C.. The breakthrough album trumped standing perceptions of commercial viability for hip-hop groups, achieving triple-platinum status and receiving critical attention from quarters that had previously ignored hip hop, dismissing it as a fad.^[2]

Raising Hell spawned several hit singles, notably the groundbreaking rap rock version of Aerosmith's 1975 song "Walk This Way".

Background

Raising Hell features the well-known cover "Walk This Way" featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. While the song was not the group's first fusion of rock and hip hop (the group's earlier singles "Rock Box" and "King of Rock" were), it was the first such fusion to make a significant impact on the charts, becoming the first rap song to crack the top 5 of The Billboard Hot 100. Raising Hell peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart as the first hip hop/rap album to do so, and at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Chicago Tribune	[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[6]
Pitchfork Media	7.7/10[7]
Q	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	10/10[11]
Uncut	[12]
The Village Voice	A−[13]

Raising Hell was voted the fifth best album of 1986 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published by The Village Voice.^[14] Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, wrote in a contemporary review, "Without benefit of a 'Rock Box' or 'King of Rock,' this is [Run–D.M.C.'s] most uncompromising and compelling album, all hard beats and declaiming voices."^[13] Richard Cromelin was less enthusiastic in his review for the Los Angeles Times, writing that the group's style sounded somewhat repetitive and limited: "If the same old boasts are wearing thin and the misogyny gets grating, the beats are infectious and varied and the vocal trade-offs can be dazzling."^[15]

In 1987, Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap - Single for "Walk This Way" (jointly awarded to both Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith).

In 1989, the Toronto Star music critics took to look over the albums they had reviewed in the past 10 years to include in a list based on "commercial impact to social import, to strictly musical merit."^[16] Raising Hell was placed at number four on the list, describing it as "the record to move rap from the ghetto to the suburbs. Blame it or celebrate it, you can't deny Raising Hell's impact.^[16]

In 1998, the album appeared in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. Q magazine (12/99, p. 162) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...the apex of pre-Public Enemy, beatbox-based hip hop, a monument of massive, crisp beats plus the genre-bending 'Walk This Way'." Vibe (12/99, p. 162) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.^[17] Uncut (11/03, p. 130) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[An album] that forced the music biz to take rap seriously." Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p. 126) - "[T]he pioneering trio took hip-hop into the upper reaches of the pop charts, introducing mainstream to a new urban thunder: rap rock." AllMusic - 5 stars out of 5 - "...the music was fully realized and thoroughly invigorating, rocking harder and better than any of its rock or rap peers in 1986..."

In 2003, the album was ranked number 123 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[18] It ranked fourth on Chris Rock's list of the Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums of all time, and the comedian called it "the first great rap album ever".^[19]

In 2006, the album was chosen by Time as one of the 100 greatest albums.^[20] Time named it No. 41 of the 100 best albums of the past fifty years and stated that the album was "rap's first masterpiece".^[21]

In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 65 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".^[22]

Public Enemy's Chuck D considers Raising Hell to be the greatest hip-hop album of all-time, and the reason he chose to sign with Def Jam Records.

Track listing

1. "Peter Piper" – 3:25
2. "It's Tricky" – 3:03
3. "My Adidas" (McDaniels, Rubin) – 2:47
4. "Walk This Way" – 5:17
   • Features new vocal and guitar parts by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith based on their original 1975 recording, as well as a sample of the original drum intro which is used as the song's breakdown.
5. "Is It Live" – 3:06
6. "Perfection" – 2:52
7. "Hit It Run" – 3:10
8. "Raising Hell" – 5:31
9. "You Be Illin'" – 3:26
10. "Dumb Girl" – 3:31
11. "Son of Byford" – :27
12. "Proud to Be Black" – 3:14

Deluxe edition bonus tracks

1. "My Adidas" (a cappella) – 2:32
2. "Walk This Way" (demo) – 5:26
3. "Lord of Lyrics" (demo) – 4:30
4. "Raising Hell Radio Tour Spot" – 0:53
5. "Live at the Apollo Raw Vocal Commercial" – 3:28

Chart positions

Album

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[23]	32
New Zealand RIANZ Album Chart[24]	8
UK Albums Chart[25]	41
US Billboard 200[26]	6
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[26]	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions
		US [26]	US R&B [26]	US Rap [26]	US Dance [26]	US Dance Sales [26]	AUS [27]	CAN [28]	NZ [24]	UK [29]
1986	"My Adidas"	–	5	33^1	–	10	–	–	–	62
	"Walk This Way"	4	8	–	6	13	9	6	1	8 [30]
	"You Be Illin'"	29	12^2	–	44	–	–	–	–	42
1987	"It's Tricky"	57	21	–	30	47	–	–	–	16

Notes:

• ¹ - Charted in 2000 at #33 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart.
• ² - Re-charted in 1987 at #50 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

Vinyl sleeves and labeling

• There are at least two color schemes for this LP. One is a purple front photo with lime green writing and a red back photo with teal writing. Another is a green front photo with rose letters and a teal back photo and orange letters.
• There are some pressings that are mislabeled on both sides as side 2, though the grooves in the vinyl are etched correctly.

References

1. https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database
2. The Immortals - The Greatest Artists of All Time: 48) Run-DMC. By Chuck D. Rolling Stone.
3. "Raising Hell - Run-D.M.C. at Billboard.com". Retrieved 2011-02-07.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Raising Hell – Run-D.M.C.". AllMusic. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
5. Kot, Greg (December 2, 1990). "A Rundown On The Recording History Of Run-d.m.c.". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
6. Larkin, Colin (2011). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 2584. ISBN 0857125958.
7. Breihan, Tom (September 22, 2005). "Run-D.M.C.: Run-DMC / King of Rock / Raising Hell / Tougher Than Leather". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
8. Q. London (159): 162. December 1999.
9. Kemp, Mark (September 5, 2002). "Run-D.M.C.: Raising Hell". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on November 7, 2004. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
10. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 708–09. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
11. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "Run–D.M.C.". Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
12. Uncut. London (78): 130. November 2003.
13. Christgau, Robert (July 1, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
14. Pazz & Jop 1986
15. Cromelin, Richard (May 25, 1986). "Running On Full". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
16. MacInnis, Craig (August 5, 1989). "The Top 100 Albums of the '80s". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ont.: Torstar Syndication Services, a Division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. p. G1. ISSN 0319-0781.
17. "Run-DMC - Raising Hell CD Album". Cduniverse.com. 1999-06-01. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
18. "News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
19. "Chris Rock's Top 25 Hip Hop Albums". Rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
20. Light, Alan (2006-11-02). "''TIME.com'' - The All-TIME 100 Albums". Time.com. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
21. Light, Alan (2006-11-02). "Raising Hell". Time.com. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
22. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feature/best-albums-of-the-1980s/308/page_4
23. "RPM Weekly Searchable Database". Billboard. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
24. "Discography Run DMC". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
25. "UK Top 40 Searchable Database". everyhit.com. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
26. "Run-D.M.C. Chart Positions". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
27. "Discography Run DMC". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
28. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
29. "The Official Charts Company - Run–D.M.C. discography". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.
30. "The Official Charts Company - Run–D.M.C. discography". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.

External links

• Raising Hell (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)