The All-TIME 100 Albums: Raising Hell by Run-DMC

E-Mail This Article

The All-TIME 100 Albums

40 of 101

By Josh Tyrangiel Published: November 13, 2006

VIEW THE COMPLETE LIST

ALBUM: Raising Hell

YEAR RELEASED: 1986 LABEL: Arista Records/Profile ARTIST: Run-DMC

TIME 100 ALBUMS PODCASTS

PODCAST: Welcome to the All-TIME 100 Albums - the musical compilations of the last half-century that need no introduction. That said, listen in below as music critics Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light introduce the list and talk about the top albums of the 1950s and '60s.

PODCAST: We know. Twenty-nine of the 100 greatest albums of all time come in the 1970s, and Pink Floyd isn't there. Play this podcast to learn why we picked the titles we did, and if you have something to say, tell us about it using the talkback link below.

PODCAST: Maybe it's a Sign O' The Times that you're listening to critics' audio recordings about great music, but this podcast about how we chose the best albums of the 1980s really is a Thriller. Give it a listen below.

PODCAST: Here's music even the younger set will know by heart. Listen to selected clips from the 1990s through present day as music critic Josh Tyrangiel discusses his picks.

Download this to your iPod at iTunes
Or, copy and paste this URL into your favorite podcasting tool:

Darryl McDaniels, Jam Master Jay and the Reverend Run wore black leather suits, gold chains and Adidas with no laces. They looked like drug dealers, and plenty of people thought they were. In reality, they were middle class kids from Queens desperate to become rock stars, and Raising Hell was their defining statement. They opened with "Peter Piper" ("Now Peter Piper picked peppers, but Run rapped rhymes/ Humpty Dumpty fell down, that's his hard time") to show off their spitting speed, followed it with "It's Tricky" to prove their ferocity, "My Adidas" to test their promotional skills and "Walk This Way", the first rock-rap collaboration to hit the Top 10, to show off their catholic tastes. And those are just the first four tracks. Raising Hell is rap's first masterpiece, and it's just as audacious now as it was two decades ago.